HISTORY 

OF 

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 

NEW YORK 

AND ITS PEOPLE 



JOHN P. DOWNS 

Editor-in-Charge 

and 

FENWICK Y. HEDLEY 

EditorAn-Chief 

Assisted by a large corps of Sub-editors and 
Advisory Board 



VOLUME I 



American Historical Society, Inc. 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
1921 



Fi: 

£72 7r 



Copyright, 1921 
AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. 



JIJH30 7 



3CUG17640 







s^<§b^ 



FOREWORD 




PRESENTING this "History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its 
People," the publishers desire to express their grateful appreciation of the 
labor and other assistance of a large and highly capable corps of editors 
and advisors. It is primarily founded upon the life work of the late 
lamented Obed Edson, without a peer as a local historian, and who gave 
to it his hearty encouragement and assistance, and whose very last contri- 
bution to the annals of the region he loved so well is contained in the Political Chapter. 

The work is particularly rich in historical contributions specially written for it by mas- 
ters of their subjects. Among these writers are such capable authorities as Mr. Albert S. 
Price, Dr. Rovillus R. Rogers, Lieutenant-Commander W. H. Faust, U. S. N., Messrs. Fred- 
erick P. Hall, Edward L. Allen, Theodore A. Case, Gilden R. Broadberry, Clare A. Pickard, 
Richard H. Heppell, Arthur E. Bestor, Frederick R. Darling, William B. Blaisdell, Mayor 
Samuel A. Carlson, Messrs. Benjamin S. Dean, T. Henry Black, Jay T. Badgley, C. W. Her- 
rick, Dr. William E. Goucher, Messrs. Marvin L. Clapp, Lathrop L. Hanchett, C. W. Herrick, 
John W. Spencer, Dr. C. E. Welch, Messrs. Charles A. Okerlind, Ernest Cawcroft, W. H. 
Proudfit, W. A. Bradshaw, John B. Shaw, John C. Mason, Patrick S. Guinnane ; Mesdames 
Lucy Norton Shankland, Lona D. Brown, Olive E. R. Schendler and Clara Watson , Misses 
Lucia Tiffany Henderson, Carlina M. Monchow, Jane C. Banks. 

To all the above-named the publishers make grateful acknowledgments, as well as to 
a goodly array of authorities who afforded to Mr. John P. Downs, our staff writer in charge, 
valuable data and information. Among these are Major Edgar P. Putnam and Norman 
R. Thompson on Early Wars and the Civil War; Mr. V. A. Hatch on the Spanish War; 
Dr. William M. Bemus on Medical History; Mr. Arthur W. Swan on the Knights of Pythias ; 
Mr. B. R. Barton on Steamboating ; Miss Anna Crissey on the Y. W. C. A.; Mr. Francis 
B. Brewer on the Westfield Y. M C. A. ; Mrs. J. W. Mason and other ladies on Women's 
Gubs; Mrs. Margaret Prather on the Political Equality Movement; Mr. A. A. Van Vleck 
on the Patrons of Husbandry ; Dr. John J. Mahoney on the Roman Catholic Church ; Miss 
Mary M. Woods, on Daughters of Isabella; Young Men's Christian Association, H. E. V. 
Porter; Revolutionary Soldiers, Mrs. Lucy N. Shankland; Sons of Veterans, Mr. Mar- 
vin L. Clapp ; Judge Arthur B. Ottaway and Mr. Frank H. Mott on the Bench and Bar ; 
Mr. Frank H. Mott on Public Utilities ; and Mr. F. W. Bullock on Electric Service. 

The Publishers. 



,' 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Chapter I — Geography, Topography, Geology, Climatology I 

Chapter II — The Mound Builders ; Ancient Remains 8 

Chapter III — Origin of the Name Chautauqua 10 

Chapter IV— The Destruction of the Eries 12 

Chapter V — Brodhead's Expedition 16 

Chapter VI — Later Indian Wars, Occupation and Treaties 23 

Chapter VII — The Frontier Period, 1802-1805; Early Settlers; Foundation of Towns 26 

Chapter VIII — The Pioneer Period; War with Great Britain; Customs of the People 34 

Chapter IX — The Early Farming Period, 1825-1835; Development of the County; Industries; Amusements .. 42 
Chapter X — The Early Farming Period, 1835-1851 ; the Holland Company; Under the New Constitution; 

Progress of Education 50 

Chapter XI — The Agricultural Period, 1851-1861 ; Early Railroads; Spiritualism and Mormonism ; Discovery 

of Oil 56 

Chapter XII — The Agricultural Period, 1861-1875; Development of Grape Culture .. 65 

Chapter XIII — Close of Century, 1S75-1902; First Use of Natural Gas; Jamestown Incorporated as a City; 
Electricity introduced as a motive power; the Prendergast Library; New County Buildings; Lakeside 
Assembly: Improvement of Dunkirk Harbor; Soldiers of the Revolution; Burning of Fredonia Normal 

School ; Origin and Character of the People 70 

Chapter XIV — Opening of the Twentieth Century; the County Redistricted ; New Court House; Military 

Reunions 91 

Chapter XV — Opening of the Twentieth Century, continued; the County redistricted; Death of Obed Edson 105 

Chapter XVI — Towns: Arkwright, Busti, Carroll, Charlotte, Chautauqua, Cherrv Creek, Clymer 115 

Chapter XVII— The City of Dunkirk 143 

Chapter XVIII— Towns : Ellery, Ellicott 154 

Chapter XIX— The City of Jamestown 162 

Chapter XX — Towns : Ellington, French Creek, Gerry, Hanover, Harmony 170 

Chapter XXI— Towns : Kiantone, Mina, Poland, Pomfret, Portland 201 

Chapter XXII— Towns : Ripley, Sheridan, Sherman, Stockton, Villenova, Westfield 225 

Chapter XXIII— Chautauqua County To-day ; Statistics 247 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Page 
The History of the Holland Land Purchase, Lieut.- 

Comdr. W. H. Faust, U. S. N 252 

The Press of Chautauqua County, Frederick P. 

Hall and Edward L. Allen 271 

Books, Libraries and Authors, Lucy Tiffany Hen- 
derson 281 

Chautauqua County Libraries, Lucia Tiffany Hen- 
derson and Carlina M. Monchow 285 

Some Men and Women Writers of Chautauqua 

County, Mrs. Olive R. Schlender 290 

Conservation of Fish and Game, Richard H. Hep- 
pell 

The United States Food Administration in Chau- 
tauqua County, Clare A. Pickard 299 

The Public Schools of Chautauqua County 310 

Schools of Jamestown, Rovillus R. Rogers 315 

Dunkirk Public Schools, Frederick R. Darling . . . 319 

Public Schools of Fredonia, William B. Blaisdell. 322 

Chautauqua Institution, Arthur E. Bestor 324 

The Jamestown Board of Commerce 335 

Dunkirk Chamber of Commerce, Jay T. Badgley . . 336 

Manufacturing 336 

The Medical Profession 338 

Religion and Religious 341 

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union 349 

The Political Equality Movement 351 

The Young Women's Christian Association, Jane 

C. Banks 357 

The American Red Cross 358 

Women's Clubs 363 

Patrons of Husbandry 364 

Chautauqua County Banks, C. W. Herrick 367 

Steamboats of Chautauqua Lake, T. Henry Black. 371 

Political Chautauqua, Benjamin S. Dean 374 



Page 

Municipal Activities, Mayor Samuel A. Carlson . . 382 
Dental Surgery and Dentists, William E. Goucher, 

D. D. S. 384 

Patriotic Societies ; Mrs. Lucy Norton Shankland, 
Marvin L. Clapp, Mrs. Lona D. Brown, 

Lathrop L. Hanchett 386 

Young Men's Christian Association 392 

Retrospect of Music in and around Jamestown, 

Gilden R. Broadberry 395 

Development of Agriculture, John W. Spencer... 398 

Chautauqua Farm Bureau 400 

Chautauqua County Agricultural Corporation 401 

The Grape Industry, Dr. C. E. Welch 402 

The Swedish People, Charles A. Okerlind 403 

Donald MacKenzie, King of the Northwest, Ernest 

Cawcroft 406 

"The Indian War," Theodore A. Case 409 

The Underground Railroad, Albert S. Price 412 

Old Inns and Taverns 413 

Merchants of the Olden Time, W. H. Proudfit ... 417 

Centennial Celebration 419 

Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly, Mrs. Clara Wat- 
son 421 

Bench and Bar 425 

Chautauqua Lake and its Surroundings, W. A. 

Bradshaw 429 

Iron and Steel 430 

Jamestown Business College 431 

Public Utilities 432 

Population of Chautauqua County 434 

Fraternal Orders, John B. Shaw, John C. Mason, 

Patrick S. Guinnane 435 

Military History 447 

(Also see reverse of this page). 



DUNKIRK MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE 



Adamowicz, Peter 
Boorady, Nahim M. 
Davis, Wollis Edwin 
Dobrynski, John F. 
Durrell, Lester H. 
Grace, Theodore 
Gustavson, Egnar 
Herd, Frederick Thomas 
Kaltenbach, Winford George 
Kay, George 
Kleine, Albert 
Kuebrick, John Michael 
Lugen, Nicholas Peter 
Mahonsky, Joseph P. 



Murray, John T. 

McAllister, Clarence W. 

Newell, Loren E. 

Pilorski, Martin 

Przespolwski, Alexander 

Rahn, C. W. (Claude Herman) 

Resso, Alexander 

Surhan, Joseph D. 

Warren, Cassimer 

Weglinski, Walter 

Will, Fred D. 

Yetto, Charles W. 

Young, John A. 

Ziemenski, Joseph 



Note — The abov 
in Military History. 



reached the publishc 



te for proper place 





>. 


1§>. 






'SwBhBBIII 









L.ANDINI ! i IF 1 IE CET..ORI iN \ 'I 



CHAPTER I. 

Geography — Topography — Geology — Climatology. 

Still, as I view each wellknown scene, 
Think what is now, and what hath been, 
Seems as to me, of all bereft, 
Sole friends thy woods and streams are left. 



Besides its honorable history, Chautauqua 
has much in other respects to endear it to its 
people. Its physical characteristics, the beauty 
of its scenery, its size and its situation are such 
as to justify the pride of its citizens. 

It is the extreme western county of New- 
York. It is bounded on the south by Pennsyl- 
vania, on the forty-second parallel of latitude ; 
east by Cattaraugus, on the line between the 
ninth and tenth ranges of townships ; north- 
east by Erie county at the Cattaraugus creek, 
and a line extending northwest from its mouth 
to a point in Lake Erie in the boundary line 
between the United States and the British 
Dominions ; northerly by that line which ex- 
tends along the middle of Lake Erie; west by 
Pennsylvania, on a meridian drawn through 
the western extremity of Lake Ontario south 
to a monument erected by the States of New 
York and Pennsylvania in the forty-second 
parallel of north latitude. The western bound- 
ary extends on this meridian about 22 miles 
in Lake Erie, and 18 miles, 3493 feet south 
thereof; its southern boundary extends 36 
miles, 473 feet ; its eastern, 37 J^ miles ; its 
northeastern boundary along Cattaraugus creek 
four miles ; its shore line upon the lake extends 
about forty miles. 

The area of the county, exclusive of Lake 
Erie, is about 1100 square miles, of which 
about twenty square miles are included in 
Chautauqua Lake, six hundred acres in the 
Cassadaga Lakes, three hundred in Bear Lake, 
five hundred in Findley Lake, and one thou- 
sand acres in the smaller lakes, ponds and 
streams. This county is larger than the State 
of Rhode Island, and greater in extent than 
many of the most famous of the ancient States 
of Greece, and the smaller of the German 
States. Although it forms a part of an eastern 
State, the northern portion lies in the basin of 
the Great Lakes, and the southern in the valley 
of the Mississippi. It borders on Lake Erie, 
not far from the great Falls of Niagara. Politi- 
cally it belongs to the East, but lying partly in 
the basin of the Great Lakes and partly in the 
valley of the Mississippi, it partakes of the 
spirit of the West. Aside from those that have 



great cities within their borders, it is the fore- 
most county of the Empire State. With the 
products of the dairy and the fruits of the vine, 
and a near market in a great metropolis, its 
future is assured. Since its organization as a 
county its boundaries have never been changed. 

A wide belt of grass-covered hills extends 
from its eastern boundary southwesterly to 
Pennsylvania, forming the watershed which 
divides its waters that flow north into Lake 
Erie from those that flow south into the Mis- 
sissippi. The steepest side of this watershed 
is presented to the north towards Lake Erie, 
where the hills fall away in a rapid but not 
precipitous descent to the lower lands that 
border it. This side of the watershed extends 
in an irregular line northeasterly and south- 
westerly, from two to five miles from the shore. 
From the foot of these hills northward is an un- 
dulating region gradually descending towards 
the lake, where it terminates in a bluff of the 
average height of twenty feet above it. 

Lake Erie is five hundred seventy-three feet 
above the sea level. No part of the county is 
less than that height, while the hills of the 
watershed rise generally from one thousand to 
fifteen hundred feet above the lake, sometimes 
over two thousand feet above the ocean. From 
these hills a fine and extended view is afforded. 
To the north lie the rich and cultivated lands 
that border the lake, and broad and well-trained 
vineyards form the principal feature of the 
landscape. In some parts these vineyards ex- 
tend from the shore southward across the lower 
lands, and nearly up the northern slope of the 
hills. Beyond this, is spread the wide expanse 
of Lake Erie, so distant that its waves fade 
from sight and it appears as smooth and blue 
as if painted on canvas. As seen from the hills 
in summer nothing relieves the monotonous 
blue of the lake but the long black lines of 
smoke from the steamers and the snow-white 
sails of the lake craft that thickly speck its sur- 
face. Beyond the lake, forty miles away, the 
Canadian dominions are dimly visible from 
Long Point to the historic ruins of Fort Erie. 

The north face of the watershed, which ex- 
tends southwesterly through the northern part 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



of the county, parallel to Lake Erie, is deeply 
furrowed into a series of narrow gulfs which 
conduct the water from the high lands to Lake- 
Erie. Corresponding depressions extend south- 
ward from the summit of the watershed 
through which the waters flow on that side to 
the Allegheny. Between these depressions on 
the south side of the watershed the land rises 
into elevations which the waters have seamed 
and scored transversely into chains of hills. 
These hills generally slightly decrease in alti- 
tude as they extend southward. The depres- 
sions or troughs in the south side of the water- 
shed are often deep and long; they widen into 
valleys and form important features in the 
landscape in Southern Chautauqua. These 
valleys are all about the same level and gen- 
erally about seven hundred feet above Lake 
Erie. They slightly descend as they extend 
towards the southeastern part of the county. 
There they merge together and form the broad 
valley of the Conewango. At the northern 
termination of each are one or more lakes and 
ponds. The principal streams of the county 
that flow southward to the Mississippi have 
their origin in these lakes. The lakes all lie 
very near the north face of the Ridge, and but 
little labor would be required to turn their 
waters northward into Lake Erie. The land 
that separates the waters that flow south into 
Chautauqua Lake from those that flow north 
into Lake Erie is but twelve feet higher than 
the surface of the former lake. The land be- 
tween the Cassadaga Lake and the head waters 
of the Canadaway has so little elevation that 
many years ago a few men in a short time cut 
a channel from the head of the lake a few rods 
long and sufficiently deep to permit its waters 
to flow into a tributary of the Canadaway. 
Had not these men been immediately restrained 
by an injunction, the waters of the Cassadaga 
would have been diverted from their course 
and what was intended for the Mississippi 
would have been given to the St. Lawrence. 

The evidence afforded by the science of 
geology proves that long before that era of 
time known as the Glacial Period, the streams 
that traversed these valleys, instead of dis- 
charging southward into the Allegheny, flowed 
northward into Lake Erie; that an extensive 
area (comprising 4000 square miles), including 
most of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and a part 
of Allegany counties in New York, and the 
greater portions of Warren, McKean and Pot- 
ter counties in Pennsylvania, known to geolo- 
gists as the Chautauqua Basin, was drained 
into Lake Erie through what were once deep 
chasms or gorges, some of which are now 



occupied by the valleys of the Conewango, 
Cassadaga, and Chautauqua Lake. When came 
the Ice Period, a great glacier spread over the 
eastern part of North America. It put forth 
immense tongues which increased in magni- 
tude and moved southward as the cold in- 
creased. During long eras of time, the cold 
grew more and more intense until its maxi- 
mum was reached, and then the glacier invaded 
legions further and still further south. No 
longer confined to river channels and moun- 
tain gorges, it scaled hills and ridges. A grand 
mer de glace filled Lake Erie and pushed 
against the base of the ridge bounding the 
basin of that lake on the south; it forced its 
way into the gorges at the mouths of the 
streams of Western New York and Pennsyl- 
vania and Northern Ohio, that discharged 
their waters northward into Lake Erie. As it 
ascended the chasms of the Cattaraugus, Sil- 
ver and Walnut creeks, and of the Cassadaga 
and Chautauqua lakes, it carried away their 
rough sides, deeply filling their channels with 
an earthy mass. It scaled the dividing ridge 
and climbed to the tops of the highest hills of 
the county, paring away their summits, spread- 
ing deeply over highland and lowland an un- 
broken sheet of loose material called drift, 
moulding the surface of the county into its 
present shapes. Before the glaciers came to 
widen and partly fill the valleys, to carve the 
hills into their present graceful forms, the 
county had a bold and savage appearance, the 
hills were higher and more rugged, the valleys 
were deep chasms walled by steep and rocky 
sides. 

During the Glacial Period there had been a 
continuous upward movement of the crust of 
this part of the earth, which contributed to 
produce the intense cold of the Ice Period. A 
period of depression now began which is called 
the Champlain Period. This movement of the 
earth's crust was accompanied by a raising of 
the temperature until the climate became far 
milder than it is now, and caused the great 
glacier that covered our county to disappear. 

By reason of the melting of the glacier, and 
the falling of great rains and the lowering of 
the sources of the streams and rivers, retard- 
ing their flow, great lakes and crooked streams 
were formed in all parts of North America dur- 
ing the era that followed the Glacial Period, 
which geologists call the Champlain Period. 
The portals of the chasms through which the 
waters of Chautauqua County Basin were dis- 
charged northward through the Ridge towards 
Lake Erie, point where the highlands began 
their most precipitous northward descent, were 



GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, CLIMATOLOGY 



choked with drift and clay brought by the 
glaciers, to a depth of hundreds of feet. The 
valleys that had been formed during the Ice 
Period were slightly tilted southward and their 
water currents reversed and caused to flow 
towards the Mississippi. The terminal moraine 
that fringed the border of the great glacier 
near the Pennsylvania line dammed the waters 
that had been turned southward, causing an 
extensive and irregular lake for a while to ex- 
tend like the fingers of a hand up the valleys 
of the Conewango, Cassadaga, Bear creek, and 
other valleys in Chautauqua county, the evi- 
dence of which exists in the fine assorted 
material, fresh water deposits and beds of marl 
that are found there. During this period the 
climate of Chautauqua county was far warmer 
than it is now. Tropical animals then existed 
here, but of species differing from those now 
living. The mastodon and the North Ameri- 
can elephant frequented the shores of the lakes 
that covered the larger valleys of our county 
and its bordering marshes. Their teeth have 
been found in the valley of the Cassadaga and 
in other principal valleys of the county. In 
August, 1871, portions of a gigantic mastodon 
were found one mile north of Jamestown, 
which have been preserved in the Museum of 
the Jamestown High School. During the 
Chautauqua County Centennial in 1902, the 
bones of many of these animals were exhumed 
in the village of Westfield. 

During the Champlain Period, the county 
was fitted for the growth of the cypress, and 
semi-tropical vegetation also, relics of which 
still linger to some extent between the Ridge 
and Lake Erie, the peculiar conditions there, 
and its milder climate, favoring their perpetu- 
ation. These southern species are represented 
by magnolias, the cucumber, the white wood 
or tulip tree, and also by the honey locust 
and wild grape vine, and other growths natural 
to warmer climes. The trees that then formed 
the forests of our county were little like those 
that the first settlers found here. The twigs in 
the stomach of the Jamestown mastodon were 
found to belong to a species of spruce which 
then, undoubtedly, grew here plentifully, but is 
now not known to exist. 

Since then, there has been a succession of 
trees. The first settlers found a dense forest 
of evergreen, pine and hemlock in the whole 
of the four southeastern townships. The hem- 
locks also extended over the rocky ridges and 
along the stony sides of the ravines of the 
smaller streams. The hills and higher lands 
were heavily timbered with deciduous trees, 
principally beech, maple, chestnut and oak. 



The early settlers found relics of an ancient 
and majestic pine forest that once had densely 
covered the hills, at last had yielded the ground 
to the maple and beech, and was now strug- 
gling with the hemlock and black ash in the 
valleys below. 

In the era following the Champlain Period, 
this part of the continent became more ele- 
vated, which caused a more rapid flow of the 
waters. Slowly the outlet of the irregular 
lake that extended over the southern part of 
our county was worn away, the waters low- 
ered, and the basin covered with miry swamps 
and shallow ponds. At length it was fully 
drained, save a few little lakes that lay at its 
furthermost borders. 

The processes of nature have gracefully 
lounded the hills of our county, smoothed and 
shaped its valleys and clothed them with a 
forest of beautiful foliage. Now it would seem 
that the work of creation is complete, and out- 
county finished and ready for man. But the 
work of creation is never complete ; we see 
species of animal and vegetable life succeeding 
each other in a regular system of progress from 
the lower to the higher, commencing with the 
coral and simplest sea plants, rising until now 
we have man and the highest ranks of vegeta- 
ble life. The work of creation is ever going on. 

It is, however, the present landscape of Chau- 
tauqua county that interests us now. In the 
wide valley that extends along the eastern bor- 
ders of the county, flows the Conewango, the 
principal stream of Chautauqua. The Indian 
whose trails once threaded its valley, pro- 
nounced it "Ga-no-wun-go," meaning "in the 
rapids." It empties into the Allegheny, and 
has its source in two lakes that lie close to the 
northern verge of the Ridge, called Mud and 
East Mud lakes. In the deep wide valley of 
the central part of the county flows the Cassa- 
daga, called by the Senecas Gus-da-go. This 
stream has its source in a cluster of little lakes 
that also sparkle near the northern declivity 
of the highlands. Upon their shores is situated 
Lily Dale, "City of Light," the famous sum- 
mer resort of the Spiritualists. Bear creek 
flows through another valley into the Cassa- 
daga. Its source is a pleasant sheet of water 
called Bear Lake, which also lies very near the 
northern verge of the Ridge. 

In the valley next west of Bear and Cassa- 
daga valleys, and extending in the same direc- 
tion from the northern face of the Ridge, is 
that depression in which lies Chautauqua Lake, 
the largest body of water within the limits of 
the county, and one of the most beautiful in 
the State. In this notch, cut so deeply across 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the hills, gleam its bright waters — a paradox 
among lakes. Poised in the crest of the high- 
land, where the sky is only reflected in its crys- 
tal depths, it is so near Lake Erie that we ex- 
pect to see its waters pour down the steep de- 
clivity to join it, and finally meet the sea upon 
the cold and barren coast of Labrador. In- 
stead of this, we find them running southward, 
and, after a long and sinuous journey of over 
twenty-five hundred miles, flowing consecu- 
tively through the Chadakoin, Cassadaga, 
Conewango, Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi, 
to mingle at last with the waters of the Gulf 
of Mexico. The Mississippi river seems to 
stretch forth an arm far beyond its own great 
valley to receive the pure water of this high- 
land lake. 

The hills that rise to the westward of the 
valley in which lies Chautauqua Lake divide 
the waters flowing into this lake from those 
that flow into the Brokenstraw and French 
creeks. These are important tributaries of the 
Allegheny. Findley Lake, the second in size 
in the county, lies farther from the northern 
face of the ridge, and at a higher altitude than 
the others, and discharges its waters into a 
tributary of French creek. Two islands adorn 
this lake and like the others it is filled with 
pure water and surrounded by pleasant shores. 
It is also, like Chautauqua and Cassadaga 
Lakes, the seat of a popular summer resort. 

The streams in the northern part of the 
county are generally shorter and have less 
volume than those in the southern part. 
Among them are the Twenty Mile, Chautauqua 
and Canadaway creeks ; Walnut creek, and 
Silver creek, called by the Indians Ga-a-nun- 
da-ta (a mountain leveled down), have their 
sources in opposite sides of the Conewango 
Valley and unite at the village of Silver creek. 
Cattaraugus, formerly pronounced Ga-da-ges- 
ga-go and also Ga-hun-da, from which word 
Gowanda is evidently derived (meaning fetid 
banks, or stinking waters), flows along the 
border of the county. It is much the largest 
stream that here empties into Lake Erie. It is 
also the longest water course of the county, 
being over fifty miles in length. No other 
stream in the county flows into Lake Erie from 
beyond the highlands that form the watershed. 
The Cattaraugus rises in Cattaraugus county, 
follows a deep depression among the hills, and 
passes beyond the Ridge into Lake Erie. _ At 
Gowanda, thirteen miles from Lake Erie, it is 
but four miles east of the headwaters of the 
Conewango, and yet according to the railroad 
survey, its surface is six hundred feet below 



them, and but two hundred feet above Lake 
Erie. 

Beneath the sand, gravel and loose material 
brought by the glacier, called drift, which 
everywhere covers the whole surface of Chau- 
tauqua county, lie the ancient rocks that form 
its foundation. These formations belong to 
the Devonian Age, or Age of Fishes. They 
contain within themselves a faithful record of 
the earth's history during millions of years, a 
record which, when rightly understood, is 
found never false. The history that we read 
from these rocks tells us of the progress of life, 
the great cataclysms and the wonderful changes 
that have occurred in the ages of time during 
which they were formed. 

The rocks that immediately underlie the 
drift in Chautauqua county belong to the 
Chemung Period of the Devonian Age. The 
character of the shells and fossil seaweeds 
found in them relate the circumstances of their 
creation. They inform us that the county, 
during the Chemung Period, was usually cov- 
ered by a shallow sea of muddy waters spread 
over great sand flats and salt meadows, swept 
by waves and tidal currents. The Chemung 
Period is made up of two epochs, the Portage 
and the Chemung. The rocks of the Portage 
are the oldest, and lie beneath those of the 
Chemung. As all the strata that underlie 
Chautauqua county incline to the south, the 
rocks of the Portage Group come to the sur- 
face and form the bed rock in the northern 
part of the county. Their exposure extends 
high up the northern face of the ridge. They 
are best observed along Lake Erie, where they 
form the high perpendicular bluffs that frown 
along its shores. Along the beds and sides of 
the channel worn by the Canadaway creek 
through the hills of Arkwright and along its 
west branch, these rocks may be seen to ad- 
vantage. Along the banks and beds of Silver 
and Walnut creeks and along the Cattaraugus, 
Chautauqua, Little Chautauqua and Twenty 
Mile creeks, and at various places in the north- 
ern part of the county where smaller streams 
have removed the drift from the surface and 
exposed the underlying rocks, they are well 
displayed. 

Above the Portage, formations coming to 
the surface in the southern part of the county 
lie the rocks of the Chemung Epoch. They are 
exposed to view along the streams and in the 
ravines of the southern part of the county, and 
are best seen along the upper waters of Chau- 
tauqua and Little Chautauqua creeks, the out- 
let of Chautauqua Lake at Dexterville, a part 



GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, CLIMATOLOGY 



of Twenty Mile creek, and at points along the 
Cassadaga and Conewango creeks, and along 
the banks of their tributaries. There are many 
fossil shells and seaweeds in the rocks of the 
Chemung Epoch. Of the multitude of species 
peopling the waters in the Portage and 
Chemung Periods, they are all of ancient forms 
of life, and none has survived to the present 
time. 

The streams that flow northward from the 
highlands have worn deep channels in these 
foundation rocks, which along the northern 
face of the Ridge are known as the Portage 
Shales. The east branch of the Canadaway 
near the western boundary of Arkwright flows 
through a deep, wide chasm, where its waters 
have cut in the rocks a still deeper but narrow 
channel. Here the bed of the stream is more 
than three hundred feet lower than the banks 
on either side. Concealed beneath the dense 
foliage of the trees are several fine cascades. 
But few, even of those living, have visited this 
beautiful glen, and some who have lived long 
in its populated vicinity do not even know 
that such wild waterfalls exist so near them. 
Hemlocks grow in profusion in and along the 
basin of this stream and along its upper waters. 
From this fact the stream derives its Indian 
name '"Ga-na-da-wa-ow," "running through the 
hemlocks." The waterfalls, deep gorges and 
wild scenery of the east, and also of the west 
branch of the Canadaway are characteristic of 
all the streams that flow through the soft 
shales of the Portage formation. Chautauqua 
and Twenty Mile creeks are especially interest- 
ing in this respect. From the side of the can- 
yon in which flows the Chautauqua, and not 
"far from the main highway between Mayville 
and Westfield, a spur of shaly rock projects at 
right angles for many rods into the gorge and 
slopes gradually from a great height at the 
brink of the canyon to the level of the stream. 
The sides of this ridge are very steep and the 
top is very narrow, not wider than a footpath, 
and is used as such to descend into the gorge. 
A similar ridge occurs near one of the princi- 
pal falls of the Canadaway and a number of 
others known as "hog's backs" occur near sev- 
eral other streams flowing through the Portage 
Rocks. 

At Panama and on the tops of the highest 
lulls remain fragments of conglomerate rocks, 
formed in the last part of the Chemung or early 
in the succeeding or Catskill Period, but which 
are partly torn away by the action of glaciers, 
and mingled with the drift, they here having 
partly formed the surface rock during the Ice 
Period. This formation and the underlying 



sandstone is called the Salamanca and Panama 
Conglomerate. It constitutes the last strati- 
fied formation in the county. It is a shore 
formation made as the rocks of the Devonian 
Age began to appear above the surface of an 
ancient ocean that spread its waters there. A 
mass of pebbles, fine gravel and sand had 
gathered on the northerly shore of this vast 
Paleozoic Sea that once extended indefinitely 
southward and for time inconceivable had 
heaved its billows there. The gravel and peb- 
bles were brought into this ocean by rivers 
and streams, and then were washed shoreward 
by the surf and tide, and again seaward by the 
refluent waves, smoothing and rounding peb- 
bles of quartz and producing the collection and 
arrangement of material that make up the 
Panama Conglomerate. It here probably con- 
stituted the last contribution made bv the sea 
to the continent of North America before it 
became dry land. Time cemented the pebbles, 
gravel and sand, into a hard and solid mass. 
The great openings that now appear in these 
rocks, dividing them into blocks as at Panama 
in Chautauqua county and Rock City in Catta- 
ragus county, are not the result of upheavals, 
but probably the quiet work of frost and ice, 
aided by the weight of the rocks — a silent 
process, imperceptibly going on, during that 
almost immeasurable period that has lapsed 
since the Devonian Age, slowly opening and 
widening these fissures into passages so that 
they have come to resemble the streets and 
avenues of a city. 

The time that elapsed after the formation of 
these conglomerates is not represented by any 
stratified rocks in Chautauqua, for the reason 
that the county continued dry land after the 
Devonian Rocks arose above the sea, and left 
no record of events in the amazing period that 
followed. Of what vegetable growths and liv- 
ing creatures existed upon the surface during 
the millions of years included in the vast era 
of time from this event down to the Quater- 
nary, or Age of Man, the formations of the 
county afford no evidence. The rocks in other 
parts of the continent that during all that 
stretch of time were forming beneath the sea, 
continue the story of the earth's history down 
to that very recent era — the Ice Period. In 
the mantle of drift that was spread over the 
count}' in that period, is written a most inter- 
esting geological history ; one that he who 
visits the banks of its streams, the excavations 
made for its railroads and trolley lines, or 
casually rides over the hills of the county, may 
read. 

The coming of the glaciers swept away the 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



greater part of the Panama and Salamanca 
Conglomerate that so long had lain over the 
greater part of the county, before the basin of 
Lake Erie was chiselled out by the ice. Its 
thinnest edge was worn away by the action of 
glaciers. Great blocks of these rocks, however, 
.still lay scattered over the hills of the southern 
towns, and smaller fragments in the drift and 
in the bed of the streams that flow southward. 
The southern limits of this great glacier are 
well defined by a terminal morain which con- 
sists of immense accumulations of boulders, 
gravel, and loose material. North of this 
plainly marked line lie unbroken fields of drift, 
while south of it they disappear altogether. 
This terminal morain has been traced from the 
Atlantic ocean to a long distance west of the 
Mississippi river. It forms the backbone of 
Long Island. It enters New Jersey south of 
New York City, thence it extends westerly 
across that State and northwesterly through 
Pennsylvania and New York to a point near 
Salamanca, where it changes its direction so 
abruptly as to make an acute angle. It then 
proceeds southwesterly into Pennsylvania, 
crossing the Conewango between Warren and 
the New York line. Chautauqua county dur- 
ing the Glacial Period lay close to the "line of 
battle between the frosts of the north and the 
tropical winds of the south." At length the 
great glacier began to yield to the increasing 
warmth. It slowly withdrew its icy wall 
towards the northern borders of our county, 
exposing and leaving everywhere, over the 
southern portion, confused and unfertile heaps 
of loose earth, gravel and stones. Huge 
boulders, as we now see, were scattered at 
intervals entirely above the drift and more or 
less over the whole surface of the county. As 
the receding glacier withdrew, it paused for a 
while at the Ridge, as if stopped by some era 
of cold, turned back, and again pushed its glit- 
tering front a little way southward. The 
record of this movement appears in an exten- 
sive moraine that extends to a width of two or 
three miles along the south side of the crest 
of the Ridge, easily distinguished by the con- 
fused heaps of sand, gravel and boulders, by 
kames and kettle holes. This moraine enters 
the county from the east at the northeast 
corner of Villenova, and extends westerly 
along the borders of the town by East Mud 
Lake. Curving to the south, it passes out of 
Villenova at West Mud Lake, extends west to 
Arkwright Center, and southwest to the upper 
Cassadaga Lake in Pomfret, westerly by Bear 
Lake to Portland : then it curves south. About 
a mile north of Hartfield it turns northward, 



crosses Westfield in an east and west direction, 
enters Ripley north of where the principal 
branch of Twenty Mile creek crosses the east 
line of that town. It then extends westerly 
along and north of that stream. Finally it 
crosses into Pennsylvania. 

At last, yielding to the heat of a warmer 
era, the great glacier withdrew northward be- 
yond Lake Erie, leaving the record of its de- 
parture in the granite boulders thickly scat- 
tered along the northern slope of the Ridge. 
Four or five beach lines, one above the other, 
each at a fixed elevation above the lake, ex- 
tend in parallel lines along the lower lands that 
border Lake Erie. These beach lines mark 
the halts in the process of lowering the great 
sea or lake that extended northward from the 
county, while obstructions to its drainage were 
being removed. The great glacier gradually 
succumbed to the milder climate that intro- 
duced the Champlain Period and at last en- 
tirely disappeared, leaving the lake nearly at 
its present level. The process of lowering its 
waters is still going on. Niagara Falls has 
worn away seven miles of the twenty-two 
miles of rock that intervenes before Lake Erie 
will be reached and drained to its bottom, re- 
minding us again that the process of creation 
is to continue, with all its kaleidoscopic 
changes, until time shall end. 

The topography of the county has much to 
do with its climate, and in connection with the 
varied character of its soils, with the varied 
character of its agricultural products also. It 
has given to different parts of the county dif- 
ferent weather conditions. The first of these 
distinct climates is found in a narrow strip of 
territory, in width from three to five miles, 
along the shore of the towns that border on 
Lake Erie. This part has the lowest elevation 
of any land in the county. Lake Erie is 573 
feet above tide-water. This belt of land, from 
a level of about twenty feet above Lake Erie, 
gradually rises to the southward until at the 
foot of the hills it is about 250 feet above the 
lake. Although this portion of the county is 
subject to rigorous winters common to its lati- 
tude, its climate is much milder than that of 
other parts. Its lower altitude, and its proxi- 
mity to the waters of the lake, postpone the 
cold of winter; its humid atmosphere protects 
against the frost of spring. It is, however, sub- 
ject to more severe droughts than the other 
portions of the county. The influx of the 
lake extends not only over this narrow border 
of land, but over the northern slope of the hills. 
All this part of the county is well adapted to 



GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, CLIMATOLOGY 



the production of cereals and fruit, especially 
the grape. 

In the soils, and even in the products of the 
soil, may thus be read the striking- and inter- 
esting story of the glacier. Extending in 
nearly a straight line from Pennsylvania to the 
Cattaraugus creek is a very narrow strip of 
coarse gravel called the "Dunkirk Gravel." It 
passes through the villages of Ripley, West- 
field, Brocton, Fredonia and Sheridan. Here 
the grape industry was first begun. This 
gravel is the best adapted to the production of 
the early grape, and also for the peach and 
plum. This narrow line of gravel marks one 
of the old beaches, and points out the lake's 
level at some time far back in the past. The 
dry soil and regular character of this natural 
formation has ever recommended its use to 
both the white and the red man. For centuries 
the great trail of the Indians leading from 
Buffalo to the West traversed it. The pioneers 
built the Main or Erie road upon it. Extend- 
ing the whole distance and parallel to this are 
other narrow lines of gravel, marking other 
ancient beaches of the lake. Between and on 
either side of these lines of gravel are strips of 
soil called "Dunkirk Gravel Loam," a soil 
adapted to the production of grapes and gar- 
den products. In the territory between these 
lines of old beaches and Lake Erie, the land is 
divided between what is denominated "Dun- 
kirk Sandy Loam" and "Dunkirk Clay." The 
former is said to produce the largest yield of 
grapes, and the latter a superior quality. Im- 
mediately south of these old beaches of gravel 
and gravel loam, and extending over nearly 
the whole northern face of the highlands, are 
wide areas of territory called "Dunkirk Shale 
Loam." The soil here is not made of miscel- 
laneous debris deposited by the ice sheet, as in 
most parts of the county, but is composed of 
the weathered products of the foundation 
rocks of the Chemung Period, left bare by the 
glaciers. This soil is barren and unfit for agri- 
cultural purposes other than the raising of 
grapes, but here the grapes, though small in 
quantity, are of the best quality, the favorite 
of the consumer, and much esteemed in the 
manufacture of wine. 

There is another and severer climate in the 
deep and wide valleys that extend through the 
highlands in the southern part of the county, 
from the Pennsylvania line to the northern 
face of the ridge or escarpment through which 
flows all the larger streams of the county. 
Cassadaga Lake, according to the survey of 
the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh 
railroad, and also the State topographical sur- 



vey of the "Westfield Area," is seven hundred 
thirty-two feet above Lake Erie, and thirteen 
hundred five feet above the ocean. Chautauqua 
Lake, according to the survey, is but three 
feet higher than Cassadaga Lake. Bear Lake 
is substantially of the same elevation. These 
lakes all lie at the head of valleys which ex- 
tend with but little descent to the Pennsyl- 
vania line. These upland valleys converge and 
become one in the southeastern part of the 
county, where at Fentonville, the lowest point, 
it is but fifty to sixty feet below the Cassadaga 
Lake, so that all of these wide upland valleys, 
which include the Conewango, Cassadaga, 
Bear and Goose creeks, Chautauqua Lake, 
Stillwater, Brokenstraw, French creek and 
other lesser vales, have elevations of but little 
variation, and all exceeding twelve hundred 
thirty feet, and less than fourteen hundred 
thirty above the ocean. In consequence of the 
greater elevations of these valleys and other 
circumstances, a severer climate prevails there 
than along Lake Erie ; the spring is longer 
delayed, winter comes earlier and the snow 
lies deeper; these circumstances and a different 
soil make the agricultural products of these 
upland valleys quite different from the coun- 
try along Lake Erie. The soil of these valleys 
in some places is designated as "Meadow" and 
in other places as "Cassadaga Sand." These 
soils are adapted to the raising of grapes when 
drained. Fruit, with the exception of the apple, 
and grain, are not so profitably raised. Stock 
raising and dairying chiefly occupy the atten- 
tion of the farmer. 

A third and still more rigorous climate pre- 
vails among the hills that border these valleys 
and which occupy the principal area of the 
county. These hills often rise to the height of 
sixteen or seventeen hundred feet above the 
ocean, and three or four hundred feet above the 
neighboring valleys. In Cherry Creek, Char- 
lotte and Gerry the summits of some of these 
hills are two thousand feet above the ocean, 
and in Arkwright nearly as high. Two places 
near the boundary line between the towns of 
Charlotte and Cherry Creek, being points on 
lots 60 and 62 of the latter town, reach the 
elevation of 2,100 feet above the ocean, accord- 
ing to the late topographical survey by the 
State; an elevation of over 1,500 feet above 
Lake Erie, and over 800 feet above the neigh- 
boring valley of the Conewango. In the south- 
eastern part of the county, not yet surveyed, 
where the hills are prophetic of the moun- 
tains beyond, it is believed are located its high- 
est lands. The following villages and hamlets 
among the highlands are fifteen hundred feet 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



or more above the ocean level: Ellery, 1,758 
above the sea; Summerdale, 1,639; Arkwright, 
1,632; Mina, 1,600; North Clymer, 1,562; Vo- 
lusia, 1,560; Panama, 1,551; Stedman, 1,550; 
Sherman, 1,549; Charlotte Center, 1,530; and 
Centralia, 1,500. 

The soil that covers the elevated parts of the 
county, according to the State soil survey, are 
"Volusia Loam" and "Volusia Sand Loam," 
principally the latter, which is adapted to the 
raising of grass, oats, potatoes and apples. 
Here among the uplands the snow comes earli- 
est in autumn, falls deepest in winter, and lies 
latest in spring. Sometimes in the spring, 
when the grass is green and fruit trees are 
blossoming along the shore of Lake Erie, the 
hills of Arkwright and Charlotte are white 
with snow. But what cares the tenant of those 
snowy hills? There he has passed his early 
years and breasted the storms of many a win- 
ter ! He would not change his bleak highland 
farm for the pleasantest fields along the lake. 
Love of home is strong indeed! It can make 
the hills more beautiful and the fields more 
green. It can magnify beauties and remove 
blemishes. It can even make the rigorous sea- 
sons bear pleasant memories. Who reverts to 
the Chautauqua winters of his early years, 
inclement as they were, without a pleasing 
remembrance? In winter the drifts lie deeply 
around the farm houses, and bury the fields 
and fences from view. Travel is blocked upon 
the highway and the farmer for a while is im- 
prisoned by the storm. 

Propitiously as the spring season opens, it 
is subject to chilly relapses. In Chautauqua 
county, winter lingers long in the lap of spring. 
The ice which gathers in Lake Erie during the 
colder months, loosened by the warmth of the 
advancing season, drifts to the foot of the lake, 
and sometimes remains unmelted until almost 
June, bringing raw and inclement weather to 
the adjacent shores. Nipping frosts often 
visit the farmer during the last days of May, 
and even in the month of June, cutting his 
corn and destroying his fruit. 

In the summer time the trees are mantled 
with a mass of foliage. Abundant springs and 
heavy dews keep the meadows and pastures 



green. In the northern part of the county the 
sultry air is tempered by refreshing breezes 
from Lake Erie bearing health and" strength 
upon their healing wings. Cool nights and 
pleasing rural scenery invite thousands annu- 
ally to pass the heated term upon the shores 
of the lakes. Nowhere is the climate and scen- 
ery more pleasing than in our county in the 
summer time. An Italian sunset can scarcely 
excel the scene that may be witnessed from the 
hills of Chautauqua on a summer afternoon, 
when the broad red disk of the sun, slowly de- 
scending into the blue waves of Lake Erie, 
closes the day in fiery splendor. 

The glory of the American forest in autumn 
has been often told, but nowhere does the 
woodland appear in greater splendor than 
among our Chautauqua hills. There nature 
seems to have spilled her choicest pigments 
upon the woods. At length, frosts and falling 
leaves point to the return of winter, yet among 
the hills of Chautauqua the season lingers for 
awhile ; the year ripens into mildness and In- 
dian summer comes. The sharp contrasts of 
light and shade in the clear air of spring dis- 
appear in autumn. In the hazy atmosphere 
the line between sky and earth is dimly drawn, 
only the film}- outline of the hills is seen. The 
shades of the valley deepen in the murky light. 
In the distant vales they fade almost into dark- 
ness. While yet the air is soft and the heavens 
serene, wild geese begin their southward flight 
in long converging lines, as if moving runic 
characters were written in the sky foretelling 
the approach of storms and snows. Distant 
sounds seem near in the hollow air. From far 
in the upper sky comes the strange warning 
voice of their leader, startling and clear, guid- 
ing his brood in their wedge-like flight from 
the icy fields of Canada, high above the waters 
of Lake Erie and Chautauqua, in unerring 
course to the tepid lakes and rushy streams of 
warmer climes. Responsive to these warning 
signs, winter comes with all his blustering 
crew of chills and snows, freezing winds and 
pinching frosts, and at last the keen blasts of 
December howl him a fierce welcome to his 
ancient and favorite domain among the whiten- 
ing hills of Old Chautauqua. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Mound Builders. 

The pioneer of Chautauqua county found it covery of unmistakable evidences of its hav- 

an unbroken wilderness; yet often when ex- ing been anciently inhabited by a numerous 

ploring its silent depths, where forest shadows people. Crowning the brows of hills that were 

hung deepest, they were startled at the dis- flanked by deep ravines, along the shores of its 




DIAN MOUNDS IX CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



THE MOUND BUILDERS 



lakes and streams, in its valleys at numerous 
points, were the plain traces of their indus- 
try — earthworks or fortifications, mostly circu- 
lar; pits bearing marks of use by fire; ancient 
highways and mounds in which lay buried 
mouldering skeletons ; and later, where forests 
had given place to cultivated fields, the spade 
and plow in the springtime made strange reve- 
lations of rude implements of war and peace, 
and oftentimes of the crumbling relics of an 
ancient burial place. At first these monuments 
were believed to be of European origin ; and 
patient research was made among early rec- 
ords for an account of events happening upon 
the Eastern continent, a little prior to and 
about the time of the discovery of America, 
that would afford an explanation of their exist- 
ence. But the great age of the forest trees 
growing above them, and other marks of an- 
tiquity, demonstrated this belief to be un- 
founded. A solution of the mystery was then 
sought among the traditions of the aborigines, 
but careful investigation has proved these 
ruins to be so old that tradition can throw no 
light upon them ; and that they cannot be the 
work of the ancestors of the Indian found here. 

Commencing near the centre of the State, 
they extend westwardly. Over Chautauqua 
county they were thickly strewn ; farther to 
the west and south, in the valleys of the Ohio 
and Mississippi, these ancient remains were 
still more numerously found in larger dimen- 
sions, and, it is evident, of much greater an- 
tiquity. There for a long period of time must 
have dwelt a large and industrious people. 
The geometric precision with which their 
works were constructed ; the fine workman- 
ship of their pottery ; their ornaments and im- 
plements of copper, silver and porphyry; the 
remarkable skill and the long period of time 
during which they must have worked the cop- 
per mines of Lake Superior — proved them to 
have possessed a considerable degree of civili- 
zation. 

In the town of Sheridan, not far from where 
the Erie railway crosses the highway between 
Fredonia and Forestville, at an early day was 
plainly to be seen an ancient fortification, circu- 
lar in form, enclosing many acres. The evi- 
dence then existed that the land in that vicin- 
ity had once been cleared, but had since come 
up to timber of at least three hundred years' 
growth. Pestles, mortars and other stone im- 
plements were found, and numerous pits occur- 
ring at regular intervals were formerly ob- 
served there. These in every instance were 
found two together or in pairs. In this vicin- 
ity, from time to time many human bones have 



also been brought to light. In the summer of 
1870, a large grave was opened from which a 
great number of skeletons were exhumed. 
These were the bones of individuals of both 
sexes, and all ages from infancy to old age. 
They were indiscriminately mingled together, 
clearly indicating an unceremonious and pro- 
miscuous burial. Near the eastern boundary of 
the village of Fredonia, not far from the Cana- 
daway, extending from bank to bank a distance 
of about two hundred feet across the level sum- 
mit of an eminence, still known as "Fort Hill," 
was once an ancient intrenchment, in front of 
which was once the traces of a large pit. In 
the vicinity of these remains, human bones 
and the usual Indian relics have occasionally 
been found. In the town of Westfield were 
extensive remains of earthworks, and in the 
town of Portland, besides a circular earthwork 
and other evidences of ancient occupation, 
there were also several ancient roadways — ex- 
cavations have shown that one of them was 
underlaid by a bed of large stone deeply cov- 
ered with earth and gravel. 

Around the beautiful lakes and village of 
Cassadaga occur perhaps the most extensive 
remains of any in the county. At the ex- 
tremity of the cape which extends from 
the southwestern side far into the lower of 
these lakes, is a curious and conspicuous 
mound. Its longest diameter is about seven 
rods, its shortest five. Its summit is about 
twelve feet above the level of the lake, and is 
about eight feet above the low neck of land in 
its rear that connects it with the higher and 
wider part of the cape. Whether it is an arti- 
ficial structure or the work of nature, is open 
to conjecture ; it seems, however, to have been 
anciently occupied, for the usual relics have 
been found there in great abundance. Stretch- 
ing across this cape for a distance of perhaps 
twenty rods along the brink of the plateau that 
rises about twelve rods in the rear of this 
tumulus, was an earthenware breastwork. Still 
further to the rear, extending nearly from shore 
to shore, was another breastwork. Thus were 
several acres enclosed by these earthen works 
and the two shores of the lake. In the vicinity, 
large quantities of pottery and stone utensils 
have been found. Near the northern shore of 
the lake was a large mound ; although frequent 
plowing had reduced the dimensions, it is still 
four or~five feet high and three or four rods in 
diameter. It is said to have been twelve feet 
high when first seen, with forest trees of cen- 
turies growth standing upon it. About 1822, 
this mound was excavated and a large number 
of human skeletons exhumed. Extending 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



from an extensive fire bed in the neighborhood 
of the mound, in a northwesterly direction a 
distance of sixty rods or more, on the east side 
of the lake, was an elevated strip of land of the 
width of the track of an ordinary turnpike, 
bearing the appearance of having been once a 
graded way. The traces of this ancient road 
are still plainly visible. At various other places 
around Cassadaga and along the shore of the 
lake, were numerous caches and extensive fire 
beds or hearths with an abundance of coal and 
ashes buried deep in the ground. Skeletons 
have been exhumed in many places, and 
arrows, pottery and stone implements in great 
profusion. 

Extensive remains were also found at Sin- 
clairville and in its vicinity. A distance of 
about one mile south of that village, in the 
town of Gerry, was a circular intrenchment in- 
closing several acres, within which numerous 
skeletons and rude implements of stone have 
been discovered. Northeast of this intrench- 
ment a distance of about one hundred and 
thirty rods, was an ancient cemetery in which 
the remains of many people seem to have been 
regularly interred. This old Indian burying 
ground was well known from the first settle- 
ment of the county, and was a subject of much 
speculation among the early inhabitants. Fifty 
years ago or more, as many as fifty skeletons 
were disinterred on one occasion. Some of 
them are said to have been of unusual size ; and 
within the last twenty years (written in 1875) 
twenty-five skeletons were disinterred on an- 
other occasion (the author being present). 
The bodies were regularly buried in a sitting 
position, in rows, alternating and facing each 
other. In the woods in Gerry, two miles south- 
east of Sinclairville, is still visible one of these 
circular fortifications with large forest trees 
growing from its ditch and wall. Close by Sin- 
clairville, upon the high bluff to the west that 
rises precipitously from Mill creek, was once 
an earthwork, circular in form, within which 
was a deep excavation. The excavation and 
intrenchment have long since disappeared, and 



now from this commanding eminence so in- 
closed, a beautiful prospect may be had of the 
village and the surrounding hills. 

Extending along the northern and southern 
boundary of the plateau, on which a principal 
part of the village is situated, were two earthen 
breastworks. Between these two embank- 
ments the main fortifications seem to have 
been situated. It was an extensive circular 
earthwork, having a trench without, and a 
gateway opening to a small stream that passed 
along its southern side. This work inclosed 
six or seven acres of what is now a central por- 
tion of the village. A part of the main street, 
portions of other streets and the village green, 
all were included within this old inclosure. 

At other points within the town of Gerry 
and in the town of Stockton, were remains of 
similar earth works and other evidences of an 
early occupation. In the town of Ellington, at 
different places along the terrace of low hills 
that borders either side of the valley of Clear 
creek, there existed at the first settlement of 
the county the remains of many of these circu- 
lar inclosures, in the vicinity of which stone 
implements and other relics have been plenti- 
fully discovered. Along the shore and outlet 
of Chautauqua Lake were numerous mounds 
and other vestiges. Two of these and the 
traces of an old roadway are still visible near 
the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake at Grif- 
fith's Point, in the town of Ellery. The descrip- 
tion given of the aboriginal monuments found 
in these localities will suffice for a further 
account of those that were found numerously 
distributed in other parts of the county, for 
they all bear the same general resemblance. 
They prove this region to have once been a 
favorite resort of an early race. Whence they 
came, how long they remained, and what for- 
tunes attended their existence, we have no 
lecord of. There can be little doubt, however, 
that here were once rudely cultivated fields 
and perhaps populous villages, inhabited by 
strange and primitive people. 



The Indian names by which we know many 
of the places in Chautauqua county were words 
in the Seneca tongue. Chautauqua Lake in 
1749 was known to the French as Tchadakoin, 
which, pronounced according to the rules of 
French orthoepy, is not unlike our word Chau- 



CHAPTER III. 
Origin of the Name Chautauqua. 

tauqua. For over fift\ 



ears the name under- 
went in French and English, various spellings, 
receiving but a slightly different pronuncia- 
tion, until we find it spelled upon the maps of 
the Holland Company, made in 1804, Chau- 
taughque. After the settlement of the county 







I'lMllITSToRIC 1'.' iNL'.S 



ORIGIN OF NAME CHAUTAUQUA 



it was spelled Chautauque until 1859, when by 
a resolution by the board of supervisors, it was 
changed to Chautauqua. The pronunciation of 
the word by the Senecas was as if it was 
spelled Jahdahgwah, the first two vowels long 
and the last short. 

Chautauqua creek was pronounced the same 
as the lake, and was spelled Chau-taugh-que 
on the map of the Holland Company made in 
1804. It is marked on Celoron's map as the 
river "Aux Pommes" (Apple river). The 
Chautauqua Outlet, now called the Chadakoin, 
and the Conewango creek were pronounced 
Ga-no-wun-go, meaning "in the rapids," prob- 
ably in allusion to the rapids above Warren, 
Pennsylvania, and at and below Jamestown. 
Cassadaga creek and lake were called Gus- 
da-go, and also Ze-car-ne-o-di, meaning, it is 
said, "under the rocks." Cattaraugus creek 
was called Ga-da-ges-ga-go and also Ga-nun-da 
from which evidently Gowanda is derived, and 
means "fetid" or "stinking banks." The Indian 
name for the Canadaway was Ga-na-da-wa-o, 
meaning "running through the hemlocks." 
Silver creek was called Ga-a-nun-da-ta, mean- 
ing "a mountain leveled down." On Harden- 
burgh's map made in 1787, the Indian town on 
Kiantone creek is spelled Kyenthono. Still- 
water creek is written Gaw-on-age-dock, and 
the Little Brokenstraw of Harmony, Cosh-not- 
e-a-go. 

The name Ohio or La Belle Rievere was 
applied by the French to that portion of the 
Allegheny extending up from Pittsburgh as far 
at least as Franklin, as well as to the Ohio 
proper. It is probable that the Conewango, 
Chautauqua Lake and outlet, and perhaps that 
part of the Allegheny below the mouth of the 
Conewango to Franklin, were called by the 
French the "Tchadakoin," as inscribed upon the 
leaden plate they buried at important points, 
and that in process of time this appellation was 
retained only by the lake. The word under- 
went various changes in orthography until it 
came to be spelled Chautauqua. On a manu- 
script map of 1749, made by a Jesuit in the 
Department de la Marne in Paris, it is spelled 
Tjadakoin, and the Chautauqua creek that 
empties into Lake Erie in the town of West- 
field is called the Riviere Aux Pommes, or 
Apple river. In the translation of the letters 
of Du Quesne, governor-general of Canada in 
1753, it is spelled "Chataconit." In Stephen 
Coffin's affidavit sworn to before Sir William 
Johnson in 1754, "Chadakoin." In Pouchot 
history and map accompanying it, "Shatacoin." 



On Pownell's map of 1776 and Evans' map of 
1755, it is written "Judaxque." General Wil- 
liam Irvine, who visited Chautauqua prior to 
1788, writes it "Jadaqua." 

The name in the Seneca traditions was said 
to mean "the place where one was lost," or 
"the place of easy death." Cornplanter, in his 
famous speech against the title of the Phelps 
and Gorham tracts, alluding to his tradition, 
said : "In this case one chief has said he would 
ask you to put him out of pain ; another who 
will not think of dying by the hand of his 
father or his brother, has said he will retire to 
Chauddauk-wa, eat of the fatal root, and sleep 
with his fathers in peace." 

Dr. Peter Wilson, an educated Cayuga chief, 
communicated this interesting Seneca tradi- 
tion : "A party of Senecas returning from the 
Ohio in the spring of the year ascended the 
outlet of Chautauqua Lake, passed into the 
lake, and while crossing caught a fish of a kind 
with which they were not familiar, but threw 
into the canoe. Reaching the head of the lake, 
they made a portage across to Chautauqua 
creek, then swollen with the spring freshets. 
Descending the creek into Lake Erie, they 
found to their astonishment the fish still alive. 
They threw it into the lake and it disappeared. 
In process of time the same fish appeared abun- 
dantly in the lake, having never been caught in 
it before. They concluded they all sprang 
from the Chautauqua Lake progenitor, hence 
they named that lake Ga-ja-dah-gwah, com- 
pounded of the two Seneca words, Ga-jah, 
'fish.' and ga-dah-gwah, 'taken out.' In course 
of time the word was contracted into 'Jah-dah- 
gwah'." 

Other meanings have been assigned the 
word. Chautauqua has been said to mean 
"foggy place," in allusion to the mist arising 
from the lake; also to mean "high up," re- 
ferring to the elevated situation of the lake; 
while "it is said that early Indian interpreters, 
well versed in the Seneca tongue, gave ^ its 
meaning to be "a pack tied in the middle," or 
"two moccasins fastened together," from the 
resemblance of the lake to those objects. 

A beautiful Seneca tradition lends an addi- 
tional charm to Chautauqua Lake. "A young 
squaw is said to have eaten of a root growing 
on its bank, which created tormenting thirst. 
To stake it, she stooped down to drink of its 
clear waters, and disappeared forever, hence 
the name of the lake, Ja-Da-Qua, or the place 
of easy death, where one disappears and is seen 
no more." 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



CHAPTER IV. 
The Destruction of the Eries. 



This brief review of early history and con- 
quest reveals the fact that the French far out- 
stripped the English in exploring and settling 
this continent. 

In 1615, before the landing of the Pilgrims, 
the French, led by Champlain, had penetrated 
hundreds of miles into the wilderness and 
reached the distant shores of Lake Huron. 
There he learned that the country southeast 
of Lake Erie, where lies Chautauqua county, 
was the home of the Je-go-sa-sa — as the Sene- 
cas called them — the Eries, or the nation of the 
Cat. The same year and before Miles Standish 
smote the heathen with his sword of Damas- 
cus, Ettiene Brule, Champlain's interpreter, 
guided by twelve Hurons, had traversed the 
wilderness of Western New York and visited 
the country of the Eries and Carantouan, their 
principal village. 

In 1656, in a fierce war with the Iroquois, 
the Eries were destroyed and ceased to exist 
as a nation. Their warriors were mostly slain, 
their women and children, driven from their 
villages, perished in great numbers in the wil- 
derness. Their towns, of which we find such 
numerous remains in our county, were de- 
stroyed, or went to decay, and their rudely cul- 
tivated fields were covered with a forest 
growth again. 

La Salle, the most remarkable explorer that 
ever visited this continent, on his voyage west- 
ward in the "Griffin," the first vessel to spread 
its sails to the breezes of Lake Erie, in 1679, 
passed in plain sight of the forest covered hills 
of Chautauqua. Two or three years later he 
journeyed westward from the Onondaga coun- 
try in New York to the headwaters of the Ohio. 
"After fifteen days' travel," says his ancient 
biographer, "he came to a little lake six or 
seven miles south of Lake Erie, the mouth of 
which opened southeastward." There is little 
doubt that this was Chautauqua Lake, and that 
La Salle and his companions were its first 
European visitors. At that time there must 
have remained many evidences of the great 
calamity that had then so recently befallen the 
Eries — abandoned cornfields grown up to 
briars and saplings, fallen palisades — the sites 
of their longhouses — overrun by nettles and 
fireweed, and now and then the bones of a mur- 
dered Erie. Now, nearly two and one-half 
centuries after the fires of the Eries have been 
put out, there remains in Chautauqua county 
abundant evidence of their ancient occupation. 
More than thirty entrenchments enclosing 



from one-fourth of an acre to ten acres, are 
known to have existed within the limits of the 
county : At least ten along the country border- 
ing the Cassadaga creek; as many more along 
the valley of Clear Creek in Ellington ; a half 
a dozen or more in the towns along Lake Erie ; 
several around Chautauqua Lake and its out- 
let, and in other parts of the county. Six or 
seven of these earthworks are now in perfect 
preservation, and a few more but partly oblit- 
erated. 

Sometimes the plow reveals the moulder- 
ing relics of an ancient burial place. Besides 
low mounds in which many were buried in 
confused masses, separate graves of many 
others have from time to time been discovered. 
About one mile south of Sinclairville, not far 
from an old intrenchment, there seems to have 
been an extensive cemetery. In a single 
mound, opened May 25, 1887, when the writer 
was present, were revealed more than fifty 
skeletons. Not many rods away, other mounds 
and graves had previously been opened, dis- 
closing the bones of many of their dead 
Hearths of their longhouses, and ash heaps, 
some of them extensive, numerously exist in 
all parts of the county ; also caches for preserv- 
ing their corn. In and around these old in- 
trenchments and ash heaps, arrowheads, stone 
axes, ornaments of stone, pipes of clay and 
other implements, are still abundantly found, 
while flint arrowheads lost by the Indians in 
their hunting excursions are found on almost 
every farm. 

Prior to and at the time of the destruction of 
the Eries, there dwelt around Lakes Erie and 
Ontario several nations of Indians who were 
of the same race, spoke a language much alike, 
practiced the same customs, and undoubtedly 
were once one people. The valley of the Mo- 
hawk and the country westward in the State 
of New York to the Genesee river, was the 
territory of the Iroquois or Six Nations. In 
Canada between Lake Simcoe and the Georgian 
Bay, were the homes of the Hurons. Along 
the northern shore of Lake Erie and extend- 
ing east of the Niagara river toward the Iro- 
quois, was the country of the Neutral nation. 
The Eries lived in Chautauqua county, and 
their territories extended a little eastward 
towards the Iroquois, and westward along the 
southern shore of Lake Erie. 

North of the Eries and between Lake Erie 
and the dominions of the Iroquois, and not far 
from the borders of our own county, the pre- 



DESTRUCTION OF THE ERIES 



cise location of which is not certainly known, 
once dwelt a kindred people called the Wen- 
rohronons, or Ahouenrochrhonons, a small 
tribe allied to the Neutrals, and once the asso- 
ciate nation of that people. For some cause, 
enmity arose between them. The domain of 
the Iroquois, their common foe, and the fiercest 
and most warlike of these nations, extended 
near them. The Wenrohronons being weak in 
numbers, feared that they might be extermi- 
nated by one or the other of their enemies, so 
they sent a deputation of the most intelligent 
of their people to the Hurons, and asked to be 
taken into that nation. The Hurons, in their 
councils and assemblies, fully considered the 
matter, and decided to receive them, where- 
upon the Wenrohronons abandoned their old 
homes in Western New York and traveled 
through the wilderness to the land of the 
Hurons on Lake Simcoe. The Hurons sent a 
delegation to escort them through the terri- 
tories of their enemies, and to assist them in 
carrying their household goods and little chil- 
dren. There were over six hundred of the 
Wenrohronons, a majority of whom were 
women and children. So great was their 
fatigue that many of them died on their way, 
and nearly all were sick at the end of their 
journey. When news of their approach was 
received at the nearest Huron village, all of its 
inhabitants went out to meet them and re- 
ceived them with the greatest kindness. No 
civilized people could have displayed more 
sympathy and humanity than the Hurons. 
They gave these strangers, who in their ex- 
tremity had sought refuge among them, the 
best places in their cabins, the}' opened their 
granaries of corn, which the Wenrohronons 
were given the liberty to use as their own. 
Father Jerome Lalemant, the Jesuit, was pres- 
ent among the Hurons at the time, and wit- 
nessed these occurrences. This hegira of the 
Wenrohronons took place in 1639. 

The Hurons and the Iroquois were implaca- 
ble foes. In 1642 they engaged in a fierce war 
which resulted in the annihilation of the 
Hurons, and the massacre of the French Jesuits 
living among them. In 165 1, in another sav- 
age war, the Iroquois entirely wiped out the 
Neutrals. In 1656, between 1,000 and 2,000 
warriors of the Iroquois entered the territory 
of the Eries, and with savage fury assaulted 
one of their towns, which was resolutely de- 
fended by the Eries, who fought with poisoned 
arrows. It was finally carried by the Iroquois 
with a slaughter so terrible as to wholly de- 
stroy that people. The Senecas, a nation of 
the Iroquois, have a tradition that on the night 



after the battle, the forest was lighted up by a 
thousand fires, at each of which an Erie was 
burning at the stake. Chautauqua county was 
the scene of much of this savage strife, but 
where the final encounter occurred is not at 
this time precisely known. 

Among the many evidences that the earth- 
works in Chautauqua county are the remains 
of the conquered Eries, is that furnished by the 
ancient French map of Frankuelin, dated 1684, 
less than thirty years after the overthrow of 
that people, upon which Lake Erie and the 
Allegheny river are represented. On the upper 
waters of that river, and towards Lake Erie, at 
a location corresponding with that of Chau- 
tauqua Lake, is noted in words of French "two 
villages destroyed," and east of this locality is 
noted "nineteen villages destroyed." This last 
reference is probably to the villages repre- 
sented by the numerous remains of the earth- 
works found in Eastern Chautauqua and Cat- 
taraugus counties. The people living south of 
Lake Erie are called Kentaientonga. Upon 
several old maps made by the French, Chau- 
tauqua Lake is called Oniasont or Oniassont, 
and the people who inhabit the region, Onta- 
rononas, and on one map Oniassontkeronons. 
A village is represented as having been located 
at Bemus Point. Oniasont is the first record we 
find of a name for Chautauqua Lake. The 
word is said to mean a lake with a narrow con- 
necting strait ; Oniasa, a neck or throat. 

From the destruction of the Eries until its 
settlement by the pioneers of the Holland Pur- 
chase, Chautauqua county continued the 
domain of the Senecas, the most western of the 
Iroquois nations. Sixty years after the death 
of La Salle, we find France and England en- 
gaged in an earnest contention respecting the 
boundary between their possessions in Amer- 
ica. France, in order more distinctly to assert 
her rights to the disputed territory, in 1749 
sent Capt. Bienville De Celoron, a chevalier of 
the Order of St. Louis, from La Chine in 
Canada, with a force of two hundred fourteen 
soldiers and Canadians, and fifty-five Iroquois 
and Abenakies, in order to take a more formal 
possession. He coasted along the southern 
shore of Lake Erie, and arrived at the mouth 
of the Chautauqua creek (now Barcelona) on 
the 16th of July of that year, where he landed 
his motley retinue of French soldiers, Cana- 
dian frontiersmen, half-naked Indians, and here 
and there a priest, and some undoubtedly of 
those remarkable rangers, the Coureurs-de- 
bois, or Canadian voyagers. He then pushed 
over the difficult portage to the head of Chau- 
tauqua Lake, where he arrived on the 22d. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



On his arrival, he and his companions must 
have been impressed with the lovely and 
tranquil scene as it appeared on that summer 
day. He saw before him a placid and seques- 
tered lake, stretching away southeast into the 
primeval forest, its beauty enhanced by the 
dark and silent wilderness that surrounded it. 
Not long did he tarry there. The next day he 
embarked. His fleet of bark canoes manned 
by the French and their dusky allies, passed 
the maple groves of the Assembly ground at 
Fair Point — shades then unvisited save by the 
wild deer that strayed in from the forest 
depths to sniff the cool breezes of the lake. 
Watched from the shore by strange Indians, he 
passed Long and Bemus Points, into the broad 
expanse of the lower lake, and encamped for 
the night upon the shore three miles above the 
outlet. On the 24th he passed through the 
shadows of its narrow and winding channel, 
and encamped at night, it is believed, within 
the limits of what is now the city of James- 
town. The next day he proceeded on his voy- 
age down the Chadakoin, Cassadaga, Cone- 
wango, Allegheny and Ohio rivers, burying 
leaden plates on his way, as tokens of French 
dominion. When he reached the mouth of the 
Great Miami, he directed his course up that 
river and returned again to Canada. A leaden 
plate prepared for burial at Chautauqua was 
obtained by some artifice of the Senecas accom- 
panying Celoron, and sent to Sir William John- 
son at Jamestown on the Mohawk. Upon the 
leaden plate, with other French words, was 
engraved the word Tchadakoin — the name of 
the place of its intended burial. This is the 
earliest record that we have of the Indian word 
from which our name Chautauqua is derived. 

A few years later the French asserted their 
claim to these regions in a still more decisive 
manner, and our county, although a deep soli- 
tude, far from the outmost line of settlement, 
became the scene of warlike demonstrations. 

In April, 1753, while the Marquis du Quesne 
was governor-general of Canada, an advanced 
force of two hundred fifty Frenchmen under 
Barbeer arrived at the mouth of the Chau- 
tauqua creek and commenced the building of a 
log fort. A little later Sieur Marin, the chief 
commander of the expedition, arrived with five 
hundred more, and put a stop to the building. 
The French then advanced further to the west, 
and built a fort at Erie, Pennsylvania, then 
known as Presque Isle, and another at La 
Boeuf (now Waterford, Pa.), on French creek, 
and still another at Venango, at the mouth of 
French creek (now Franklin, Pa.). 



October 30th, the French assembled twelve 
hundred men at or near Barcelona, where they 
remained encamped four days, while two hun- 
dred of their number under Hughs Pean, after- 
wards a knight of St. Louis, cut a wagon road 
from the mouth of Chautauqua creek to the 
head of Chautauqua Lake. All the French 
then returned to Canada. 

Samuel Shattuck, afterwards a resident of 
Chautauqua county, when a mere lad, accom- 
panied an officer and five men detailed by 
Lieut. Hitchen Holland, the commanding offi- 
cer of the English post at Oswego, in the 
month of April, 1753, to watch the French 
while they were engaged in these expeditions. 
Shattuck and his party traversed the wilder- 
ness from Oswego to a point on Lake Erie, a 
few miles from the mouth of the Cattaraugus 
creek, and soon after had the good fortune to 
witness the French flotilla bearing the forces 
of Barbeer on their way westward. Lake Erie 
was then a sailless waste of waters, bordered 
on every side by primeval forests. The scene 
as witnessed from within the depths of this 
great western solitude, on that fine April after- 
noon, is described as beautiful, and animated, 
as the fleet of barges and canoes rowed rapidly 
up the lake. 

This scouting party continued to watch the 
French from the recesses of the woods. They 
encamped on the banks of a stream that Shat- 
tuck afterwards knew to be the Canadaway, and 
the place of encampment to have been a few 
miles west of Dunkirk. The next day, after 
some narrow escapes from the Indian allies of 
the French who were scattered through the 
woods, Shattuck and his party reached the 
Chautauqua creek, where they discovered the 
French had landed and were felling trees on 
its west side. Soon they saw a larger force of 
French arrive, undoubtedly the same that was 
commanded by Marin, who put a stop to the 
work, and embarked the whole force in boats 
and moved westward. The English party 
moved westward also, and for four months 
hovered near the French, cautiously watching 
them while they were building forts at Erie 
and on French creek. The English party was 
all of this time obliged to conduct operations 
with the utmost caution, on account of the red- 
skins skulking about in the woods. Their 
escape from discovery and capture was due to 
the experience of their leader, an old leather 
stocking and Indian fighter from Onondaga. 
They made use of the dark coverts of the for- 
est for concealment, while not watching the 
foe, and at no time used their firearms, but de- 




w I IHKS i IF 'I HE i:i:l ES -SINCL URVILLE 



DESTRUCTION OF THE ERIES 



'5 



pended upon bows and arrows, traps and 
snares, to secure game for food. 

In September they returned to Oswego and 
made a report of their operations. They were 
sent back in October to further watch the pro- 
ceedings of the French. This time their course 
while in Chautauqua county led along the crest 
of the ridge of highlands south of Lake Erie, 
where they could keep the lake in sight, and be 
free from danger from Indian scouting parties ; 
when they arrived at Chautauqua creek, near 
the south border of the village of Westfield, 
they suddenly came upon the French, engaged 
in rolling logs into the bottom of a deep gulf, 
and digging into the steep sides of this ravine 
tor a road. The scouting party watched the 
completion of the road, which extended from 
Lake Erie to Chautauqua Lake ; they wit- 
nessed also the embarkation of the French on 
Lake Erie on their return to Canada. The 
English scouting party then returned to 
Oswego. Shattuck afterward served as a sol- 
dier of the Revolution. In 1823, when he was 
an old man, he came to reside with his kins- 
men in Portland, in Chautauqua county, once 
the scene of his experiences in Indian warfare. 
He lived there until he died in 1827. 

In the year in which these events occurred, 
Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent Wash- 
ington, then a youth but twenty-two years of 
age, to learn the purpose of the French. Wash- 
ington spent five days negotiating with the 
French commandant, St. Pierre, at La Boeuf, 
now Waterford, Pennsylvania, which is situ- 
ated but fourteen miles from the town of 
French Creek. 

The operations of the French led to most 
important results. They were the immediate 
cause of the Old French War, which being be- 
gun, finally extended into Europe, where it was 
waged on a grand scale. There it was known 
as the "Seven Years War." It involved nearly 
all the great powers of Europe. One of its 
later results was the creation of the German 
Empire. It even extended to Asia. There the 
French and English contended for empire in 
India. The discovery of Chautauqua Lake by 
La Salle ; the voyage of De Celdron over its 
waters in 1749; the arrival of the French forces 
under Barbeer and Marin at the mouth of the 
Chautauqua creek, and the building of the 
Portage road, all of which we have related, 
and all of which transpired within the borders 
of our county, if they cannot be strictly said 
to have been the cause, stand at the very be- 
ginning of a series of events among the most 



momentous that have occurred in modern 
times. During this time, Chautauqua county 
was the scene of other military movements and 
warlike expeditions. In one of these excursions 
the French left a four-pounder upon the shore 
of Chautauqua Lake, which was seen by the 
early explorers of this region. The gallantry 
of the French won them victories early in the 
contest, but the English prevailed in the end. 
Notwithstanding the close of the Old French 
and Indian War, Chautauqua county continued 
to be the scene of military operations. Major 
Rogers, long celebrated for his skill in border 
war, at the head of two hundred rangers 
coasted along the shore of the county on his 
way west to take possession of Detroit. A 
little later the Indians formed a conspiracy to 
dispossess the English of all their forts and 
posts in the west. Their leading spirit was 
Pontiac, an Ottawa chief whose lofty character 
and great abilities fitted him for a nobler des- 
tiny than the leader of savages. Pontiac's War 
again brought the scene of savage warfare 
close to the borders of our county. The In- 
dians made a desperate assault on the English 
garrison at Presque Isle (now Erie), compelled 
them to surrender, and carried them into cap- 
tivity. They attacked the blockhouses at Le 
Boeuf, but the few soldiers there managed to 
escape into the forest. At Venango (now 
Franklin) the Indians gained admittance into 
the fort, burned it to the ground, and murdered 
the garrison, leaving none to tell the story of 
its fall. In August, 1764, Gen. Bradstreet, with 
three thousand men in small boats, coasted 
along the shore of our county on his way west 
to raise the siege of Detroit, commenced by 
Pontiac. Bradstreet raised the siege, and in 
October set out on his return ; his boats were 
wrecked, and about 150 of his men made their 
way on foot along the southern shore of Lake 
Erie, through the forests of Chautauqua 
county, to Fort Niagara. They suffered great 
hardships, and many perished in the woods. 
Among the Indian chiefs who took an active 
part in the contest was Guyasutha, a Seneca. 
Like Pontiac, he was a leader among his peo- 
ple, and endowed with the stern virtues of his 
race. Guyasutha, and afterwards Cornplanter, 
also a Seneca chief, were lords of the forest 
along the Allegheny. They were familiar 
with the region, including our county, and 
often visited our beautiful lake. They be- 
longed to these regions, as Robin Hood to 
Sherwood Forest. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



CHAPTER V. 
Brodhead's Expedition. 



Among important events of the War of the 
Revolution which occurred along- the then 
western border, was the expedition of Col. 
Brodhead sent up from Fort Pitt against the 
Indians of the Upper Allegheny, in 1779. Obed 
Edson, of blessed memory, wrote the following 
history of that expedition as never before 
written, and in it gives an account of Chau- 
tauqua's history from the destruction of the 
Eries to the close of the Revolutionary War. 

A century had elapsed since the council fire 
of the Six Nations was extinguished, and their 
longhouse destroyed. The firmness and tact 
of this little confederacy, enabled it for more 
than an hundred years to maintain its ancient 
seats along the rivers and lakes of Central New 
York against powerful neighbors. With the 
French close on one side, and the English upon 
the other, a less vigorous people would have 
been crushed as between two millstones. Al- 
though these Indians were of a barbarous race 
and few in numbers, their story will not be 
soon forgotten. Their military enterprise and 
conquests justly gained for them the title of 
"Romans of the West," and their practical 
wisdom enabled them to frame a perfect repre- 
sentative Federal Republic, which a trial during 
a period longer than the existence of our own 
Republic has proved to have been as efficient in 
practice as it was perfect in theory ; an achieve- 
ment that had long baffled the skill of enlight- 
ened statesmen, and which is alone sufficient 
to render the name of the Iroquois illustrious. 

At the commencement of the Revolution, the 
Six Nations held friendly relations with all 
their white neighbors, whether adherents to 
Congress or the Crown. But the wanton mas- 
sacre of Logan's family, and other enormities 
committed by the whites during Cresap's war, 
had weakened their friendship for the colonies. 
The authority that Col. Guy and Sir John 
Johnson, and Col. Daniel Claus, who succeeded 
to the power that Sir William Johnson pos- 
sessed with the Indians, and the influence of 
Col. John Butler and his son Walter, were 
exerted to attach the Confederacy to the King. 
Joseph Brant and his sister Molly strived also 
to embitter the Mohawks against the colonies. 
On the other hand, the patriots of Tryon 
county, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland and the 
Oneida chief Shennandoah, endeavored to per- 
suade the Indians to pursue a neutral policy. 
The Indians hesitated. Councils were held 
with them by patriots and by loyalists, with 
the result that the Oneidas, a' large portion of 



the Tuscaroras, a portion of the Onondagas, 
and a few of the Mohawks, favored the Ameri- 
cans. But the greater number, of whom the 
Senecas and Mohawks were foremost, under 
the lead of Brant and the Seneca chiefs, be- 
came their bitter and active foes. 

The first hostilities were committed in May, 
1776, by Brant and the Mohawks, at the battle 
of the Cedars, about forty miles above Mon- 
treal, on the River St. Lawrence. The hostile 
Indians next joined the forces of St. Leger, 
participated in the siege of Fort Stanwix, and 
in the battle of Oriskany. Then followed the 
massacre of Wyoming, and raids into the Mo- 
hawk Valley; and finally, November, 1778, the 
burning and massacre of Cherry Valley. The 
barbarities committed in these bloody forays 
have been in some instances exaggerated. Too 
much perhaps has been charged upon the In- 
dians, and too little upon the Tories and refu- 
gees who accompanied them. The inhabitants 
on the border, however, suffered greatly from 
these incursions, and Congress on February 
25, 1779, directed Washington to take effective 
measures to protect the settlers and chastise 
the Indians. Accordingly he planned two ex- 
peditions ; one to proceed from the east, pene- 
trate into the Seneca country, and devastate 
the fields of the Indians, destroy their villages, 
and drive their inhabitants into the woods ; the 
other to advance up the Allegheny river, de- 
stroy the Indian towns and fields there, and 
join the expedition from the east in a com- 
bined attack upon Fort Niagara. 

The expedition from the east moved in two 
divisions. One under Gen. Sullivan left Wyo- 
ming, ascended the Susquehanna, and arrived 
at Tioga, August nth, 1779. The other, under 
Gen. James Clinton, marched from Canajo- 
harie on the Mohawk, passed over Otsego 
Lake, descended the Susquehanna, and joined 
Gen. Sullivan, August 22d. A part of Clinton's 
torce, under Col. Van Schaick had previously 
destroyed the fields and towns of the Onon- 
dagas. The two divisions, five thousand men, 
under the command of Sullivan, moved from 
Tioga up the Chemung river. They defeated 
the British and Indians at Elmira on August 
29, in the battle of Newton, advanced to the 
head of Seneca Lake and thence along its 
shores, destroying the Indian towns on the 
way, including the large Indian village of 
Kanadaseagea at its outlet. They then pro- 
ceeded to the Genesee river and destroyed the 
large villages and extensive cornfields there. 




BRODHBAD'S ROOT : 



BRODHEAD'S EXPEDITION 



■7 



The original design of advancing on Fort 
Niagara having been abandoned, Sullivan com- 
menced his return march. On his way he 
caused the towns and fields of the Cayugas, 
which were situated on the eastern and south- 
western shores of Cayuga Lake, to be de- 
stroyed. He arrived at Tioga on September 
30, and at Easton, Pennsylvania, on October 
T5, having destroyed forty Indian towns and 
one hundred sixty thousand bushels of Indian 
corn, besides a large amount of other prop- 
erty. 

As a less full history has been written of the 
expedition moving from the south, it is the 
design of this article to supply some account 
of it. When the Iroquois first became known 
to Europeans, their villages and hunting 
grounds were confined to Central New York. 
The fierce wars which they subsequently 
waged, and by which kindred nations were 
successively vanquished, secured to them an 
extensive territory to the west and south, in- 
cluding the mountainous region of New York 
and Pennsylvania which was traversed by the 
Allegheny river. Their enterprise soon led 
them to new hunting grounds and finally to 
establish villages in this conquered territory. 
The Senecas, in the western limits of the Con- 
federacy, were its most numerous and warlike 
nation. The greater number of their villages 
were situated along the Genesee. They ulti- 
mately became the chief colonizers of the Con- 
federacy. They did not extend their settle- 
ments directly westward or along the shore of 
Lake Erie until near the close of the Revo- 
lution, excepting only in the immediate vicinity 
of Fort Niagara. They extended their towns 
up the Genesee to Caneadea. A broad Indian 
trail joined this settlement with the Upper 
Allegheny at Olean, in New York. They then 
planted their villages along the Allegheny and 
its tributaries to its mouth, and thence down 
the Ohio. The Seneca villages were the most 
numerous along the Upper Allegheny. As 
early as 1724 the Munsey or Wolf tribe of the 
Delawares, who had previously dwelt in 
Northeastern Pennsylvania, but had been 
crowded out by the whites, were allowed by 
the Six Nations to settle along the Lower Alle- 
gheny; and between 1724 and 1728. the Shaw- 
nees, a restless and warlike people, located 
along the Lower Allegheny and Upper Ohio. 
These different tribes were strangely mingled, 
living peaceably together in one village, at the 
same time observing different customs and 
obeying different laws. 

The first accurate knowledge acquired by 
Europeans concerning the Indian settlements 



along the Allegheny was obtained during the 
expedition under Capt. Bienville de Celoron, 
which was sent in the summer of 1749 by the 
governor of Canada, to take formal possession 
in the name of France, of the territory lying 
west of the Allegheny mountains. From the 
records kept by the expedition we learn that it 
ascended the St. Lawrence, coasted along the 
shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and arrived 
at "Chatakouin" portage the 16th of June, 1749. 
It passed over the portage to the head of 
Chautauqua, traversed this lake, descended its 
outlet and the Conewango creek in canoes, and 
entered the Allegheny ten miles south of the 
boundary line between the States of New York 
and Pennsylvania, just above the village of 
Warren. On the south bank of the Allegheny, 
opposite the mouth of the Conewango, Celoron 
buried a leaden plate inscribed with the date 
and place of deposit, as a token of his posses- 
sion of the country in the name of the King of 
France. On the right bank of the Allegheny, 
occupying the site of the present village of 
Warren, there was an Indian village called 
"Kanaougon," inhabited by Senecas and Loups, 
or Munseys. This village was called Cona- 
wago by Col. Brodhead when he visited the 
place thirty years later. Celoron descended 
the river and on its right bank, about six miles 
below this town, on a beautiful prairie, and 
just below the mouth of the Broken Straw 
creek, he found a Seneca village which he 
called Paille Coupee, or Cut Straw. Its Seneca 
name was De-ga-syo-ush-dy-ah-goh, meaning 
"broken straw," referring, it is said by Alden, 
to the accumulation of straw and driftwood in 
the creek ; but more likely, as we are informed 
by Gen. Callender Irvine (who preempted the 
land at the confluence of the Broken Straw and 
the Allegheny in 1795 and was familiar with 
the Indians and early traditions of that region), 
to the broken straws and drooping plumes of 
the tall wild grass that stood thickly on the 
meadows there after the storms of autumn 
had swept over them. This Indian village was 
called Buckaloons by Col. Brodhead. Four 
French leagues below this town the expedition 
came to a village of ten houses on the left bank 
of the river, inhabited by Delawares and Ren- 
ards. Four or five leagues further down they 
passed a village of six houses on the right 
bank of the river. This may have been near 
the present site of Hickory Town, in Venango 
county, and identical with the Indian village 
familiar to the Moravians as Lawanakana, 
meaning middle branch or stream, or where 
the waters meet. They next passed a village 
of ten houses, probably the same that was 



1 8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



afterwards known to the Moravians as Gosh- 
gosh-unk, or Place of Hogs. The expedition 
then came to an Indian village of ten houses, 
subsequently called Venango by the English, 
a corruption of the Indian word In-nun-gah, 
alluding to a rude and indecent figure that the 
Senecas found carved upon a tree when they 
first came to this region. This town was situ- 
ated near the site of the present enterprising 
town of Franklin, at the mouth of the Riviere 
Aux Boeufs, now called French creek. Nine 
miles below Franklin there long remained, 
close to the water's edge, on the eastern side 
of the river, a large rock covered with curious 
Indian carvings, called the "Indian God," and 
near it Celoron buried his second leaden plate. 
Passing a river having on its upper waters 
some villages of Loups and Iroquois, the ex- 
pedition came to Attique, a village of twenty- 
two houses, on or near the Kiskiminitas river. 
Below this, they passed an old Shawneese vil- 
lage upon the right bank of the river, and came 
finally to a village of Delawares, the finest 
seen, and which is supposed to have been situ- 
ated at or near the present site of Pittsburgh. 
From this place, the expedition proceeded 
down the Ohio. There had undoubtedly 
occurred some changes in the situation and 
population of the Indian towns along this river 
during the thirty years that elapsed between 
Celoron's and Brodhead's expeditions. 

When Washington in November, 1753, on 
his journey to French creek, arrived at the 
junction of the Allegheny with the Mononga- 
hela, where Pittsburgh is situated, no white 
man was living there. During the succeeding 
February the English commenced to lay the 
foundation of a fort there, which was taken 
from them by the French the April following. 
The French held Pittsburgh, then called Du 
Quesne, until 1758, when it was retaken by the 
English under Gen. Forbes. It remained in 
their possession until the Revolution, when a 
party of Virginians under Capt. Neville took 
possession and held it until they were super- 
seded by the Continentals under Brig.-Gen. 
Hand. Hand was in turn succeeded by Brig.- 
Gens. Lochlan and Mcintosh, and he by Col. 
Daniel Brodhead, whom we find in command 
early in 1779. It was during this year, while 
Brodhead was in command of the Western De- 
partment, with his headquarters at Fort Pitt, 
that the campaign was planned and prosecuted 
against the Indians of the Upper Allegheny. 
Gen. Washington, as it has been stated, de- 
sired that the expedition sent north from Pitts- 
burgh should cooperate with the expedition 
from the east under Sullivan. With this object 



in view, he directed Col. Rawlings to march 
with three companies from Fort Frederick in 
Maryland to Pittsburgh. He also directed 
Col. Brodhead, upon his arrival there, to in- 
crease Rawlings' force to one hundred men and 
send them up the river to Kittanning, and there 
throw up a stockade fort for the security of 
convoys ; and when completed, to leave a small 
garrison, proceed still further up the river to 
Venango, and there establish another post for 
the same purpose, and to direct Col. Gibson, of 
the Seventh Virginia Regiment, who was sta- 
tioned at Tuscarawas, to hold himself in readi- 
ness to join the forces at Pittsburgh. Also, to 
prepare water craft and engage good guides, 
"who know the way from the head of naviga- 
tion of the Allegheny to the nearest Indian 
towns, and to Niagara." Also, to report by 
express "when he would be ready to begin his 
movement; when he would be at Kittanning, 
Venango, and the head of navigation, and how 
far it would be to the nearest Indian towns, 
and to Niagara ;" and to keep all a profound 
secret until the proper time should arrive. He 
also gave Col. Brodhead careful directions how 
in the meantime to pacify the Western Indians, 
so that they would not interfere with his suc- 
cess. 

Notwithstanding these careful plans, further 
consideration induced Washington a month 
later to relinquish the idea of concert of action 
between the two expeditions. He however 
directed Col. Brodhead to make preparations, 
and as soon as it was in his power, to chastise 
the Indians by an expedition into their coun- 
try ; also to make inquiries with a view to an 
attempt against Detroit. An enterprise against 
that post, whence marauding parties of British 
and Indians had proceeded against the extreme 
western settlements, had been a favorite scheme 
with Col. Brodhead's predecessor, Col. Mcin- 
tosh, as it afterwards became with Brodhead 
himself. 

The government had been able to place at 
the disposal of Col. Brodhead only a dispersed 
and feeble force by which to protect the wide 
borders of Pennsylvania against the cruelties 
of the Indians. On the 15th of April his regi- 
ment, the Eighth Pennsylvania, was much 
scattered. Besides a portion at Fort Pitt, there 
were one hundred men at Fort Laurens on the 
Tuscarawa, twenty-five at Wheeling, Virginia, 
twenty-five at Holliday's Cove, some at Fort 
Mcintosh in Beaver county, some employed as 
artificers, and some as boatmen and wagoners. 
Col. Brodhead was energetic, active and am- 
bitious to serve his country, but he found his 
duties arduous and disagreeable. The popula- 



BRODHEAD'S EXPEDITION 



19 



tion of this thinly settled frontier from which 
he was to draw recruits and obtain supplies, 
harrassed by incursions of the Indians and 
wearied by the long continuance of the war, 
was in a destitute condition ; and it was with 
the greatest difficulty that he could keep his 
soldiers clad and fed. Yet during the summer 
of 1779 he made vigorous preparations to strike 
a blow that would prove a diversion in favor of 
Gen. Sullivan. Profiting by the suggestions of 
Washington, made when cooperation between 
the two expeditions was contemplated, he com- 
menced constructing canoes and batteaux at 
Fort Pitt and at other posts. He had as many 
as one hundred fifty boatbuilders employed at 
one time. On the 31st of July he had about 
sixty boats nearly finished. Some of the canoes 
made of poplar would carry two tons. About 
the middle of June, Lieut. -Col. Bayard, by his 
command, commenced the construction of a 
fort at Kittanning, which was completed dur- 
ing the last of July, and called Fort Armstrong, 
in commemoration of the exploit of Col. John 
Armstrong in September, 1756, when he sur- 
prised and burned the old Indian town of Cat- 
tauyan, which then stood there, killing thirty 
or forty of its Indian defenders, including their 
resolute chief, Captain Jacobs. Hugh Mercer, 
afterwards a distinguished American general, 
who fell at the battle of Princeton, accompanied 
Armstrong on this expedition. Col. Brodhead 
exerted himself also to secure the friendship of 
the Delawares, and to excite them to war 
against the Six Nations. He secured the ad- 
hesian of Killbuck and other warriors, and also 
that of the young Delaware Chief Nanoland. 
While making preparations early in the sum- 
mer, he received private intelligence that But- 
ler and two hundred rangers and a number of 
Indians designed making an attack upon the 
frontier west of Laurel Hills, and during all 
the spring and summer prowling parties of In- 
dians committed murders in Western Penn- 
sylvania. These dangers required constant 
vigilance upon the part of Col. Brodhead, and 
obliged him to keep parties of rangers travers- 
ing the wilderness to protect the inhabitants 
In June, Lieut. Hardian, a brave partisan offi- 
cer, was sent with eleven men towards the 
Seneca country. Lieut. Peterson and Ensigns 
Morrison and Wood led other parties towards 
the Indian towns. In June, three men who had 
been sent to reconnoitre in the Seneca coun- 
try, returning from Venango were pursued by 
a party of Indian warriors some distance be- 
low Kittanning, and narrowly escaped. These 
Indians proceeded to the Sewickley settlement, 
on their way killed a soldier, and upon their 



arrival there, a woman and four children, and 
took two other captives. Captain Brady, who 
with twenty men and the young Delaware 
chief, Nanoland, was on his way towards the 
Seneca country, fell in with seven of these In- 
dians about fifteen miles above Kittanning, at 
a point on the river now well known as Brady's 
Bend. Brady attacked them at break of day, 
killed their captain, and mortally wounded the 
most of them, but the Indians staunched their 
wounds so that they could not be traced, and 
the greater number succeeded in escaping. In 
the language of Col. Brodhead in a letter to 
Washington, "Brady retook six horses, two 
prisoners, the scalps, and all the plunder, which 
was considerable ; and took six guns and every- 
thing else the Indians had, except their breech- 
clouts." The young Delaware chief, Nano- 
land, greatly distinguished' himself on this 
occasion. 

Brodhead fixed the early part of August as 
the time for his movement against the Indians. 
The movement he intended as a diversion in 
favor of Sullivan, and also to cause as great 
destruction of Indian towns and fields as possi- 
ble. On July 17 he addressed a letter to Cols. 
Lochry, Shepherd, Stephenson and Evans, 
lieutenants of the counties of Westmoreland, 
Ohio, Yoghagania and Monongahela, to en- 
gage as many volunteers as possible for two or 
three weeks' service. In this letter he fixed the 
5th day of August as the time to rendezvous 
at headquarters for the excursion. He directed 
Lieut. -Col. Bayard, who was in command at 
Fort Armstrong, and the commandants in 
other localities to forward troops to headquar- 
ters. Being nearly ready for his march, he on 
the 6th of August dispatched two soldiers with 
a letter to General Sullivan. They reached 
their destination, and delivered the letter to 
Gen. Sullivan ; and he from Catherinestown, at 
the head of Seneca Lake, wrote a reply which 
these adventurous men bore back through the 
wilderness and delivered to Col. Brodhead in 
September at Pittsburgh a few days after his 
return from the expedition. On August 11, at 
the head of six hundred five men, militia and 
volunteers, and with one month's provisions, 
Brodhead set out from Pittsburgh. The ex- 
pedition proceeded up the river, passed the 
Kiskeminitas and Crooked creek, and forty- 
five miles above Pittsburgh, Fort Armstrong, 
where now stands, in the midst of an iron and 
coal country, the thriving town of Kittanning. 
Here a garrison had been retained, but Col. 
Brodhead moved fifteen miles farther to the 
Mahoning, a tributary of the Allegheny from 
the east, at the mouth of which was situated 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



an Indian village. After a detention of four days 
by excessive rains and the straying of some 
cattle, the stores were loaded upon pack-horses, 
and the expedition proceeded wholly by land. 
For miles above the Mahoning, the Allegheny 
is circuitous and crooked ; to avoid following 
its winding course, and to shorten his march, 
Col. Brodhead chose a blind and rugged path 
that led more directly to the Indian country of 
the Upper Allegheny, by the way of the Indian 
town called Goshgoshunk, upon the river, near 
the mouth of its tributary, the Tionesta. 

His march through the forests of Clarion and 
Venango counties was beset with many diffi- 
culties. Thorns, thick underwood and fallen 
timber obstructed his way. The obscure wil- 
derness path that he followed led up steep 
ascents and over ranges of lofty hills. Again 
the path would descend into some gloomy val- 
ley where the sunlight scarcely penetrated and 
was traversed by the Red Bank, the Clarion, or 
some dark rolling tributary. At Goshgoshunk 
the path crossed the Allegheny. Here had been 
three Munsey villages, where Rev. David Zeis- 
berger, a Moravian missionary, commenced in 
1767 to teach the Indians. He and his coadju- 
tor, Dr. Gotlob Senseman, daily preached the 
Gospel to their red hearers. The missionaries 
brought with them several Moravian families, 
built a blockhouse, and established a regular 
mission there. Among the Indians, the magi- 
cians and old women violently opposed the 
Moravians. "They asserted that the corn was 
blasted ; the deer and game began to retire from 
the woods ; no chestnuts and bilberries would 
grow — because the missionaries preached a 
strange doctrine, and the Indians were chang- 
ing in their way of life ;" and Zeisberger was 
compelled to remove fifteen miles farther up 
the river to Lawanakana, near Hickory Town, 
where he gathered around him a little settle- 
ment, built a chapel and placed in it a bell, the 
first ever heard in Venango county ; and he 
here for two years prosecuted his holy pur- 
pose. 

The expedition of Brodhead crossed the 
river at Goshgoshunk and pursued its march 
along the western shore. Beetling cliffs 
pressed close to the river's side, leaving a pas- 
sage much of the way no wider than an Indian 
trail. It was in one of these defiles that his 
advanced guard, consisting of fifteen white 
men and eight Delaware Indians, under Lieut. 
Hardian, saw thirty or forty Indian warriors 
descending the river in seven canoes. The In- 
dians at the same time discovered the troops 
and immediately landed. Lieut. Hardian dis- 
posed his men in a semi-circular form, and 



they, with tomahawk in hand, began the attack 
with such courage and vigor that the Indians 
soon gave way and fled. Of the Indians, six or 
seven were killed, their bodies left upon the 
field ; several also were wounded. Their canoes 
and their contents, which included clothing 
and guns, fell into the hands of Col. Brodhead. 
Of his force, three men only were slightly 
wounded, one of whom was the Delaware In- 
dian, Nanoland. The celebrated scout, Jona- 
than Zane, was also one of the wounded. This 
encounter probably occurred near Thompson's 
Island in Warren county, five miles below the 
mouth of the Broken Straw. 

Col. Thomas Proctor in 1791 journeyed from 
Philadelphia upon a mission to the Western 
Indians to persuade them to peace. On his way 
he visited the Allegheny river, and was there 
joined by Cornplanter with a fleet of thirty 
canoes. On April 11 they arrived at an old 
Indian settlement called Hogstown (undoubt- 
edly Goshgoshunk), and afterwards proceeded 
up the river to Hickory Town, (Lawanakana). 
On April 13 they set out from Hickory Town 
and ascended the Allegheny ten miles to Log 
Trap creek. Col. Proctor states in his journal 
that he the next day, the 14th, "Proceeded up 
the river to-day, took up our encampment near 
the mouth of Casyoudang creek, it being the 
place where Col. Brodhead in 1779 had fought 
against the savages, and in which action Joseph 
Nicholson, his interpreter, was wounded." 

The day after this affair, Brodhead resumed 
his march and arrived in the morning at the 
Indian town of Buckaloons, just below the 
mouth of the Broken Straw. The Indians were 
driven from the village, and retreated to the 
hills in its rear. A breastwork of felled timber 
and fascines was thrown up. The remains of 
this stockade were plainly to be seen a few 
years ago. It was situated about one-half mile 
j»bove the mouth of the Broken Straw, on the 
west side of the road from Irvineton to War- 
ren, upon a high bluff by the Allegheny, and 
commanded an extensive view up and down 
the river. A captain and garrison of forty men 
were left to guard the baggage and stores, and 
the troops marched to Conawago, the Seneca 
town that stood where the thriving village of 
Warren is now situated. Conawago they 
found had been deserted for about eighteen 
months. Brodhead, it is said, sent a force sev- 
eral miles up the Conewago, and found de- 
serted villages there. 

The country around the headwaters of the 
Allegheny, and much of Western New York, 
was then a region unexplored by white men. 
Col. Brodhead, however, ordered the force to 



BRODHEAD'S EXPEDITION 



proceed upon an Indian path that appeared to 
have been for some time used. The expedi- 
tion advanced by this route up the right or 
west bank of the river. After a march of 
twenty miles without discovering other Indian 
signs than a few tracks of their scouts, upon 
arriving at the crest of a high hill, they saw 
the Allegheny, and the cornfields of the In- 
dians. On descending the hill, they came in 
sight of their towns, which had just been de- 
serted. These Indian villages and fields were 
situated above the modern village of Kinzua 
along the Allegheny for a distance of about 
eight miles, their northern limit being not far 
from the boundary line between the States of 
New York and Pennsylvania. Col. Brodhead 
estimated that there were in these Indian vil- 
lages as many as one hundred thirty unusually 
large houses, some of them sufficient to accom- 
modate three or four Indian families. Here 
was seen the natural superiority of the Six 
Nations over the other Indian races in the ad- 
vance in civilization that they had made in this 
isolated region, far away from civilizing influ- 
ences. Their houses were substantial, some of 
them constructed of logs, a part of round and 
others of square timber, while others were 
frame buildings. Around them were exten- 
sive and highly cultivated fields of grain and 
vegetables. Col. Brodhead inferred that the 
whole of the Seneca and Munsey nations con- 
templated settling here. At the approach of 
the advanced guard to the first of these vil- 
lages, the Indians fled. Upon the arrival of 
the main body of troops, the work of destruc- 
tion was commenced, and continued for three 
days without the least interruption from the 
Indians, they having retreated to the woods. 
Eight towns, deserted by their inhabitants, 
were first set in flames ; the corn was next cut 
down and piled into heaps ; over five hundred 
acres, at the least estimate, were destroyed. 
Three thousand dollars' worth of plunder was 
taken, which Col. Brodhead ordered sold for 
the benefit of the troops. At the Upper Seneca 
town was found a painted war-post or pagod, 
clothed in dog-skin, which was committed to 
the river. This place was called Youghroon- 
wago. 

Col. Brodhead makes no mention of having 
advanced beyond these Indian towns. Mrs. 
Mary Jemmison.who is usually accurate, states 
that he ascended to Olean Point, destroying all 
the Indian villages on the Allegheny river. In 
Cattaraugus county there was at this time, at 
the mouth of Cold Spring creek, the village of 
Che-na-shun-ga-tan ; at the mouth of Little 
Valley creek, the village of Bucktooth ; at the 



mouth of Great Valley creek, Killbuck's-town ; 
and in the town of Carrollton, Tu-ne-nu-gwan 
— all of which were destroyed, if any detach- 
ment of Col. Brodhead's command reached 
Olean Point. The latter place is situated upon 
the Allegheny river, in the southeast part of 
Cattaraugus county, and is distant less than 
thirty miles from Caneadea, an Indian town on 
the Genesee river, and less than sixty miles 
from the larger Indian towns destroyed by 
Gen. Sullivan. 

Brodhead's expedition was in advance of 
that of Sullivan. About the time the former 
was completing the destruction of the Seneca 
towns on the Allegheny, the latter, having been 
joined by the troops of Gen. Clinton, was more 
than one hundred miles to the east, contesting 
the battle of Newton with the forces of Brant 
and Butler at Elmira ; and it was not until two 
weeks later that Sullivan had reached the heart 
of the Seneca country on the Genesee river 
and entered upon the destruction of the Indian 
towns and the corn and orchards. This early 
movement upon the part of Brodhead undoubt- 
edly served to divert the attention and distract 
the efforts of the Indians, and to aid Sullivan 
in his campaign. Brodhead could, it is proba- 
ble, have easily united his forces or a larger 
body of men to those of Gen. Sullivan, by pur- 
suing the Indian trail along the Allegheny to 
Olean, and thence to Caneadea and along the 
Genesee, to join with him in a movement upon 
Fort Niagara. Indeed, Brodhead wrote to 
Gen. Sullivan, October 10, 1779, that he should 
have marched to Genesee, if he had not been 
disappointed in getting a sufficient number of 
shoes for his men. 

Having completed the work of destruction 
at the upper Indian towns, the Americans be- 
gan their return. On their way they consigned 
to the flames Conawago and Buckaloons. The 
route chosen for their return march was the 
Venango road. According to a private letter 
they crossed Oil creek several times. Their 
attention was there attracted to the inflamma- 
ble oil issuing from the bottom and sides of its 
channels and from the adjacent springs, which 
they thought resembled British oil. The "Mas- 
sachusetts Magazine," published in the suc- 
ceeding year, 1780, referring to this expedition, 
states that in the northern part of Pennsyl- 
vania "there is a creek called Oil creek, which 
empties into the Allegheny river. It issues 
from a spring, on the top of which floats an oil 
similar to that called Barbadoes tar, and from 
which one may gather several gallons a day. 
The troops sent to guard the western posts 
halted at this spring, collected some of this oil, 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



and bathed their joints with it. This gave 
them great relief from the rheumatism with 
which they were afflicted. The water, of which 
the troops drank freely, operated as a gentle 
purge." 

Leaving Oil creek, they arrived at French 
creek, formerly known as Riviere Aux Boeufs. 
The French first built a fort below its mouth, 
which they named Machault, after the French 
Minister of Marine. There Washington, when 
on his journey to Le Boeuf in December, 1753, 
had an interview with the celebrated Captain 
Jancaire. The English afterwards built a fort 
a little higher up, which was called Fort 
Venango. About eight years after Brodhead's 
expedition, a fort was built by the United 
States upon the south bank of the creek, about 
one-half mile from its mouth, which was called 
Franklin, and from which the present town de- 
rives its name. Leaving Venango, Brodhead 
ascended French creek. The Indian path ex- 
tended up its eastern side to the site of Mead- 
ville, where it crossed the stream. Gen. Wash- 
ington had followed it twenty-six years before, 
when on his journey to Le Boeuf. About 
twenty miles from Venango, as estimated by 
Brodhead, he came to the Indian village of 
Maghinquechahocking, which was composed 
of thirty-five large houses ; this town he 
burned. The distance from Venango indicated 
by Brodhead would fix its site not far from 
the mouth of Conneaut creek, the outlet ot 
Conneaut Lake, and about seven miles below 
Meadville. Substantial evidences of the precise 
location of this village have long since dis- 
appeared. Yet when the canal, where it leaves 
the aqueduct over French creek, near Mead- 
ville, was being constructed, there was found 
an Indian burial ground, and various Indian 
implements. In the graves were also found 
corroded copper ornaments, and it may be, 
that at or near where these relics were found, 
this ill-starred Indian village stood. With the 
destruction of Maghinquechahocking, the ob- 
jects of this expedition were accomplished, and 
Brodhead resumed his return march through 
the wilderness. It is related, that on this 
march, a young man named John Ward, was 
badly injured in Butler county, by a horse fall- 
ing upon a rock in a creek ; hence the name, 
Slippery Rock, in that county. Col. Brodhead 
arrived at Fort Pitt on the 14th of September. 

The .campaign thus terminated was success- 
ful throughout. In thirty-three days over 
three hundred miles were traversed, many In- 
dian towns destroyed, and fields devastated, 
without the loss of a single man or beast ; one 
hundred sixty-five cabins were destroved. one 



hundred thirty of which were deserted upon 
the approach of the troops ; the most of them 
were sufficiently large to accommodate three 
or four Indian families. 

The enterprise and resolution of Col. Brod- 
head, and the enthusiasm, perseverance and 
endurance of his offices and men, enabled him 
to overcome all obstacles. Considering the 
small force engaged and its considerable re- 
sults, it was more beneficial than the costly 
expedition that proceeded from the east under 
Sullivan. The conduct of all engaged in Col. 
Brodhead's campaign was evidently regarded 
as most creditable. The thanks of Congress 
were voted to him, and Gen. Washington, as 
appears by the following extract from General 
Orders, issued from his headquarters at More's 
House, to his army at W'est Point, said : "The 
activity, perseverance and firmness, which 
marked the conduct of Col. Brodhead, and 
that of all the officers and men of every de- 
scription in this expedition, do them great 
honor, and their services entitle them to thanks 
and to this testimonial of the General's 
acknowledgment." 

Brodhead believed that the destruction of 
the towns and fields of the Indians would fill 
them with consternation, and promote the 
safety of the frontier. It had that effect, to 
some extent, for on his return to Pittsburgh, 
he found distant tribes ready to form friendly 
treaties with him. The chiefs of the Delawares 
were there; the principal chiefs of the Hurons 
and Wyandots also ; and soon after came the 
king of the Maquichee branch of the Shaw- 
neese. On the 17th of September a council 
was held. Doonyoutat, the Wyandot chief, 
delivered a speech, presenting many belts ot 
wampum. He professed friendship towards 
the United States, and promised to deliver up 
his prisoners, and that his people would assist 
the English no more. The Delawares (with 
the exception of the Munceys) were at peace 
with the United States and several of their 
warriors who had accompanied Col. Brodhead 
in his expedition pleaded the cause of the 
Maquichee clan of the Shawneese, whom they 
called their grandchildren. Keheleman, Kill- 
buck, and another Delaware chief, were the 
speakers. Col. Brodhead replied according to 
the Indian form, but expressed himself with 
great independence. He plainly told them 
that fair promises would not do ; that they 
must give a practical exhibition of their friend- 
ship ; that they must deliver up their prisoners ; 
kill, scalp, and take as many English, or their 
Indian allies, as they had before Americans; 
and on all occasions join the latter against their 



BRODHEAD'S EXPEDITION 



2i 



enemies. Peace was made on this basis. Host- 
ages were, however, required from the Wyan- 
dots to insure the faithful performance of its 
terms. 

As the Indians had freely shed their blood 
during the war, and had suffered almost anni- 
hilation for their adherence to the cause of the 
King, the British authorities could not without 
gross ingratitude omit to provide for their re- 
lief. Large numbers had gathered around the 
fort and along the River Niagara, and during 
the winter fed from the British stores. To re- 
lieve themselves of this burden, the British 
government encouraged the Indians to estab- 
lish themselves at convenient places and obtain 
support by cultivating land. In May or June, 
1780, they first permanently established them- 
selves upon Buffalo creek, near Buffalo, and 
in 1780 and 1781, a portion made the first set- 
tlement upon the Tonawanda and Cattaraugus 
creeks, while others settled along the Genesee 
and Allegheny rivers. 

The British officers also incited the Indian 
warriors, who, exasperated and smarting under 
the chastisement administered by Sullivan and 
Brodhead, were assembled at Niagara in great 
numbers, to make warlike excursions along the 
borders. Seldom less than five hundred war- 
riors were on service at one time. Guy John- 
son wrote to Lord Germain from Niagara, 
July 26th, 1780, that "the Oneidas have joined 
the British, and that the remainder of the In- 
dians with the Rebels will soon join the Brit- 
ish, and thereby lay open the Rebel frontier 
near the Mohawk River." "The number of 
killed and prisoners (Americans) amounted 
early in June to 156, and is now enlarged." 



"The number of men of the Six Nations (ex- 
clusive of their people southward) is about 
1600; above 1200 are warriors, and of the latter 
835 are now on the service on the frontier. ' 
Accompanied by British officers, these war- 
riors committed cruelties along the frontier 
until the close of the war. They destroyed 
the towns of the friendly Oneidas ; they in- 
vaded and overran the valley of the Mohawk, 
and made frequent descents upon the settle- 
ments along the borders of New York and 
Pennsylvania. 

The English government, in the Treaty of 
Peace that closed the Revolution, required no 
stipulation in favor of the Indians, to the great 
indignation and disappointment of these allies. 
Yet a portion of them, including Brant and 
Red Jacket, subservient to British interests, 
favored confederating with the North Western 
Indians in the war against the United States 
that afterwards followed. Cornplanter and 
other influential chiefs, saw, however, the folly 
of contending against the growing States, and 
gave wiser counsels in favor of peace. In a 
treaty held at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1784, 
peace was made with the United States. About 
this time the British government granted to 
the Mohawks a tract of beautiful land along 
the Ouise or Grand river, in Upper Canada. 
The other nations of the Confederacy after- 
wards resided upon lands set apart for them 
in the State of New York, portions of which, 
at different times, they subsequently ceded to 
that State, until there only remained to them 
the present diminished reservation. 

With the Independence of the States, the 
prestige of the Six Nations departed. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Later Indian Wars, Occupation and Treaties. 



At the close of the Revolution, but twentv 
years before the first settler let the sunlight 
into the forests of the county, the extreme 
western boundary of settlement of New York 
was east of the center of the State, among the 
hills and headwaters of the Delaware and Mo- 
hawk. Otsego Lake and Oswego river were 
bordered by forests, but lately the scene of the 
fancied exploits of Uncas and Leather Stock- 
ing, forest heroes of the Indian romances of J. 
Fenimore Cooper. At this time all of the west- 
ern part of the State was a wilderness held by 
the hated Mingoes. 

Such was the strength of the Indian tribes in 
the west that they were a constant menace. At 
length they assumed so threatening a tone that 



Congress was compelled to wage war upon 
them, at first with unfortunate results. The 
disasters that attended the celebrated expedi- 
tion of Gen. Harmer against the Indians in 
1790 encouraged their warriors to renewed acts 
of hostility, and in the spring of 1791 the settle- 
ments along the Allegheny were repeatedly 
visited by them, and women and children often 
massacred or carried into captivity. ' Even 
Northwestern Pennsylvania suffered from their 
excursions. The defeat of St. Clair by the In- 
dians in November, 1791, rendered them still 
more bold and ferocious, and for a year there- 
after great alarm extended along the frontiers. 
Their hostile expeditions extended even to the 
borders of our county. James McMahan, after- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



wards its first pioneer, in 1794 was surveying 
in Northwestern Pennsylvania. One of his 
chain bearers was shot and scalped by the 
Indians, as he and his men were returning to 
their camp near the mouth of the Broken 
Straw. 

August 20th, 1794, Gen. Wayne defeated the 
Indians in a battle on the Maumee river. This 
victory put an end to their power for harm 
along the border. By a treaty made at Green- 
ville with the different tribes of western In- 
dians, July 30, 1795, the greater part of Ohio 
was ceded to the United States, and a long 
period of border war ended, and peace for the 
first time established in these western wilds, 
which had never before known any other con- 
dition than that of continued and savage strife. 

Preparatory to the occupation of the soil by 
white men in the west, and quickly following 
the treaty of Greenville, sales of land in Ohio, 
New York and Pennsylvania were made on a 
large scale. We may trace the title to these 
tracts, as extensive as some of the kingdoms of 
Europe, through private companies, sometimes 
through individuals, until the sub-divided lands 
reached the actual settler. 

It is interesting to know the history of the 
tenure by which the people of the county own 
the soil. France, by virtue of discoveries and 
explorations of La Salle, originally claimed the 
superior right to the soil of Chautauqua county. 
By the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, she 
ceded all her rights to their territory to Eng- 
land. In 1691 the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay was incorporated by the English govern- 
ment. It included all of the territory of New 
England as far south as the northern boundary 
of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Previous to 
that year, King Charles had granted a charter 
to the colony of Connecticut, which included all 
the lands westward of Narragansett Bay to the 
Pacific ocean, and lying between the 41st 
parallel of north latitude and the northern 
boundary of Connecticut. As the northern 
boundary of Connecticut is in latitude 42 2' 
north, and the greater part of the southern 
boundary of the State of New York, including 
that of Chautauqua county, is the 42nd parallel 
of latitude, a narrow strip of land two minute^ 
wide, extending along and including about two 
miles of the southern border of the county, was 
claimed by the State of Connecticut. That 
State sold its right to this strip of land to cer- 
tain parties who erected one of the beautiful 
capital buildings of the State of Connecticut, 
as part consideration for the purchase price, 
and this unrelinquished but unprosecuted right 
to the southern border of our county is still 



held by their heirs. The portion of the county 
north of this strip was claimed by the State of 
Massachusetts. The title of the territory of 
the county was also claimed by the State of 
New York under the grant from Holland to 
the Dutch West India Company, and by the 
grant of Charles the Second of England to the 
Duke of York and Albany, and also under the 
acknowledgment of title by the Six Nations. 
Pennsylvania also claimed the title to the terri- 
tory including Chautauqua county, under the 
original charter of William Penn, in 1681. So 
that between the claims of their pious Puritan 
and Quaker neighbors, our staid and honest 
Knickerbocker ancestors were once threatened 
with and came near losing a principal part of 
the State, including our county. It was nearly 
a century after the charter before Pennsylvania 
abandoned her claim. Connecticut never aban- 
doned hers. The claim of the State of Massa- 
chusetts was settled in 1786, by a grant of mil- 
lions of acres of land in Western New York, 
including Chautauqua county. 

The boundary line between New York and 
Pennsylvania having been surveyed in 17S7, it 
was found that the 42nd parallel of latitude ex- 
tended south of the valuable harbor of Presque 
Isle (now Erie) and that harbor was entirely 
within the boundary of the State of New York, 
leaving Pennsylvania but two or three miles of 
shore line on Lake Erie. The territory known 
as the "Erie Triangle," which bounds Chau- 
tauqua county on the west, was afterwards 
purchased by Pennsylvania to give her a lake 
port. 

On May nth, 1791, Massachusetts conveyed 
to Robert Morris all of her lands in the State 
west of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. By 
deeds executed between that year and the year 
1799, Morris conveyed these lands in trust for 
certain persons in Holland, subsequently be- 
came known as the Holland Land Company. 
These lands were bounded on the east by a line 
passing from the Pennsylvania line through 
the county of Allegany, a little west of its cen- 
ter, to Lake Ontario. Chautauqua county was 
included in this purchase, as were nearly all 
lands west of this line in the State of New 
York. This territory has since been known 
as the Holland Purchase. 

There was still another claimant whose 
rights remained to be disposed of. The Indians 
of New York possessed a substantial claim to 
the soil, measured by the legal rules and prin- 
ciples of equity recognized by English courts. 
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, 
in Western New York and Pennsylvania there 
were many Indian towns. In Chautauqua 



LATER INDIAN WARS AND TREATIES 



25 



county, in the town of Kiantone, upon the left 
bank of the Kiantone creek, near its mouth, 
there was the Indian village of Kyenthono. As 
late as 1795, when James McMahan came up 
the Conewango on his way to the north part 
of the county, at this place he found fields of 
corn, and wigwams occupied by the Indians. 
The surveyors of the boundary line between 
the States of New York and Pennsylvania fixed 
their observatory a short distance above this 
town, on the same side of the creek, and re- 
mained there fifteen days in the months of 
August and September, 1787, making astro- 
nomical observations and computations to de- 
termine the latitude and longitude of the local- 
ity and in preparing the eighth latitude bound- 
ary stone. Upon Abraham Hardenburgh's 
map of this survey, Kyenthono was designated 
as "a small Indian town." When the first set- 
tlers came to Kiantone, the forms of cornhills 
vere visible upon lands which since had grown 
up to small shrubbery of thorns and red plums. 

At Bemus Point, when William Bemus first 
came there in 1806, the unmistakable evidences 
remained that an Indian settlement had re- 
cently existed there. More than fifty acres 
along the creek embracing the site of the pres- 
ent cemetery, and the woods adjoining, showed 
plain marks of previous cultivation. The more 
elevated parts appeared to have been aban- 
doned and grown up to brush, with here and 
there a large tree. Where the cemetery is situ- 
ated were decayed remains and traces of In- 
dian dwellings. On Bemus creek were two 
fields, each about ten acres in extent. The 
lower one was at the point, and mostly east of 
the lake road ; the other was half a mile up the 
creek. Where these improvements had been 
made, wild plum trees grew ; and there were 
remains of brush enclosures which William 
Bemus repaired. Cornhills were visible, and 
potatoes of the lady finger variety, that had 
been perpetuated from year to year, were 
growing, some of which were gathered and 
planted by William Bemus. The site of this 
Indian village and field, it is not unlikely, may 
have been more anciently occupied by the 
Fries. 

Below Bemus at Griffiths Point were similar 
signs of Indian occupation. About four acres 
had been cleared, but grown up to a thick 
growth of oak, chestnut, soft maple and hick- 
ory, none more than six inches in diameter. 
Cornhills were visible over the entire tract. 
The remains of what appeared to have been a 
wigwam were found upon a mound ; another 
field of about one acre existed at the foot of 
Bear Lake in Stockton. 



Between the Indian villages of Western New 
York and from them to their favorite hunting 
grounds and fishing places, were well trodden 
pathways. Of these in Chautauqua county, a 
broad and well worn Indian trail led from Cat- 
taraugus creek through the lake towns to the 
Pennsylvania line. Another commenced near 
the mouth of Cattaraugus creek and passed 
over the ridge in Arkwright and Charlotte at 
its lowest point, thence through Charlotte Cen- 
ter and Sinclairville, southerly in the direction 
cf the Indian towns on the Allegheny river. 
This trail had the appearance of much use ; the 
roots of the trees along its margin were marred 
and calloused, and at certain points it was 
worn deeply into the ground. It was used by 
the early settlers as a highway or bridle path 
in going to and from the central to the north- 
eastern parts of the county, and by the Indians 
subsequent to the settlement of the county. 
Another important Indian path commenced at 
the Indian settlement near the mouth of the 
Cattaraugus creek, and passed down the Con- 
ewango valley through the eastern parts of 
Hanover, Villenova, Cherry Creek, and Elling- 
ton. 

This path was used by the white men during 
the settlement of these towns, and by the In- 
dians afterwards. In Carroll there was a well 
worn path that led from the Conewango east- 
erly up Case run, and through Covey Gap, and 
Bone run to the Allegheny river, near Onoville 
in Cattaraugus county. An Indian path led 
along the east shore of Chautauqua Lake, and 
from the head of the lake by way of the Chau- 
tauqua creek to Lake Erie, another from Cana- 
daway by the way of Bear Lake to Bemus 
Point. There were still other trails leading 
through the county. 

The Indian settlements in Chautauqua 
county were probably made in the eighteenth 
century by the Senecas, who were under the 
control of Cornplanter, sometimes called Abeel. 
In a map published by Reading Howell, 1792, 
the country of the upper waters of the Con- 
ewango and Chautauqua Lake is designated as 
O'Beel's Cayentona. 

At length more permanent settlement was 
made by the Indians within the limits of the 
county and along the Cattaraugus creek. Large 
numbers of those who fled before the march of 
Sullivan in 1779, gathered around Fort Niagara 
and fed from the British stores. To relieve 
themselves from this burden, the British gov- 
ernment encouraged the Indians to establish 
themselves at convenient places and obtain 
support by cultivating the land. In May or 



26 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



June, 1780, they first permanently settled upon 
Buffalo creek, near Buffalo, under the leader- 
ship of an aged but influential chief called "Old 
King," the head sachem of the Senecas. In the 
spring of the same year, 1780, while the Revo- 
lution was still in progress, they made the first 
settlement upon Cattaraugus creek. 

By a treaty at Big Tree, on the Genesee river, 
Sept. 15, 1797, between Robert Morris and Red 
Jacket, Cornplanter, Governor Blacksnake and 
forty chiefs and sachems, the Senecas for the 
sum of $100,000 sold all their interest in the 
Robert Morris Purchase, reserving only 337 
square miles of land contained in eleven In- 
dian Reservations, one of which lies partly in 
the county of Chautauqua, consisting of about 
one square mile of land in the town of Han- 
over upon which six Indian families resided in 



1894, and which had thirty-one inhabitants, 
according to the census of 1890. 

By a treaty made with Ogden Land Com- 
pany, August 31, 1826, the Indians sold to 
them a preemption right in these reservations, 
by which the Ogden Company claimed the fee 
to the land, when the tribal relations of the In- 
dians should cease. The Senecas, however, 
claimed that the Ogden Company had only the 
first right to purchase when the Indians should 
choose to sell. The claim of the Ogden Com- 
pany was at that time a source of great uneasi- 
ness to the Indians. 

The Indian title having been extinguished, 
the Holland Land Company commenced to sur- 
vey the lands, and to offer them for sale and 
settlement, the history of which is contained in 
a special chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 
The Frontier Period — 1802-1805. 



The first white man to sojourn within the 
limits of Chautauqua county, Amos Sawtel, 
usually called Sottle, has been regarded by 
some as its first actual settler. He was born 
in Vermont. In early life he removed to 
Chenango county, New York. There he be 
came disappointed in love, left friends and 
home, and traveled on foot to New Amster- 
dam, now Buffalo, where he may have lived for 
a while with the Indians. In the fall of 1796, 
when about twenty-three years of age, he went 
with a herd of cattle for some person in 
New Amsterdam to the Cattaraugus Bottoms, 
where they were sent to winter. Sottle built 
a small cabin of poles upon land later laid out 
by the Holland Land Company as lot 61 of the 
Cattaraugus village, on the west side of the 
creek, about one and one-half miles from its 
mouth. There he lived for a while, "with a 
very dark squaw or negress, whom he had in- 
duced to share his lot." Whether he intended 
to remain and become a permanent settler is 
not known. 

When the surveying parties were organized 
by the Holland Land Company, for the survey 
of the range lines in 1798, Sottle enlisted as 
axman, and continued in the employ of the 
company during 1798-99. In the fall of the 
latter year he went to the Western Reserve, 
and remained out of the county at least during 
the year 1800. He returned (it has been 
claimed in 1801, of which there is doubt) and 
went into possession of the improvements that 
he had made, and resided there until his death 
in 1849. His relatives are said to have moved 



in respectable circles, and he, notwithstand- 
ing his somewhat dissolute and intemperate 
habits and vagrant life among Indians and 
bordermen, was a man of considerable natural 
ability and information, and in early life not 
without native dignity and politeness. 

The survey and commencement of the sale 
of land upon the "Western" or "Connecticut 
Reserve," in Northwestern Ohio, was another 
event that foreshadowed and hastened the set- 
tlement of the county. On the 4th of July, 
1796, a party of surveyors and others, consist- 
ing of fifty-two persons, among them the dis- 
tinguished surveyors Augustus Porter, Seth 
Pease, Wareham Shepard, who afterwards en- 
gaged in the early surveys of Chautauqua 
county, and one Amos Sawtel, and also Moses 
Cleveland, who gave his name to the city of 
Cleveland, landed from Lake Erie at Conneaut, 
in Ashtabula county, Ohio, afterwards called 
the Plymouth of the Western Reserve. These 
persons constituted the advanced guard of 
more than a million of people, that subse- 
quently found homes in the State of Ohio. And 
row emigrants on their way from Connecticut, 
to reach the Western or Connecticut Reserve, 
began to journey on foot through the wilder- 
ness of Chautauqua county, following the In- 
dian path that traversed the lake towns. 

Rufus S. Reed, of Presque Isle, in 1798 was 
engaged in transporting goods and provisions 
through the county along its shore, on bat- 
teaux, or over the Indian trail, from New Ams 
terdam to Presque Isle. Eleazer Flagg, after- 



THE FRONTIER PERIOD 



2J 



wards a citizen of Stockton, was in his employ 
in the former enterprise. 

About 1800, one Skinner came with his fam- 
ily from Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, 
and opened a "house of entertainment," for 
emigrants and other travelers on the Catta- 
iaugus creek, near which was afterwards built 
the tavern of John Mack. He was living there 
in 1801. Joseph Badger, an early missionary, 
recorded in his journal that October 29th of 
that year, while on his way to the east, he put 
up with Skinner, who was living there a little 
above the Indian habits. Skinner probably re- 
mained there three or four years in all, enter- 
taining travelers. Skinner had no title to the 
soil that he occupied, yet his right to be re- 
garded as a bona fide settler is at least as valid 
as that of Sottle. The recognition of either as 
a real settler would establish the first settle- 
ment of the county to have been as far back as 
in the last years of the eighteenth century. 

As a preparation for the tide of emigration, 
a rude road was opened between the Cattarau- 
gus and Chautauqua creeks by Gen. Edward 
Faine, founder of Painesville, Ohio, to enable 
emigrants to reach the Western Reserve. He 
cut away the fallen trees and underbrush, and 
marked the route over the firmest ground, and 
at the best places to cross the streams, but 
built no bridges. He probably followed sub- 
stantially the line of the Indian trail, where the 
Erie or main road is now much of the way 
located. His work was commenced in 1801, 
and completed in 1802 to Westfield. It was 
the only road used by the settlers from the 
East for two or three years, and was known as 
Paine's road. 

In 1801 beginning of settlement was also 
made at Westfield. Andrew Straub from 
Pennsylvania, under the auspices of Col. James 
McMahan, selected land east of the site of the 
village, upon what was known as Straub's 
creek, and although he had no title, he built a 
log house and occupied it in 1801. He lived 
there alone, for he had no family. A few years 
later he received a deed of his land, and lived 
there many years. 

To James McMahan the credit is due of 
being the first real permanent settler, he being 
the first to hold title to the soil which he occu- 
pied and cultivated. He was born in North- 
umberland county, Pennsylvania, in March, 
1768. Prior to 1795, he surveyed two seasons 
iii Western Pennsylvania, and' for six months 
at a time saw no white persons except his as- 
sistants. On July 3, 1795, he married Mary Mc- 
Cord, and about the same year and before 
Sottle had built his pole cabin at the mouth of 



the Cattaraugus creek, he explored Chautauqua 
county, with a view to a residence there. He 
however lived for a while at Harbor Creek, 
Pennsylvania. In 1801 he again visited Chau- 
tauqua county and made a contract for his 
brother, John McMahan, to purchase township 
four, range fourteen, consisting of 22,012 acres 
of unsurveyed land in the towns of Westfield 
and Chautauqua. He also purchased for him- 
self 4,074 acres of unsurveyed land in the town 
of Ripley. The price to be paid was $2.50 per 
acre. James McMahan selected for himself, 
out of his brother's purchase, lot 13, which ex- 
tended east to the "Old Cross Road," so called 
from its being the point where the rude road, 
or trail between Buffalo and Erie was crossed 
by the French or Portage road. Early in the 
spring of 1802, Col. James McMahan cleared 
and planted to corn ten acres of this last men- 
tioned land in Westfield, and built upon it a 
log house, in which he installed his family in 
the fall. This was the first land cleared and 
cultivated by a white man having the right to 
the soil within the limits of Chautauqua 
county. 

Edward McHenry, also of Northumberland 
county, Pennsylvania, at the solicitation of 
James McMahan came in the spring of 1802 to 
the Cross Roads, a little later than McMahan, 
and built a log house upon lands adjoining 
McMahan, and moved his family into it before 
McMahan's family arrived at the Cross Roads. 
Although Sottle, Skinner, Straub and Mc- 
Henry were the first persons domiciled within 
the county, Col. James McMahan was the first 
to fully consummate a settlement by acquir- 
ing an ownership to the soil and making real, 
substantial and permanent improvements. 

However, settlement once commenced in this 
western solitude continued rapidly. Charles 
Avery settled in the town of Hanover, on lot 
3, near the mouth of the Cattaraugus creek, in 
1803, possibly in 1802, and a little later became 
a small trader in Indian goods. William H. 
Sydnor, a person of some education, although 
his life had been spent on the borders, came 
and purchased lots 1 and 2, where the creek 
empties into the lake. At the June court held 
in Batavia in 1804, he was licensed to keep a 
ferry at the mouth of the creek. His daughter 
Caroline was the first white child born at Cat- 
taraugus Village, and William Sydnor was the 
first person to die there. Ezekiel Lane early 
built a shanty on lot 48 near the Cattaraugus 
creek. He and his father-in-law, Marstin Mid- 
daugh, had been among the earliest settlers of 
Buffalo. 

John McMahan, brother of James McMahan, 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



in 1803 set out from Chelisquaque, Pennsyl- 
vania, with his family, and settled near the 
mouth of Chautauqua creek, upon its west side, 
near Barcelona. He built there the first saw 
and grist mill in the county. Other families, 
influenced by the McMahans, came from Penn- 
sylvania, and settled at the Cross Roads the 
same year: Arthur Bell, Christopher Dull, 
James Montgomery, William Culbertson, 
George and John Degeer and Jeremiah George. 

The log house built by McHenry was made 
a house of entertainment, this tavern was 
famous in its day. Here the first town meet- 
ings, militia trainings, and early public gather- 
ings, were held. In this log house August 
28th, 1802, was born John McHenry, the first 
white child native of the county of whom we 
have any account. Here also for the first time 
Christian rites were observed within the 
county, in the burial of the dead. Edward Mc- 
Henry with two companions embarked on 
Lake Erie, in a small boat with a pole for a 
mast, and a blanket for a sail, to obtain sup- 
plies. A flaw of wind capsized the boat, and 
McHenry was drowned. His was the first death 
of a white person residing in the county. Sep- 
tember 2, 1803, Rev. Joseph Badger, the mis- 
sionary, preached his funeral sermon from the 
text: "Man knoweth not his time." At the 
Cross Roads in 1805, the first marriage was 
celebrated in the county, that of James Mont- 
gomery to Sarah Taylor. The names of early 
settlers of Westfield are inscribed upon the 
stone monument erected at the Cross Roads in 
1866. 

The year 1804 saw many new comers. David 
Dickenson, Abel Cleveland and John E. How- 
ard from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 
built log houses and settled at Silver Creek 
with their families. Howard's log dwelling 
was on the south bank of the creek near where 
Howard street crosses it. Dickenson and 
Cleveland's dwelling was farther down near 
Newberry street. Dickenson and Cleveland 
soon erected a saw mill, and also constructed 
a mortar, by cutting a cavity in the end of a 
maple log, into which grists of corn brough: 
to their mill were placed, and converted into 
meal by the action of a heavy pestle, worked 
up and down by the wheel of the saw mill. 

During this year settlement was also made 
in the town of Sheridan by Francis Webber, 
from Massachusetts. He settled upon the Erie 
road, southwest of Silver Creek, on lot 17, 
about one mile west of the east line of Sheri- 
dan. Hazadiah Stebbins also settled upon the 
same lot the same year. Orsamus Holmes, a 
soldier of the Revolution, and his family with 



other families, settled in the town the next 
year. 

William and Gerard Griswold, Abner and 
Alanson Holmes, Joel Lee, John Walker, John 
Holister, Thomas Stebbins, Jonathan, John 
and Haven Brigham, and Jonathan Griswold 
were early settlers of Sheridan. Isaac Bald- 
win early located in the southwest part of the 
town. Deacon Bethel Willoughby was the 
first to settle back on the hills in the south 
part. 

In 1804, settlement was commenced at Fre- 
donia, at first called Canadaway, from the 
stream upon which it was situated. This 
stream on the maps of the early surveyors was 
written "Cascade." The Canadaway has its 
source among the hills of Arkwright and Char- 
lotte, and flows at first over waterfalls, and in 
rapids through wild gorges, and at last, less 
roughly to Lake Erie. The Indians gave it the 
beautiful name Ga-na-da-wa-o, meaning "run- 
ning through the hemlocks," in allusion to the 
evergreens, which grew s© thickly upon its 
banks. 

At Ganadawao, or Canadaway, as the white 
man pronounced it, the settlement of Pomfret 
was commenced by Thomas McClintock, David 
Eason and Low Minegar, all from Eastern and 
Central Pennsylvania. The first house was 
built in the summer of 1803, by David Eason, 
on the bank of the Canadaway, near where 
Gen. Risley afterwards resided. It was of 
logs, not a nail used in its construction. In 
the spring of 1805, Eason married Margaret 
Woodside, in Northumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania. In April he set out with his bride, 
accompanied by Low Minegar and others, and 
their families ; they journeyed through the 
wilderness of Pennsylvania to Olean, on the 
Allegheny river. They were six weeks on the 
way. At Olean they found the advanced 
guard of pioneers that first settled Cattarau- 
gus county. There they built canoes, de- 
scended the Allegheny to Warren, ascended 
the Conewango, passed over Chautauqua Lake, 
and reached Canadaway by the way of the 
Cross Roads. When he arrived there, Eason 
had ten dollars in his pocket, with which he 
paid for a barrel of flour. 

About the same time that Eason reached 
Canadaway, Zattu Cushing brought to an end 
a remarkable journey. In February, 1805, he 
started from Eastern New York, conveying his 
family and goods by means of two yoke of 
oxen drawing a sled. They were three weeks 
in making the journey, and drove four cows. 
They brought one-half bushel of apple seeds, 
from which the first orchard of the county was 



THE FRONTIER PERIOD 



29 



grown. On Mr. Cushing's arrival at Canada- 
way, the snow was deep and the weather was 
cold. They moved into the partly completed 
log cabin of Low Minegar. It had no doors, 
no chinking between the logs, and no floor. 
They covered the ground with hemlock 
boughs, and remained until Mr. Eason got an 
article for his land, and built a log house. 

The rough frontier experience of Eason and 
Cushing was similar to that of all the early 
settlers. Eason and Cushing were leading 
citizens of the county. Eason was chosen the 
first sheriff, and afterwards State Senator. 
Cushing was appointed the first judge of the 
county, and held that position for thirteen 
years. He was the grandfather of the intrepid 
Alonzo H. Cushing, who fell at Gettysburg, 
and of William B. Cushing, the hero of many 
exploits, chief of which was the destruction of 
the "Albemarle." 

Hezekiah Baker came to Canadaway in 
1806. He gave the land that forms the beauti- 
ful village park in Fredonia. Elijah Risley 
came in 1807. His son, Elijah, Jr., opened the 
first store in the county. Dr. Squire White 
came in 1808 or 1809, and was the first edu- 
cated and licensed physician of the county. He 
was also its first surrogate. Among other early 
settlers of Pomfret may be named Benjamin 
Barrett, Samuel Geer, Benjamin Barnes, Eli- 
phalet Burnham, Philo Orton, Leverett Barker 
and Richard Williams. 

In 1804 settlement was commenced at Rip- 
ley. Alexander Cochran, from the North of 
Ireland, settled about one mile west of the vil- 
lage formerly known as Quincy. He bought 
his land of the Holland Land Company, and 
paid for it in gold. He was the first person in 
the county to receive a deed for his farm. 
Josiah Farnsworth, from Eastern New York, 
settled at Quincy the same year. Perry G. 
Ellsworth, from Otsego county, settled one 
mile west of Quincy. and in 1804-05 kept a 
tavern in the town. Thomas Prendergast, of 
the well-known Prendergast family, settled in 
1805. Among other early settlers were Wil- 
liam Alexander, William Crossgrove, Basil 
Burgess, Asa, William and Andrew Spear, Na- 
than Wisner, Charles Forsythe, Samuel Trues- 
dell and Jonathan Parsons. 

In 1804 settlement was also made at May- 
ville. Dr. Alexander Mclntyre built there 'a 
log dwelling near the steamboat landing, 
around which he erected a stockade of tall 
palisades. His fort was called by the old 
jokers of those days Fort Deborah or Debby, 
in illusion to his wife by adoption. In early 
life Mclntyre was captured by the Indians, 



who cut off the veins of his ears. He resided 
with them many years. He claimed to have 
acquired their knowledge of the medical prop- 
erties of roots and herbs, and in the estima- 
tion of many people was profoundly skilled in 
the healing art. In 1805 Jonathan Smith, a 
man of rare eccentricities, settled on the west 
side of Chautauqua Lake, and the same year 
Peter Barnhart, a soldier of the Revolution, 
en the east side. In 1806 William Prender- 
gast, Sr., and his well-known sons and daugh- 
ters, settled on the west side of the lake. 
Among other early settlers of the town were 
John Scott, Filer Sackett, Darius Scofield, Na- 
than and David Cheney, Darius Dexter, Arte- 
mus Herrick, Dr. John E. Marshall and Zacheus 
Hanchett. 

In the year 1805 settlement was commenced 
in Portland, by Capt. James Dun, a soldier of 
the Revolution. He bought 1150 acres of land 
in that town. He came there from Meadville, 
Pennsylvania, with a team of four horses, set- 
tled at first upon lot 31, built a shanty of poles 
near a large spring, and moved his family into 
it, but finally he removed to the north part of 
lot 30. The following are other early settlers : 
Nathan Fay, Elisha Fay, Peter Kane, John 
Price, Benjamin Hutchins, David Eaton, Na- 
thaniel Fay, James Parker, Joseph Correll, Na- 
than Crosby and Erastus Taylor. 

The town of Dunkirk was first settled this 
year by Seth Cole, of Paris, Oneida county, at 
"the mouth of the Canadaway creek. 

In 1805 settlements had been made in every 
one of the northern towns, eight in all, each 
of which bordered on Lake Erie, excepting the 
town of Chautauqua. Between one and two 
hundred inhabitants resided within the borders 
of the county, but as yet no white man had 
taken up his abode south of the Ridge, unless 
Dr. Mclntyre, Peter Barnhart and Jonathan 
Smith, who had settled around the head of 
Chautauqua Lake, are to be considered excep- 
tions. The greater part of the county re- 
mained unvisited save by the surveyors or ex- 
plorers voyaging along the water courses or 
traveling over the Indian trails to reach the 
settlements in the northern part of the county. 

This primeval quiet was at length broken in 
the southern part of the county by Dr. Thomas 
R. Kennedy and Edward Work. They made 
the first assault upon the pine forests at Ken- 
nedy in the town of Poland, in 1805. Dr. Ken- 
nedy had married a daughter of Andrew Elli- 
cott, the niece of Joseph Ellicott, agent of the 
Holland Land Company. He and Mr. Work, 
until they had commenced the first settlement 
of the southern part of the county at Kennedy, 



30 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



had resided at Meadville, Pennsylvania. That 
year Dr. Kennedy purchased three thousand 
acres of unsurveyed land in Poland and com- 
menced erecting mills at Kennedy. Much of 
the material, and the provisions for the hands 
employed, were brought in keelboats and came 
up the Allegheny and Conewango rivers. 

Edward Shillito was the first resident of 
Poland. He resided at Kennedy in 1805 with 
his family, and boarded the workmen upon the 
mills. The attack thus began upon the pines 
in Poland, continued at other points in south- 
western Chautauqua for three quarters of a 
century until the magnificent evergreens that 
covered two hundred square miles entirely dis- 
appeared. Lumbering during the greater part 
of this period constituted the most important 
industry. 

Following the building of the mills, settlers 
began to come. Among the earliest settlers of 
Poland were Aaron Forbes, Sumner Allen, 
Samuel Hitchcock, Joshua Woodard, Dr. Sam- 
uel Foote, the first physician ; Col. Nathaniel 
Fenton, Amasa Ives, Nicholas Dolloff, Elias 
Tracy, Amos Fuller, Ebenezer Cheney, Joseph 
Clark, Daniel Walters, Obediah Jenks, Albert 
Russell, Franklin Leet, Lewis Holbrook, Abiel 
Elkins, Daniel Griswold, Luther Lydell, Nor- 
ton B. Bill, Eliakim Crosby, John Montgom- 
ery, Chester Lillie and Henry Connell. 

No other settlement or important improve- 
ment was made in the south part of the county 
in 1805, except the opening of the woods road 
by Robert Miles and others from near Sugar 
Grove, Pennsylvania, through the forest to 
Miles Landing on Chautauqua Lake, near 
where Lakewood is situated. It terminated in 
Busti, at the mouth of a little creek east of and 
near Lakewood. It was used for many years 
by the people of Pennsylvania in going to 
Chautauqua Lake, and by the early settlers in 
their trips to Pennsylvania to purchase seed 
potatoes, oats and wheat, and also in driving 
hogs and cows. The termination of the road 
was called Miles Landing. "This road was the 
great highway of that wilderness ; a guide to 
the bewildered pioneer ; if he could strike this 
road, he was safe." 

In 1806 Ellicott was first settled by William 
Wilson from Pennsylvania. He first lived in 
a shanty, but in June moved into a house he 
built on the west side of the Chadakoin, below 
Falconer, upon land which had not then been 
surveyed. James Culbertson, from Meadville, 
the same year settled on the west side of the 
Chadakoin, at its confluence with the Cassa- 
daga. George W. Fenton, also from Pennsyl- 
vania, father of Governor R. E. Fenton, settled 



on the south side of the Chadakoin near Lev- 
ant in 1807. In 1809 Fenton removed to Car- 
roll. Jonas Simmons, John and Jacob Strunk 
and Samuel Whittemore were early settlers at 
and near Fluvanna; Benjamin Ross at Ross 
Mills; Jehiel Tiffany at Tiffanyville ; Phineas 
Palmiter, Elias Tracy and Oliver Sherman, 
near Celoron ; Thomas and Joseph Walkup, 
Augustus Moore and Amos Blanchard in other 
parts of the town. 

In 1806 William Prendergast settled not far 
from the present Chautauqua Assembly 
Grounds. He and his sons and daughters and 
grandsons became the owners of a contiguous 
tract of land containing 3337 acres. His thir- 
teen sons and daughters nearly all became 
residents of the county. His sons were princi- 
pal personages in its early history, holding 
prominent official positions and places of trust. 
William Prendergast, born in Waterford, Ire- 
land, February 2, 1727, came to America and 
settled at Pawling, Dutchess county, on the 
Hudson river. He married Mehitabel Wing, 
cf Beekman, New York. He died in Chau- 
rauqua, February 14th, 181 1. Their children 
were: Matthew, Thomas, Mary (Mrs. Wil- 
liam Bemus, of Ellery), Elizabeth, James 
Jediah, Martin, John Jeffery (who was never a 
resident here), Susanna (Mrs. Oliver White- 
side), Eleanor, Martha, William; and Minerva, 
who married Elisha Marvin, of North East, 
Pennsylvania. 

The long leases by which the lands were 
generally held along the Hudson, the restraints 
and forfeitures incident to them, and the op- 
pressive method of collecting rents, produced 
a turbulent spirit, often manifested in violent 
and lawless conduct by the tenants. These 
disorders began long before the Revolution. 
In June, 1766, some soldiers sent to suppress 
riotous proceedings in Dutchess county, were 
fired upon and one of them wounded so that 
he died. William Prendergast was appre- 
hended for participating in this affair as prin- 
cipal, and taken under guard to a sloop for 
safekeeping. He and others were indicted for 
high treason. The public mind was consider- 
ably excited over the case of Prendergast, and 
"Holt's Gazette" of New York City, a leading 
paper of the time, in several articles, showed 
apparent sympathy for Prendergast and the 
tenants. 

At a court of Oyer and Terminer, which com- 
menced July 29, 1766, at Poughkeepsie, and 
was held by Chief Justice Horsemanden, in 
which Samuel Jones, a most eminent lawyer 
of the times, appeared as counsel for the King, 
Mr. Prendergast was found guilty of high 



THE FRONTIER PERIOD 



treason and sentenced to be executed on Sep- 
tember 26th. Other rioters were tried and 
found guilty. Some were fined, two were im- 
prisoned, and two stood in the pillory. The 
sentiments of the people were such respecting 
William Prendergast's offence, that William 
Livingstone, the sheriff, was obliged to offer 
a good reward to any person who would assist 
at the execution, he to be disguised, so as to 
be secure from insult. In "Holt's Gazette" of 
September 4, 1766, is given an account of the 
trial, by which it appears that the conduct of 
Mehitabel, the wife of Mr. Prendergast, was 
very remarkable. She greatly aided her hus- 
band in his defence by wise suggestions and 
remarks in open court, without the least im- 
pertinence or indecorum. Her womanly con- 
duct and tender solicitude for her husband 
created such sympathy in his behalf that the 
counsel for the King asked to have her re- 
moved from the court room, which was denied, 
he being answered that she neither disturbed 
the court nor spoke unreasonably. The jury 
brought in the prisoner guilty ; the court and 
jury, however, recommended the prisoner to 
the King's mercy. Mrs. Prendergast imme- 
diately set out for New York to solicit a re- 
prieve, and though over seventy miles distant 
she returned in three days with hopes of suc- 
cess. The Governor, Sir Henry Moore, sent a 
reprieve to the sheriff of Dutchess county until 
His Majesty's pleasure should be known, Lord 
Shelburn having laid before the King a letter 
of Sir Henry Moore, recommending the pardon 
of Prendergast. A little later he wrote Gov- 
ernor Moore that, "His Majesty has been 
graciously pleased to grant him his pardon, 
relying that this instance of his Royal clem- 
ency will have a better effect in recalling these 
mistaken people to their duty, than the most 
rigorous punishment." Was it unreasonable 
that gratitude to King George for his Royal 
clemency, under the circumstances, led Wil- 
liam Prendergast, who was not a native of the 
country, to espouse the cause of the King dur- 
ing the Revolution, ten years later? 

Although seventy-five years of age, William 
Prendergast left his home in Pittstown, in Van 
Rensselaer county, with his family in 1805, 
with the intention of locating in Tennessee. 
William Prendergast, his wife, four sons and 
five daughters, his son-in-law and grandchil- 
dren, and his slave Tom, in all twenty-nine 
persons, in four canvas covered wagons (some 
drawn by four horses) and a two-horse 
barouche for the older ladies, traveled through 
Pennsylvania as far as Pittsburgh or Wheel- 
ing. Then they purchased a flat boat and em- 



barked with all their effects, and descended 
the river to the falls of the Ohio, now Louis- 
ville, Kentucky. They traveled thence to a 
point near Nashville, but were dissatisfied with 
the country and people, and came back to Erie, 
Pennsylvania, where they arrived about the 
last of September, 1805. The family finally 
decided to settle in Chautauqua, but all, with 
the exception of William Bemus, a son-in-law, 
and Thomas Prendergast, journeyed to Canada, 
where they passed the winter. 

Thomas Prendergast settled in Ripley the 
same fall. Bemus lived during the winter of 
1805-06 in a log house near the Cross Roads. 
Lands having been purchased in the town of 
Chautauqua, on the west side of Chautauqua 
Lake, and a log house built, William and his 
family returned from Canada in June, 1806, 
and became settlers of Chautauqua county. 

William Bemus, above named, son-in-law of 
William Prendergast, in the spring of 1806 
made the first settlement of Ellery at Bemus 
Point, near the old Indian fields. Jeremiah 
Griffith, of Madison county, a little later the 
same year settled in Ellery at the Old Indian 
fields at Griffith's Point. These pioneers left 
many descendants. Among other early and 
leading settlers of Ellery were: Hanson Meed, 
Tiler Sackett, Azariah Bennett, John and Jo- 
seph Sillsby, William Barrows, John Demott, 
John Love, Joseph Loucks, Henry Strunk, 
Thomas Parker, Peter Pickard, Samuel Young, 
Elisha Tower, Elhanan Winchester and John 
Pickard, grandfather of Alonzo C. Pickard, the 
well-known lawyer of Jamestown. 

In 1806 Thomas Bemus, son of William 
Bemus, and grandson of William Prendergast, 
Sr., made the first settlement in the town of 
Harmony, on lot 54, township 2, range 12, 
opposite Bemus Point. The next year Jona- 
than Cheney settled on lot 52, about two miles 
below the "Narrows." Before the close of 
1806, upwards of twenty families had settled 
around Chautauqua Lake. 

In 1807 Dr. Thomas Kennedy and Edward 
Work purchased 1260 acres of land on both 
sides of the Chadakoin below Dexterville, in- 
cluding the mill site at Tiffanyville, and 
Worksburg, now Falconer, including also land 
east of the Cassadaga creek. In the fall of 
1807 Mr. Work erected a hewed log house on 
the north side of the Chadakoin at Falconer; 
this was the first settlement of Falconer ; for 
more than three-quarters of a century the 
place was known as Worksburg. Mr. Work 
was a public-spirited, energetic man, of much 
ability. In 1808 he erected there sawmills and 
soon after a grist mill. He and Mr. Kennedy 



32 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



opened a road between Kennedy and Works- 
burg, and built the first bridge over Cassa- 
tiaga creek. They made the first substantial 
improvements in southern Chautauqua. 

Kiantone derives its name from the Indian 
village of Kyenthono, on Kiantone creek, 
which was occupied by the Indians as late as 
1795. when Col. James McMahan passed 
through the county. It was settled in 1807 by 
Joseph Aikin from Rensselaer county, New 
York. He settled on the Stillwater, near the 
west line of the town. He laid out the land 
there into lots and attempted to found the vil- 
lage of Aikinville. Robert Russell soon after 
settled in the town and built a sawmill on 
Kiantone creek, above the Indian village. He 
afterwards removed to Russell, Pennsylvania, 
and gave his name to that place. He was a 
man of much energy, and a leading citizen of 
Northwestern Pennsylvania. 

Arkwright was also settled in 1807, by 
Abiram Orton on lot 64, not far from Fre- 
donia. The same year Benjamin Perry set- 
tled on the same lot, and Augustus Burnham 
on lot 60 near Shumla. 

Although every town bordering on Lake 
Erie had been settled for several years, the 
site of the city of Dunkirk remained covered 
by a dense and unbroken forest. Undoubtedly 
the French and English in the preceding cen- 
tury, while coasting along the southern shore 
of Lake Erie, had many times visited the bay. 
Vet, notwithstanding that conspicuous head- 
land. Point Gratiot, named from Gen. Charles 
Gratiot, marked the existence and bounded 
the western limits of a safe harbor, lake craft 
seldom visited its lonesome waters, and deer 
and wolves continued to inhabit the gloomy 
woods around it until 1808, when Timothy 
Goulding, its first settler, built his house a 
mile west of the harbor, and probably within 
the limits of the city. A portion of Point 
Gratiot was included in his purchase. The 
next year his brother-in-law, Solomon Chad- 
wick, from Madison county, settled at Dun- 
kirk Harbor, in what is now the Second Ward 
of the city. He was the first settler on the 
bay. Dunkirk Harbor for eight or nine years 
after was known as Chadwick Bav, and for a 
short time afterwards as Garnseys Bay, and 
finally Dunkirk, after a seaport of that' name 
in France. Luther Goulding, brother of Timo- 
thy, the same year settled upon the bay west 
of Chadwick. John Brigham, from Madison 
county, New York, settled within the limits of 
the city in 1808; John Brigham, Jr., and his 
family settled in 1810; and James Brigham, 



who married Fanny, the sister of Gen. Elijah 
Risley, in 1811. 

Forestville was settled by Capt. Jehiel 
Moore, from Eastern New York, in 1809. Char- 
lotte was settled in April of the same year by 
John and Daniel Pickett and Arva O. Austin, 
in the northwest part, for many years known 
as Pickett Neighborhood. Robert W. Seaver 
and Barna Edson a little later the same year 
settled Charlotte Center. In 1810 Sinclairville 
was settled by William Berry and Maj. Samuel 
Sinclear, a soldier of the Revolution and a 
nephew of Col. Joseph Cilley, a distinguished 
officer of that war. Mr. Sinclear was a near 
kinsman of Joseph Cilley, United States Sena- 
tor from New Hampshire, and Jonathan Cilley, 
who was killed in the duel with Graves, of 
Kentucky. October 22, 1810, the family of 
Maj. Sinclear, including his stepsons Obed Ed- 
son and John M. Edson, first arrived at the 
site of the village of Sinclairville. John and 
Samuel Cleland, Joel Burnell, the father of 
Madison Burnell, were early settlers of the 
town. 

About this time settlement was commenced 
in Carroll. It became a town of sawmills ; as 
many as twenty-five were in operation at one 
time. Lumbering in Carroll was long its lead- 
ing industry. 

John Russell, of Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, ex- 
plored the country along the lower Conewango 
in 1800. He returned to his home with a good 
report of the country. The same year he and 
his family, accompanied by a considerable 
party of emigrants, among whom were Hugh 
Frew and his family, set out for the Cone- 
wango. Russell built a boat in which the 
goods of the party were carried up the Sinne- 
mahoning. Russell and Frew had a yoke of 
cattle and some cows. These were* driven 
through the woods. At the portage between 
the Sinnemahoning and the Alleghenv, the 
boats were taken apart and transported upon 
wagon wheels to a canoe place on the Alle- 
gheny river, where the boats were put together 
again. They then descended the Allegheny 
to the Conewango, which thev ascended to a 
point a little above Russellbu'rg. They then 
journeyed to Beechwood, now called ' Sugar 
Grove, in Pennsylvania, close to the south 
boundary of Chautauqua, where they settled. 
They found John Marsh, Robert Miles and 
John and Stephen Ross had preceded them. 
At this time there was no building at Warren 
except the Holland Company's storehouse, in 
which a family in charge resided. No white 
settler was living in Chautauqua county at that 
time. These settlers endured great hardships 



^Sfe 



w^? 



^S^LERSQFp^ 

>VESTFIELDd RIPLEY ^ 

JAS.MCMAHAN BASIL BURGESS 

LDW D. MCHENRY WM. NKBREDE 
JNO.MCMAHAN HUGH WR1TEHLLL 
'THOSMCCLINTOCK ARTHUR BELL 
GEO.WHFTEH1LT. DAVID EASON 
THO'S.PENDERGAST DAVID EATON 
TIIO'SB-CAMPBELL ROBT. DIXON 
W 'M.ALEXANDER JAS. DUNN 
ALEX.C0C1IRAN. LOW M1MGER 
W'M.CROSGROVE PETER KANE 
BURBAN BROCKWAY DAVID K1NCADE 
JND.B.DINSMORE OBADIAH JOY 
W M.MURRAY ASA SPEAR 
CHAS. FORSYTH HUGH RIDDLE 
JACOB GEORGE CALVIN BARNS- 
PERRY G.ELS WORTH DAVID ROYCE 
ALEX. LOWRY GEO. PULL 

ALEX.C.MARTIN WM. BELL 
Dr. L.RICHMOND MOSES ADAMS 
LAUGHL1N M C NEIL JONATHAN CASS 
JA'S.MONTGOMERY ASA HALL 
SAME WILKINSON NATHL.BIRD 
SAME HARRISON WM- RIDDLE 
J0S1AH FARNSWORTR N11H0. GEORGE 
STEPH. PRENDERGAST JNO ACRES 
JEREMIAH CLUMP NATHAN FAY 
JONATHAN ADAMS ELISHA FAY 
ABR'M. FREDERICK JNO. TAYLOR 
GIDEON GOODRICH JNO. HENRY 
JAS. BRANNAN W.M.CROSCROVL 
OLIVER STETSON ROBT. DICKSON 



i 



MO.VI.-.MIONT TO EARLY SETTLERS 



THE FRONTIER PERIOD 



33 



during the first years of their residence in 
Warren county. 

John Frew, a native of Killyleale, Ireland, 
a son of Hugh Frew abovenamed, and Robert 
Russell, both young men, having explored the 
land along the Conewango in Carroll and Kian- 
tone, in the spring of 1809, set out from War- 
ren county, each with a pack on his back, and 
traveled on foot over the Indian trail to Ken- 
nedy's mill, and over the high lands to the 
falls of the Cattaraugus, thence to the oak 
openings east of Buffalo ; from this place they 
journeyed to Batavia. They camped out 
nights, and subsisted on jerked meat, dry bread 
and young leeks. At Batavia they entered 
their lands. Robert Russell bought on the 
Kiantone creek in Kiantone ; Frank H. Mott, 
of Jamestown, was one of his descendants. 
John Frew entered lands for himself and 
Thomas Russell at the mouth of Frew Run, in 
Carroll. They soon built a log house, and later 
they completed a sawmill. The village that 
grew up near the mill was called Frewsburg, 
after John Frew. Thereafter this place became 
a leading point for the manufacture of lumber, 
and for many years great quantities were run 
from there down the river to Pittsburgh and 
to points below. George W. Fenton, father 
of Governor Reuben E. Fenton, removed from 
Ellicott and settled in Carroll the same year. 
In 1810 Busti was settled by John L. Frank 
on lot 61, and Uriah Bently on lot 16. Among 
other early settlers of Busti were Palmer Phil- 
lips, Arba Blodget, Daniel Sherman and Joseph 
Garfield. 

In 1810 Gerry was first settled by Stephen 
Jones and Amos Atkins, who built houses near 
each other, a short distance south of Sinclair- 
ville. The southern, central and eastern parts 
of the town were settled later by Vermonters. 
William Alverson, Hezekiah Myers, Hezekiah 
Catlin and Porter Phelps were the first Ver- 
monters to take up their residence in the town. 
They were followed by many from that State. 
The first actual settlement of the town of 
Stockton was made in 1809 by Abel Beebe, 
Joel Fisher and Othelow Church at and near 
Cassadaga. Church afterwards removed to 
Allegany county, and was there murdered by 
one, Howe. Jonathan Alverson, from Wind- 
ham county, Vermont, entered lands and was 
present there in 1809. Shadrick Scofield, 
David Waterbury and Henry Walker settled 
in the southwest part in 1810. The same year 
John West, Bela Todd and Joseph Green set- 
tled near them. John West came over the 
"Old Portage Road" to Ellery. He and Dex- 
ter Barnes and Peter Barnhart in 181 1 con- 

Chau— 3 



structed the old Chautauqua road from near 
Sinclairville east beyond the Cattaraugus line. 
In 181 1 Benjamin Miller settled three-fourths 
of a mile north of Delanti, and was the first 
settler of Bear Creek Valley; Linus W. Miller 
and Phineas M. Miller were his descendants. 
Abel Thompson came in June, 1812, and 
was the first settler of Delanti. Samuel Cris- 
sey came in 1815. Among his descendants 
were many well-known citizens, among them 
his son Harlow, and his grandsons, Newton, 
Elverton B. and Seward M. Nathaniel Cris- 
sey, a brother of Samuel, was an early settler. 
Among his descendants was Forrest Crissey, 
the author of the "Centennial Poem," read on 
the occasion of the celebration of the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of the settlement of Chau- 
tauqua county, at Westfield. Calvin Warren 
came in 1816 and settled one and one-half miles 
north of Delanti. He was in early days a 
prominent citizen of the town, and was chosen 
its first supervisor. He left well-known and 
prominent descendants, among them Chauncey 
Warren, his son, and his grandsons, Amos K. 
Warren and Lucien C. Warren. Aaron Lyon 
early settled on the west side of Cassadaga 
Lake. He was the brother of Mary Lyon, the 
founder of Holyoke Female Seminary, in Mas- 
sachusetts, and the father of Lucy and Free- 
love, well-known missionaries at Ningpo, 
China. Ichabod Fisher settled at Cassadaga 
Lake in 1813. Sawyer Phillips came in 181 5. 
He left many prominent descendants, among 
them Philip Phillips, the well-known singer of 
sacred music. Andrew Putnam came in 181 7. 
He left many sons, among them Worthy Put- 
nam, a distinguished educator. The county 
owes more to him for the development of the 
common schools than to any other. Jonathan 
Bugbee, father of Judge L. Bugbee, and Abel 
Brunson, were both early settlers. Abner Put- 
nam came in 1818, and left many descendants. 
Ebenezer Smith, Jr., and his son Aaron, Re- 
solved W. Fenner, Washington Winsor, Josiah 
White, Alonzo and Eleazer Flagg were all 
early settlers of Stockton. 

Villenova was also settled in 1810, by Dan- 
iel Whipple, from Herkimer county, in the 
southeast part of the town on lot 3. John Kent, 
from Vermont, settled near Whipple on lot 3, 
and John and Eli Arnold, from Massachusetts, 
on lot 19, near Hamlet. 

Jamestown, although now a city, the most 
populous and wealthy in the county, was nearly 
the last place settled during the frontier period. 
In 1810 its site was covered by a gloomy morass 
and a number of drift hills, densely covered 
with sombre pines. James Prendergast, son of 



34 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 






William, who had examined the locality in 1806, 
was pleased with the advantages it offered for 
mill sites, and resolved to found a settlement 
there. He purchased one thousand acres of 
land upon which John Blowers, who was in 
his employ, built a log house in the fall of 1S10. 
Blowers and his family moved into it before 
Christmas of that year, and became the first 
inhabitants of Jamestown. The place was at 
first called the "Rapids," and finally James- 
town, in honor of James Prendergast, its 
founder. 

The earliest settlers who came first to the 
Cross Roads and first settled in several of the 
northern towns, emigrated from the central 
and eastern counties of Pennsylvania and were 
many of them of German descent. The same is 
true of some of the earliest settlers in the 
southern towns. It was not long, however, 
before the irrepressible New Englander ap- 
peared, but in greater numbers came hardy 
young men skilled in woodcraft from the back- 
woods of Eastern New York, bringing with 
them their wives and children. In early years, 
C apt. John Mack owned the tavern and kept 
the ferry near the mouth of Cattaraugus creek. 
This ferry may be said to have been the east- 
ern gateway of the county, and Capt. Mack its 
gatekeeper, for a majority of the early comers 
were here ferried across this little river and 
entertained at his tavern. 

Poor as the people were during the frontier 
period and scant as were their opportunities, 
they entertained bright hopes for the future, 
when the forests should be swept away, and in 
their place should be green and cultivated 
fields, and the fruits of their labor enjoyed by 
their descendants. Although unlearned in 
books, they highly valued the advantages that 
an education would give their children. New 
provisions had been made by the State for 
schools in the larger settlements and the peo- 
ple voluntarily built schoolhouses. The small 
sums due the teachers were often paid in corn 
and other produce. 

The Gospel was preached in every settle- 
ment. Scarcely had the first log cabin been 
reared in each town before it was visited by 
some early missionary sent by the missionary 
societies of New England and the East. The 



first church organized in the county was 
founded by the Presbyterian settlers at the 
Cross Roads in 1808, and was called the Chau- 
tauqua church. The same year the first Bap- 
tist church was organized at Canadaway, and 
was called the first Baptist Church in Pomfret. 
In 1808 was also formed the first Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and the first Methodist ser- 
mon preached. About the same time the Con- 
gregationalists were also represented here, in 
the person and by the work of Father John 
Spencer. No missionary labored so long and 
effectively in early years as Father Spencer. 
Dressed in the antique style of Revolutionary 
days, wearing short stockings and knee 
buckles, and boots quite up to his knees, he 
preached from house to house. Many churches 
were founded as the result of his work. Of 
all the early missionaries who labored in Chau- 
tauqua county, Father Spencer filled the most 
prominent place. 

The first postoffice was established in Chau- 
tauqua county in 1806, at the Cross Roads on 
the route between Buffalo and Presque Isle. 

At the beginning of the last century, what is 
now Chautauqua county was a part of the town 
of Northampton, in the county of Ontario. 
March 30, 1802, the county of Genesee was 
erected from Ontario. The boundaries of 
Genesee county were identical with the town 
of Northampton, and included all of the Hol- 
land Purchase, and also the Phelps and Gor- 
ham Purchase, east of it. What is now Chau- 
tauqua county became a part of the town of 
Katavia. April 15, 1805, by an act of the Leg- 
islature, the town of Chautauqua was created. 
It included all of the present county except the 
tenth range of townships, which was made a 
part of the town of Erie. The organization of 
the town of Chautauqua was hailed with pleas- 
ure by its settlers, as it gave them authority to 
regulate their local affairs. Prior to April. 
1807, John McMahan had three times been 
chosen its supervisor, at town meetings held 
at the Cross Roads, and had met with the 
board of supervisors of Genesee county, at Ba- 
tavia. He had been chosen without reference 
to his political opinions. In April of this year, 
the first election was held in the county. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The Pioneer Period. 



The circumstances attending the organiza- 
tion of the county were auspicious. The year 
before, the Holland Land Company had built 



a land office of logs at Mayville, and placed it 
in charge of William Peacock. The consum- 
mation of the organization of the countv, to- 



THE PIONEER PERIOD 



35 



;ther with the genial spring of 1811, made 
ich a favorable impression upon people visit- 
ig there, that many were induced to enter 
nd at the land office. 

Zattu Cushing was appointed first judge of 
ie county; Matthew Prendergast, Philo Or- 
>n, Jonathan Thompson and William Alex- 
ider, associate judges. Of these men, Mat- 
lew Prendergast was the eldest son of Wil- 
am Prendergast; when his father was par- 
Dned by the king, as has been related, he was 
jout ten years of age. This circumstance 
:curring so early in his life, undoubtedly 
iade a strong impression upon his youthful 
iind, and naturally excited his sympathy in 
ivor of King George, who had favored his 
ither in so momentous an affair. When the 
Dntroversy between the King and the Ameri- 
an people had come to an issue, he was so 
xongly inclined towards the Royal cause that 
l 1779 he joined Abraham Cuyler's celebrated 
:giment of Royal Refugees. The next year, 
hile a lieutenant in command of a small party 
ran his regiment, he captured on the Long 
;land shore Major Bush, Capt. Cornelius 
onkling, ancestor of Roscoe Conkling, Capt. 
ogers and Lieut. Farley, Americans who had 
jme over from the Connecticut shore on a 
;cret mission in the interest of the American 
ause. Two Americans were killed in the 
ffair. William Leggett,' father of William 
.eggett, the editor of the "New York Evening 
ost," escaped capture. We have every rea- 
)n to believe that William Prendergast served 
ith credit to himself in the cause he espoused 
uring the remainder of the war. 
After the Revolution, Mr. Prendergast for 
)me years resided in Nova Scotia, where he 
wned a tract of land. In 1808, after he came 
) Chautauqua county, he was appointed a 
istice of the peace, and served as supervisor 
1 1810-11. He also served as associate judge in 
hautauqua county many years. As such he 
erified the petitions of many Revolutionary 
}ldiers for pension, and curiously enough, wc 
;e him presiding at a Republican meeting 
eld at John Scott's tavern in 1812, expressly 
ailed to sustain the war against England, 
hile other citizens of the county, who had 
een gallant soldiers of the Revolution, were 
t the same time participating in meetings 
eld in opposition to the war. Through his 
fe, he retained his Revolutionary costume, 
nd wore long hair, tied in a queue with a 
:ather string. 

The first session of the Court of Common 
leas was held at Mayville, June 25, 181 1, in 
cott's Tavern, on the east side of Main street. 



Anselm Potter, Dennis Brackett and Jacob 
Houghton were the first lawyers. The first 
meeting of the board of supervisors, in which 
Philo Orton represented the town of Pomfret, 
and Matthew Prendergast the town of Chau- 
tauqua, was also held in Scott's Tavern, on the 
third Tuesday of October. In pursuance of a 
vote then taken, a courthouse of wood, and 
later a jail, were built, at the expense of $1,500. 
They were built where a "large hemlock post" 
was placed in 1808 to mark the spot, just in 
front of the present courthouse. 

In 1812 the town of Ellicott, with James 
Prendergast, the founder of Jamestown, as its 
supervisor, the town of Gerry, with Samuel 
Sinclair, the founder of Sinclairville, as its 
supervisor, and the town of Hanover, with 
Nedebiah Angell, the founder of the "Angell 
Settlement," as its supervisor, were erected as 
new towns. 

Notwithstanding the propitious beginning 
of the new county's existence, the settlers were 
doomed to disappointment. The winter of 
1811-12 was very inclement. A deep snowfall 
which remained until the last of March inter- 
rupted the explorations of landlookers. Yet 
the Holland Land Company continued to make 
efforts to open the county to settlement. They 
contracted with John Kent to build a road 
from his place in Villenova to Kennedy's Mills, 
to be laid out near the Indian path. They ex- 
pended considerable labor in constructing a 
road from Mayville to Angelica in Allegany 
county. This road had been so far opened as 
to be traveled in the winter, as far east as "Sin- 
clear Mills," now Sinclairville. 

June 18, 1812, war was declared against Eng- 
land. This event created consternation upon 
the Holland Purchase. Chautauqua was thinly 
settled. It was situated upon the frontier, not 
far from the scene of conflict. Close along its 
borders and partly within its boundaries was 
the home of a principal remnant of the Six 
Nations or Iroquois, who had been the fiercest 
foes of the Americans in the Revolution. These 
circumstances greatly interrupted immigra- 
tion. Many actual settlers, yielding to the 
fears of their wives and families, were per- 
suaded to return to the east while others went 
on to the lines as soldiers or camp followers. 
In less than three weeks after war was declared 
and less than ten days after it was known in 
Chautauqua, although the county contained 
less than three thousand inhabitants, it had a 
full company of 113 able-bodied men on the 
march. The county never has since responded 
to a call for troops with more alacrity or rela- 
tively with a larger quota. 



36 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



To allay the fear that the war at first cre- 
ated, forty-five men under Capt. James Mc- 
Mahan were posted at Barcelona, where a 
slight defense was built. About the same num- 
ber of men were stationed at the Widow Cole's 
house at the mouth of the Canadaway, under 
Captain Tubbs. Here it is believed the first 
affair of the war in which there was blood shed 
occurred. A boat loaded with salt, on its way 
to Erie, had put in at the mouth of the Canada- 
way in the night. In the morning a large 
armed schooner, probably the "Lady Provost," 
appeared off the mouth of the creek and sent 
a dozen or so of armed men in a small boat to 
attack the salt boat. Captain Tubbs and his 
men opened fire from the shore, wounding 
three of the British. The small boat imme- 
diately put back to the vessel. The Widow 
Cole by her assistance in the affair became 
the heroine of the occasion. 

The Chautauqua Company that so promptly 
responded to the call for men at the beginning 
of the war, fully maintained the honor of the 
county on the field of battle, under its resolute 
commander, Capt. Jehiel Moore, the founder of 
Forestville. It was among the few New York 
militia to cross the Niagara and support the 
legulars at the battle of Queenstown, and 
among the few to stand upon the heights when 
they were stormed. The Chautauqua troops 
fought bravely, but were compelled to sur- 
render, with the rest of the American force, 
to superior numbers. Three of their number 
were killed in the battle, and five wounded, one 
mortally. 

During the summer of 1813, British vessels 
were committing depredations along the Amer- 
ican shore. The "Queen Charlotte" was the 
most aggressive of these, making frequent de- 
scents to plunder the inhabitants. Capt. Har- 
mon was driven with his boat into the mouth 
of the Cattaraugus creek by the "Queen Char- 
lotte" and the "Hunter." They sent a boat, 
armed with a howitzer, up the creek in pursuit 
of Capt. Harmon's transport, firing upon him 
until the Indians from Cattaraugus Reserva- 
tion nearby came to his assistance, demon- 
strating in a practical manner their friendship 
to the United States. The British boat finally 
withdrew. 

During the same summer the "Queen Char- 
lotte" came off the mouth of the Canadaway 
and sent ashore a boat manned by thirteen 
men, commanded by a lieutenant, with a flag 
of truce, under the pretense of returning goods 
that they had plundered from Lay's Tavern 
near the lake shore in Erie county. Judge 
Cushing happened to be there with his ox team 



for a load of salt. He immediately notified the 
inhabitants, who rallied and fired upon the 
British, and wounded one of the sailors. The 
British all deserted but the lieutenant and the 
wounded sailor. 

With a view to getting control of the lake, 
the government dispatched Capt. Oliver H. 
Perry in the winter of 181 3 to build a fleet. 
On his way he stopped at John Mack's tavern 
at the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and was car- 
ried by him to Erie in a sleigh. Having dur- 
ing the spring and summer of 1813 built and 
completed his fleet, hearing that Lieut. Elliott 
was at Cattaraugus with about ninety soldiers, 
he dispatched a vessel there, and having re- 
ceived the reinforcement he set sail to offer 
battle. September 10th he gained a decisive 
and famous victory over the British fleet, 
which gave the Americans absolute control of 
the lake. Chautauqua county had responded 
to Perry's request for help, and some of its citi- 
zens participated in the battle. Abner Wil- 
liams, of Fredonia, son of Richard Williams, 
was a volunteer on board of the "Lawrence." 
He was killed, and his body was thrown into 
the lake. James Bird distinguished himself 
during the battle, was wounded, and was com- 
plimented by Commodore Perry, who was a 
witness of his gallantry. 

During the war of 1812, the soldiers enlisted 
upon the frontier had little knowledge of mili- 
tary law, were tenacious of their rights as citi- 
zens, and often insubordinate. In the west- 
ern army whole companies and regiments that 
had done good service in the war would put 
their own construction upon the terms of en- 
listment, and when they considered their time 
out would march home, contrary to the order 
of their superior officers, sometimes at a criti- 
cal period in a campaign. This had the effect 
to cause the military crime of desertion to be 
held lightly by the rank and file. After Perry's 
victory the fleet returned to Erie. James Bird 
("previously mentioned) and others applied for 
discharge upon the ground that they had en- 
listed only for the battle, which was denied. 
Bird chose to follow his own view of rights, 
and started for home. At the time prepara- 
tions were being made for the invasion of 
Canada under General Harrison, and it was 
desired to hold all the forces possible for that 
movement. Capt. Elliott, who was in com- 
mand, determined to make such an example as 
would tend to prevent further desertion, and 
to enforce better discipline. Application was 
made to stay the execution of Bird until the 
proceedings of the court-martial could be re- 
viewed by Perry, but Elliott denied the appli- 



THE PIONEER PERIOD 



37 



cation, and Bird was shot. Capt. Elliott was 
before unpopular, because of his failure to 
bring the "Niagara" into action in the battle as 
promptly as it was thought he should have 
done. Public feeling against him was now 
intensified by reason of the execution of Bird. 
According to one account, gathered from the 
descendants of persons familiar with the cir- 
cumstances, Bird was absent on a furlough to 
visit his sweetheart, Mary Blain, who was very 
ill ; he overstayed his time, was arrested on his 
way back to command, taken to Erie, tried 
with undue haste, and sentenced to be shot; 
Capt. Dobbins, who was in the immediate 
command at Erie, it is said, refused to sign his 
death warrant, and another officer signed it. 

Part of the force captured by Captain Perry 
was sent under guard from Erie to Buffalo. 
They passed the night at Richard Williams's 
log tavern in Fredonia, and dined the next day 
at Capt. Mack's tavern at Cattaraugus. Word 
was sent in advance to Capt. Mack, that the 
American officers and their prisoners would 
dine at his tavern on their march eastward. 
Great preparations were made to receive them. 
The dining room was trimmed with pine and 
evergreen boughs, the tables were loaded. 
Capt. Mack carved the meat at the head of 
the long table, and the principal American offi- 
cer was seated at the opposite end. The other 
American and British officers were seated 
around it. Among the maidens assisting on 
this occasion was Sophronia Gates, who lived 
alone with her father in a little log house upon 
the shore of the lake near the mouth of the 
Big-sister creek, a few miles from Angola. A 
few months before, an officer and boat's crew 
of two men from the "Queen Charlotte," landed 
near the old man's house, and as a poor re- 
venge for some disrespectful and bitter lan- 
guage used by her when they were ransacking 
the cabin, carried the old man to the boat, not- 
withstanding a spirited resistance on her part. 
The old gentleman was taken on board of the 
"Queen Charlotte" and was put ashore at 
Chadwick's Bay (Dunkirk). The next day at 
dusk he arrived at Mack's tavern, ragged, 
weary and footsore, where he found Sophro- 
nia, who had sought an asylum there. 

While the dinner was in progress at Capt. 
Mack's tavern, the prisoners as merry as their 
captors, the sharp eyes of Sophronia discov- 
ered the British officer who had abducted her 
father. Her hour of triumph had come. "So 
the tables are turned, Mr. Officer," she said in 
s. high and penetrating tone, pointing her fin- 
ger scornfully at him. The talking ceased, and 
she proceeded to relate, in caustic and contemp- 



tuous language, the story of the abduction of 
her father. She praised the officer for his brav- 
ery in kidnapping a feeble old man, and mock- 
ingly called him "a hero," and told him "a 
petticoat would become him better than brass 
buttons and gold braid." The officer made a 
feeble attempt to be amused at her sally, but it 
was a failure, but the jokes of his American 
entertainers and the merriment of his British 
friends were too much for him, and he "tip- 
toed" out amidst shouts of laughter from his 
brother officers and Yankee captors. 

The chief and nearly the last event of the 
war in which the people of Chautauqua par- 
ticipated was the burning and battle of Buf- 
falo. In response to the call of Governor 
Tompkins, four hundred men from Chautauqua 
county, consisting of the 162nd Regiment 
under Col. John McMahan, comprising the 
greater portion of the able-bodied men of the 
county, marched to Buffalo, to oppose the 
British and Indians that were desolating the 
county east of the Niagara river. They par- 
ticipated in the attempt to stay the advance 
of the British at Black Rock, and in the disas 
trous retreat that followed, some fled disgrace- 
fully, while others behaved with bravery. Col. 
McMahan conducted himself with courage, 
and did all in his power to rally his men, but 
without success. In the affair the regiment 
lost James Brackett, of Mayville, an early 
member of the bar of Chautauqua county, 
killed and scalped by the Indians; Joseph 
Frank, of Busti, shot through the head and 
scalped ; Mr. Pease and Mr. Lewis, from 
Pomfret; Aaron Nash, Mr. Bover and Mr. 
Hubbard, from Hanover, with several others, 
shared the same fate. Major Prendergast had 
several balls through his hat and clothes, and 
narrowly escaped with his life. Capt. Silsby 
was severely wounded, and Lieut. Forbes had 
cne man killed and five wounded of the twenty- 
one men under his command. Of the Ameri- 
can force engaged, of the killed, the bodies of 
those found were buried in a common grave 
near the road leading from Buffalo to Black 
Rock, into which eighty-nine were promiscu- 
ously thrown. 

Unsoldierlike as was the conduct of the 
Chautauqua troops, they behaved fully as well 
as the militia from other parts of the Holland 
Purchase, and deserve no more censure than 
they. To the personal cowardice of the militia 
gathered from the Holland Purchase, cannot 
be ascribed the disastrous results of the en- 
gagement at Buffalo. The character of the 
men forbids such a supposition. They were, 
as a whole, resolute men accustomed to the 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



perils of frontier life, and their conduct, forti- 
tude and courage compared favorably with 
other people of pioneer communities. Their 
lives had been spent in peaceful pursuits. They 
had been without military instruction, except 
such as they had received at backwoods mus- 
ters. They had never been subject to military 
discipline, were imperfectly organized and 
armed, and suffering from cold and hunger. 
They were hurried into battle almost as soon 
as they reached the scene of action, against a 
well drilled and well officered enemy. Their 
officers were without military knowledge or 
experience. Conscious of this fact, the men 
had no faith in their ability to lead them, or 
in themselves to successfully resist the enemy. 
They marched without blankets, knapsacks, 
tents, rations, or camp equipage, and suffered 
much from hunger and cold. 

Whatever discredit attaches to the militia 
for their failure at the battle of Buffalo, the 
conduct of the Chautauqua troops during the 
remainder of the war went far to redeem them. 
A company under Capt. John Silsby served 
with credit in the memorable battles of Chip- 
pewa and Lundy's Lane, under Gen. Brown, 
as a part of the brigade of Gen. Peter B. Potter. 
In the summer of 1814, two full companies of 
the 164th Regiment under Col. John Mc- 
Mahan, were stationed a few miles below Black 
Rock, where they suffered much sickness. The 
385 prisoners taken at Fort Erie were placed 
in their charge, and marched to the vicinity of 
Albany. This was about the last event in 
which the troops participated. 

At the close of the war, the county was in a 
most deplorable condition. Its people were 
absolutely poor. To add to their misfortunes, 
another serious calamity befell them. The 
summer of 1816, known as the "Cold Season," 
was long remembered ; cold and blustering 
winds swept the hills ; snow fell ; ice formed 
in every month of the year. July was accom- 
panied by frost and ice ; the "Fourth" was cold 
and raw ; blustering winds swept the entire 
Atlantic coast. On the 5th, ice was formed 
as thick as window glass in New York City 
and Pennsylvania. In August, ice half an inch 
thick was frequently seen. Flowers froze, 
corn was killed, and all attempts to raise other 
crops were abandoned. 

As a result, the first six months of 1817 
might be termed the "Starving Season." Flour 
was $18 a barrel ; potatoes $1.50 a bushel ; and 
other articles in proportion, and difficult to ob- 
tain at those prices ; while the price of labor 
was but sixty or seventy cents a day. Those 
skilled in the use of the rifle could to some ex- 



tent provide their families with venison and 
other wild meat, but many until the harvest of 
1817 subsisted wholly upon fish, milk, greens 
and leeks. 

Long years of financial depression and pov- 
erty followed the war of 1812, and the life of 
the settler in the backwoods of Chautauqua 
county was one of extreme hardship, and yet, 
stimulated by the prospect of the building of 
the Erie canal to Buffalo, the population of 
the county rapidly increased. For many years 
the covered wagons of the emigrants were 
constantly moving from Eastern New York 
toward the Holland Purchase. A bridge more 
than a mile in length across the lower end of 
Cayuga Lake was called the Cayuga bridge, 
and until the Erie canal was built was recog- 
nized as the dividing point between the East 
and the "Far West." For years a continuous 
procession of wagons passed over it, each with 
a water-pail and tar-bucket dangling from the 
axle-tree, and perhaps an infant's cradle or 
basket swinging from the ash hoops over which 
was stretched its cover, displaying upon the 
canvas the legend. "For the Holland Pur- 
chase," or "For the Connecticut Reserve." 
They bore the family of the emigrant, his cook- 
ing utensils, sleeping furniture, and sometimes 
all of his family effects. They were often fol- 
lowed by freight wagons, drawn sometimes by 
three, frequently by five horses. The settler 
who journeyed to Chautauqua county usually 
came in a less pretentious way, generally with 
a yoke of oxen, an oxcart, or a wooden-shod 
sled, and a few household goods. On his 
arrival the settler would go first to the land 
office at Mayville and get a contract for usually 
about one hundred acres of land, to be paid for 
at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, ten dol- 
lars or fifteen dollars down, being all the 
money that he could raise ; the balance in 
annual installments with interest. He then, 
with the assistance of his neighbors, would 
put up a log house, after which he would make 
an arrangement with the merchant at the 
neighboring settlement for credit to the amount 
of twenty dollars to fifty dollars to buy a pig 
or a cow, or some necessary articles at his 
store, to be paid for in black salts of lye, made 
from the ashes, when he should burn his first 
fallow. 

From the ashes of the burned timber the 
settler obtained the first return for his labor. 
From the manufacture and sale of black salts 
of lye made from the ashes, he received the 
cash to pay for his land. The settlement 
of the county would have been postponed 
many years had it not been for this com- 




EMIGRANTS 



3UA COUNTY 



THE PIONEER PERIOD 



39 



modity. It was the chief staple of the hill 
towns during the first twenty-five years of 
their history. It was the only product that 
could be sold for cash, and received in ex- 
change for goods and groceries. It was made 
from the ashes of the oak, maple, beech and 
other hard woods. The ashes were gathered 
in boxes in the fallows or slashings where the 
timber was burned, and carried by hand to 
rough leaches, usually made of bark, erected 
at places convenient to water. The lye ob- 
tained was boiled in a kettle until it became a 
semi-solid which was called black salts. Each 
merchant owned an "ashery" where he received 
of his customers black salts and ashes which 
he paid for in money and in goods at the rate 
of $2.50 or $3 per hundred. At the asheries, 
the black salts were converted into potash by 
burning them in ovens. Later the potash was 
refined into pearl ash or saleratus. These com- 
modities were used to make soap, glass, for 
culinary purposes, and in many of the arts and 
in medicine. About the only articles that the 
settlers could market abroad were black salts 
and ashes, which after being manufactured 
into potash were sold in Pittsburgh or in Mon- 
treal to be sent to England. The only other 
article that would bring money was pine lum- 
ber which was sold in Pittsburgh and towns 
aiong the Ohio river. 

The abundance of wild animals and the 
necessities of the pioneer made the rifle next 
in importance to the ax. The long, heavy, 
small-bored, muzzle-loading flint-lock rifle of 
pioneer times was not merely an instrument of 
diversion, but a weapon of practical utility, for 
it sometimes saved the pioneer from starva- 
tion. Its grooved barrel was three and one- 
half or four feet long, of good material and 
good workmanship, mounted on a plain stock, 
which extended a long way up the barrel. The 
rifle was an accurate and formidable weapon 
at short range, and only a short range was re- 
quired in the thick forest of the frontier. But 
it was the backwoodsman behind the gun that 
made it the deadly weapon that it was. The 
demands of the daily life of the settler required 
great skill in its use. He accurately measured 
his powder. The balls, run in his own bullet 
molds, were carefully put down by a hickory 
lod, in a greased patch, and his gun was often 
wiped with a wisp of tow, to ensure accuracy. 
He knew the runways of the deer and the 
habits of all the game. The American rifle, 
and the American hunter, of which Leather 
Stocking was the ideal, and Daniel Boone the 
real representative, conquered the great wil- 
dernesses of America. In pioneer days Chau- 



tauqua county had many skilled hunters 
familiar with the woods and accustomed to 
the use of the rifle. In fact, every neighbor- 
hood had its Leather Stocking. Oliver Pier, of 
Harmony, killed 1322 deer with the same rifle. 
During its use it required three new stocks and 
hammers. He paid for his farm with the boun- 
ties upon the wolves that he killed. Peter Ja- 
quins, of Clymer, captured nearly a hundred 
wolves previous to 1832, for which he received 
an average bounty of $12 per head. Zacheus H. 
Norton, an old trapper and hunter who lived in 
Gerry on the Cassadaga creek, was very suc- 
cessful in hunting the otter, the pelts of which 
were valuable. The otter practically disap- 
peared in 1825. Mr. Norton killed one hundred 
deer in a single season. 

But it was not safe to wander aimlessly 
along the delightful rivulets and in the 
sequestered recesses of the woods, for they 
were full of danger. To leave the beaten path, 
or Indian trail, while travelling through the 
unbroken forest, in order to find a shorter or 
better route, or even for a little distance for 
any cause, was sure to be disastrous to one not 
thoroughly experienced in traveling in the 
woods. It would often happen that, under 
such circumstances, the wanderer would go 
miles from home and become lost. On these 
occasions the settlers would rally from far and 
near, skillfully organize themselves into par- 
ties, choose leaders and scour the woods until 
the lost one was found. 

In early years Miss Baluma Shurtleft, after- 
wards the wife of Nathan Lee, was lost in the 
woods near Sinclairville. There was a gather- 
ing, and a general search. For three days she 
subsisted on berries. She was finally found 
near the east line of the town of Charlotte. 
Mrs. Underhill, of the town of Charlotte, while 
picking blackberries, wandered to the edge of 
the Cassadaga Swamp and lost her way. She 
remained in the woods three nights before she 
was found. 

In April, 1826, two boys of Samuel French, 
of the town of French Creek, one aged five 
years and the other but three, strayed from 
their path and were lost in the woods. For 
two days and two nights a search was made 
without success. On the third day, two hun- 
dred men assembled, chose leaders, and formed 
a line, with the understanding that not a word 
should be spoken or a gun fired until the chil- 
dren were found. A systematic search was 
made. For a long while they scoured the 
woods without success. At last the man posted 
at the extreme west end of the line stooped to 
tie his shoe ; he glanced backward under his 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



arm, and saw the head of the oldest boy. Guns 
were fired and a shout went along the line. 
Two of the fleetest young men ran to carry the 
news to the anxious mother. The foremost 
runner fell exhausted at the door crying, 
"Found them both alive." The lost boys both 
lived to be men. 

Early in the spring of 1812, Mrs. Larry Sco- 
field, who lived a short distance southeast from 
where is now the county asylum, and about 
half a mile from the site of Dewittville, was 
in need of some thread. Knowing that her 
neighbor, Mrs. Southworth, half a mile away, 
just west of the present site of the asylum, 
had a wheel, she threw a shawl over her shoul- 
ders, took her baby, which was then but a few 
months old, on her arm, and a hank of flax in 
her hand, and started through the woods for 
Mrs. Southworth's. She wandered from her 
course and traveled all day long, with her 
infant in her arms, trying to find her way, with- 
out success. Tired and hungry, she passed 
the night with no other protection from the 
cold than her thin shawl, and a blanket for her 
child. She had no knowledge of woodcraft, 
and did not know how to direct her course by 
the moss on the trees, or by the sun, which 
seemed to her always in the wrong direction. 
Weary, discouraged, and faint from hunger, 
subsisting upon such scant food as the woods 
at that time of year afforded, carrying her in- 
fant, she wandered several days in the dense 
woods which then spread over the towns of 
Chautauqua, Ellery, Gerry and Ellicott. She 
must have strayed northeasterly far into the 
town of Ellery, for she finally struck a small 
stream which she followed until it discharged 
its waters into a larger stream, which proved 
to be the Cassadaga. She then pursued her 
journey down the creek until she came to a 
jam of driftwood, where she crossed to the 
other side of the stream. Her progress was 
interrupted by tributary streams and wet and 
swampy lands. She finally became completely 
exhausted and sank to the earth with her in- 
fant and gave herself up to perish. In the 
meantime the few settlers around Dewittville 
instituted a search and she was finally found 
at the spot where she had at last resigned her- 
self to death, by persons who knew nothing of 
her wanderings. The place where she was 
found was a short distance above Levant, on 
*he east side of the Cassadaga, sixteen miles 
in a direct line from her home. She and her 
baby were carried to Edward Works, (now 
Falconer) and when she had rested sufficiently, 
they were taken up the outlet (the Chadakoin) 
and the lake to her home. She had been at 



least four, perhaps six days, wandering in the 
woods. Mrs. Scofield afterwards moved from 
the county, and died at De Kalb, in Illinois. 
Her babe grew to womanhood, married Chris- 
topher Love, and died in 1879, in Illinois, 
where her descendants are living. 

In the many instances of this kind, women 
and children were usually the subjects. The 
searchers were not always so fortunate as to 
find the lost one alive. It was even less dis- 
tressing to find him dead than not to know his 
tate, for then long years of fruitless search 
would sometimes follow. Stories of a wild 
person seen in some distant wilderness, or a 
captive among the Indians, would revive the 
hopes of friends only to find the cruel rumor 
false. A pitiful story is told of two children 
of James Roe, who resided in Hanover, lost 
while rambling in the forest. One was found 
in a mill pond, and the clothes of the other 
in the woods. In the town of Cherry Creek, in 
April, 1822, on a clear Sabbath morning, a 
little daughter of Joshua Bentley, then in her 
fourth year, strayed into the woods and was 
never afterward seen. 

During the pioneer period the progress of 
settlement rapidly continued. The sunlight 
had been let into every town as now organ- 
ized in the county before the Erie canal was 
opened. An unbroken wilderness, for ten 
years after John McMahan had built his house 
in Westfield, covered the four southwestern 
towns. In that part of the county, in a tract 
of more than one hundred fifty square miles, 
not a log cabin had been reared nor a clearing 
made. In 1812 settlement was first commenced 
in this region, in French Creek, the extreme 
southwestern town, by Andy Noble, from 
Oswego county, on lot 44, John and Gardner 
Cleveland, Roswell Coe, Nathaniel Thompson, 
Amon Beebe, Gardner Case, Silas Terry, Ne- 
ll emiah Royce and A. S. Park. 

For more than ten years after the first set- 
tlement of the county, its eastern portion con- 
tinued exclusively in possession of the wolf 
and catamount. A wilderness of pine, hemlock 
and black ash, for a distance of five miles, ex- 
tended on both sides of the Conewango, in 
Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, be- 
tween the Kent Settlement in Villenova and 
Kennedy's Mills in Poland. In 1813 Joshua 
Bentley, Jr., from Rensselaer county, undis- 
mayed by dangers from the Indians, assisted 
by his wife, erected a rude log cabin in the 
heart of the wilderness on lot 7, just west of 
the village of Conewango Valley, in Ellington, 
close to the eastern borders of the county. His 
father. Joshua Bentley, Sr., three years later 




r:M house 



THE PIONEER PERIOD 



41 



settled near him in 1816, in a log house that he 
had built, and kept the first tavern in the town. 
In April, 1815, Wyman Bugbee settled on lot 
29, near the present village of Ellington. 
Among the earliest settlers of Ellington were 
James Bates, Samuel McConnell, Simeon Law- 
rence, Benjamin Follett, Ward King, Abner 
Bates, Reuben Penhollow and Ebenezer Green. 
The first settlement at Cherry Creek was made 
in 1815, by Joseph M. Kent. He reared his 
bark-covered log house in the spring of that 
year, on lot 9, near the southwest corner of 
the town. He returned to his family in Ville- 
nova, and sent his wife on horseback eight 
miles through the woods, with one child in her 
arms and another behind her, with nothing but 
marked trees to guide her to her new house. 
She arrived safely, and with flint and punk 
started a fire and passed the first night un- 
disturbed except by the howling of the wolves 
in the Conewango Swamp. Among other 
early and prominent settlers were Joshua Bent- 
ley, Jr., Isaac and Stephen Curtis, James 
Marks, Barber Babcock, Ely D. Pendleton, 
Elam Edson, Daniel and Alvah Hadley, Rob- 
ert James, Arthur Hines, John Luce, Reuben 
A. Bullock, Horatio Hill, George H. Frost, 
Wanton King and James Carr. In 181 5 Alex- 
ander Findley, a native of Ireland, commenced 
a sawmill on lot 52 at the foot of Findley Lake 
in the town of Mina, and in 1816 made his per- 
manent home there. He soon after built a 
gristmill. He was the first settler of the town, 
and gave his name to the lake and the village. 
George Haskin, Aaron Whitney, George Col- 
lier, Hial Rowley, Elisha Morse, Peter R. Mon- 
tague, Horace Brockway, Joseph Palmer, Rob- 
ert Corbett, Gideon Barlow, James Skellie 
were all early settlers. Peter R. Montague, 
one of the best known pioneers of the town, 
died in 1896, at the advanced age of eighty- 
seven. The east side of Mina was settled by 
people from county Kent, England, James 
Ottaway, ancestor of A. B. Ottaway, the well- 
known lawyer of Westfield, and former dis- 
trict attorney, being the pioneer, he having 
settled there in 1823. 

In 1820 the first settlement of Clymer was 
made. That year John Cleveland settled upon 
lot 58. In 1821 William Rice, the father 
of Victor M. Rice, who was for many years 
State superintendent of Public Instruction, 
settled on lot 59. Through the influence of 
Hon. G. W. Patterson many Hollanders were 
influenced to settle in the town. About 1846 
the beginning of their immigration commenced. 

Over twenty years elapsed after McMahan 



made his first clearing at the Cross Roads, be- 
fore the town of Sherman was settled. It was 
first settled by Dearing Dorman, from near 
Batavia, Genesee county. In 1823 he erected 
a shanty on lot 32, and introduced his youthful 
wife. Henry W. Goff came later the same 
year. Alanson Weed came from Ellery in the 
spring of 1824. Sherman was the last town 
settled in the county, but its settlement was 
accomplished before the close of the pioneer 
period. 

On the 12th of June, 1812, Congress passed 
an act declaring war with England. At Al- 
bany, at the same time, the Legislature was 
passing an act of far greater and more lasting 
importance. By this act, common schools were 
established, and the State for the first time 
divided into school districts. The common 
school law went into effect in 1814. It was ad- 
ministered, and the school money apportioned 
and paid out in the county by the supervisors, 
the commissioners and inspectors of the town, 
and the trustees of the districts. Nearly all of 
the schoolhouses of the frontier and pioneer 
periods were built of logs. In 1821, according 
to Phineas M. Miller, there were 117 log school- 
houses in the 128 school districts of the county. 
Gathered from a wilderness region around 
about, almost equal to a township in extent, 
the pupils would daily wend their way along 
forest paths to one of these primitive school- 
houses. At first little more was taught than 
leading, writing, and arithmetic. Although 
wanting in the scientific methods of teaching 
of modern times, thorough instruction was 
given by strong-minded old teachers, in these 
simple branches, and what was more, a genu- 
ine love of learning inspired, resulting in after 
years in many self-educated, even accom- 
plished, men and women. 

In 1824, during the pioneer period, two years 
before the Erie Canal was built, while the 
stumps were still standing on the village green, 
and the fires still burning in sight in the fal- 
lows, the Old Fredonia Academy was incor- 
porated. It was opened in 1826, with Austin 
Smith as its first principal. He afterwards 
was a leading citizen, and a distinguished law- 
yer of the county, and is a remarkable fact 
that he lived to the age of nearly ninety-nine 
years, an honored and respected citizen of the 
village of Westfield ; his life nearly spanned 
the hundred years of our county's history. He 
married Sarah A., the daughter of John Mc- 
Mahan, the pioneer settler of the county, and 
was an actor in many of the early events that 
we have alreadv recorded. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



CHAPTER IX. 
The Early Farming Period — 1825 to 1835. 



The people who settled in the county prior 
to the completion of the canal, were mostly 
frontiersmen from the western borders of set- 
tlements in New York and Pennsylvania. 

The people who emigrated to Chautauqua 
after the building of the canal differed in cer- 
tain respects from those who came before them. 
They were not so poor. The prospect for a 
market for the surplus products of the soil, 
and other signs of coming prosperity invited 
people from New England and from communi- 
ties in other settled localities, who brought 
with them more means, and the habits of econ- 
omy and thrift that prevailed in the East. 
These new-comers were better skilled in hus- 
bandry, and consequently better fitted for the 
changed condition of the country, which had 
now advanced from a backwoods state, and be- 
come a "farming country," although there were 
several towns almost entirely covered by for- 
ests. 

The period in the history of the county that 
followed the completion of the Erie canal may 
be called the "Early Farming Period." It con- 
tinued a little over twenty-five years, and lasted 
until the first railroad was built into Dunkirk. 
During this period the county was being 
rapidly cleared of its forests, and increased in 
its population. By the State census of 1825, 
the population of the fifteen towns of the 
county was 20,639, an increase of 5,371, or 
more than thirty-three per cent, in the five 
years. We shall see hereafter what was the 
rate of increase during the five succeeding 
years. Jamestown in January, 1827, had 393 
inhabitants, and was that year incorporated the 
first village. 

The opening of communication between the 
East and this distant western country now be- 
gan to stimulate the enterprise of the county. 
In 1825 Capt. Gilbert Ballard was running a 
stage wagon three times a week upon the mail 
route between Jamestown and Mayville. The 
only other route in the county upon which 
stage wagons were run was that between Buf- 
falo and Erie. Twice a week over this route, 
Col. Nathaniel Bird was carrying passengers 
and the mail. The road for miles east of ths 
Cattaraugus creek for many years was ex- 
tremely bad and sometimes impassable. The 
Four-Mile woods, Cattaraugus creek and 
Cash's tavern in the present town of Brant, 
were the dread of all travellers. Roads and 
the facilities for transportation were at this 
time the great need of the inhabitants of the 



southern and western counties of the State. 
While the canal was being built from the 
Hudson at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo, 
the inhabitants of the southern tier of counties, 
by persistent effort, secured the passage of -i 
bill by the legislature for a survey of a State 
road from the lower Hudson to Lake Erie. 
This may be said to be the beginning of a 
movement that resulted twenty-five years later 
in the building of the New York & Erie rail- 
road. The surveyors of the State road arrived 
at Dunkirk, December 24, 1825, and completed 
their survey to the foot of the wharf. Dunkirk 
had then only about fifty inhabitants. 

In 1826 Walter Smith, a young merchant of, 
Fredonia, scarcely twenty-five years of age, 
who through his enterprise and business capac- 
ity had been able in this backwoods region to 
accomplish the sale of $75,000 worth of goods 
in a single year of trade in Fredonia, and had 
furnished supplies for all the United States 
forts and garrisons of the Great Lakes, almost 
entirely from the farming products of Chau- 
tauqua, as the result of his sales, was attracted 
to Dunkirk, by its fine harbor, which opened 
to navigation two weeks earlier than Buffalo, 
and the prospect that it would be the western 
termination of the State road. In 1825 he 
bought the undivided half of the Dunkirk prop- 
erty for $10,000, and turned his energy and 
business ability to building up the place. The 
few steamboats he induced to stop at Dun- 
kirk. The "Pioneer" carried passengers and 
made daily trips between Buffalo and Dun- 
kirk. A line of stages was established be- 
tween Dunkirk and Erie by way of Fredonia 
and Westfield, connecting with the "Pio- 
neer," thus avoiding the bad roads between 
Buffalo and Cattaraugus. At Erie, this line 
connected with stages for Pittsburgh and 
Cleveland. By these routes nearly all the 
travel passed between these points. In 1825, 
Obed Edson and Reuben Scott established a 
semi-weekly line of stages between Fredonia 
and Jamestown. A little later, Mr. Smith in- 
duced Mr. Edson and Walter Eaton to extend 
the route in a daily line from Dunkirk to War- 
ren, Pennsylvania. 

Also, through Mr. Smith's influence and 
active efforts, Daniel Garnsey was elected to 
Congress that he might advance the interests 
of Dunkirk. Garnsey was the first member of 
Congress ever elected from Chautauqua 
county. Garnsey procured an appropriation 
from Congress, and work was commenced on 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1825-1835 



43 



a lighthouse at Dunkirk in 1827. This was the 
first expenditure made in Chautauqua for im- 
proving the navigation of Lake Erie. In 1828, 
through the efforts of Garnsey, a beacon light 
was constructed at Silver Creek, and about the 
same time Barcelona was made a port of entry, 
and a lighthouse erected there which was 
lighted by natural gas carried in wooden pump 
logs from a spring not far away. Cattaraugus, 
Mayville and Barcelona were early surveyed 
into village lots by the Holland Land Com- 
pany. No places in the county were regarded 
at first, of so much importance as these, and 
Barcelona was for some years a place of con- 
siderable trade. Gervis Foot was energetic 
and effective in promoting its fortunes. In 
1831 the steamboat "William Peacock" was 
built by citizens of Westfield, to ply between 
Erie, Barcelona and Buffalo. A brick hotel 
was erected, and five stores were doing a brisk 
trade about that time. 

Among other enterprises Walter Smith con- 
ceived the plan of opening the Cassadaga and 
Conewango to keel-boats. Men were hired to 
clear out the obstructions for the navigation of 
these streams, and a trip or two was made by 
a keel-boat twenty-five feet long loaded with 
merchandise between Warren and Cassadaga. 
The Cassadaga was so small when the obstruc- 
tions were removed and the stream so crooked, 
that navigation was found impracticable. 

In 1828, the Holland Land Company sold 
60,000 acres of land in the eastern and south- 
eastern towns of the county to Levi Beards- 
ley, James O. Morse and Alvan Stewart. They 
were known as the Cherry Valley Company. 

In 1828, Chautauqua Lake was first navi- 
gated by steam. It was then the highest body 
of water so navigated in the world. Before 
the settlement of the county it had been made 
a means of communication between the Great 
Lakes and the Ohio, and immediately after the 
settlement was much used as a means of 
transit. A large canoe, made from a pine tree 
over five feet in diameter, was launched at 
Miles Landing in 1806. For many years it was 
the largest craft on the lake, and was consider- 
ably used for carrying purposes. Large quan- 
tities of salt from the salt springs of New York 
were transported southward from Mayville 
over the lake to Jamestown in a large scow or 
flatboat built by Judge Prendergast, thence in 
keel and Durham boats down the river. In 
1824 Elisha Allen built a boat propelled by 
horses, which was called a horse-boat. It occa- 
sionally navigated the lake during the period 
of a year, but finally proved a failure. In 1827 
Alvin Plumb formed a company and built the 



first steamboat that navigated the lake, an ex- 
cellent boat, named the "Chautauqua.'' She 
was launched at Jamestown amidst the firing 
of cannon. She made her first trip to Mayville, 
the Fourth of July, 1828. 

In 1829 the village of Fredonia was incor- 
porated. This year also marks the beginning 
of the temperance reform in Chautauqua 
count) r . In 1829 the Chautauqua County 
Temperance Society, as auxiliary to the State 
Society, was organized at Mayville ; Judge E. 
T. Foote was chosen president. The use of 
intoxicating liquors previous to that time was 
universal in the harvest field, at house raisings, 
logging bees, on training and election days, and 
en all occasions where there was an assembly- 
ing of the people. 

In 1829 stage wagons had been supplanted, 
and post coaches were running regularly and 
carrying the daily mail over the entire route 
between Buffalo and Erie, by Rufus S. Reed, 
cf Erie, Thomas G. Abell, of Fredonia, and 
Bela D. Coe, of Buffalo. Ballards' stages were 
carrying the daily mail from Jamestown to 
Mayville, alternating on the east and west side 
of the lake. The next year Mayville was incor- 
porated as a village. 

Five years had now elapsed since the Erie 
canal was completed, and never before or since 
has the county made such progress, or in- 
creased so rapidly in population as during tkose 
five years. By the United States census taken 
in 1830, the population was 34,671, an increase 
of 14,032, since the enumeration in 1825, or 68 
per cent, in five years. The population of 
Tamestown had more than doubled during the 
preceding years, and was in June of that year 
884. Dunkirk had increased six fold ; its popu- 
lation was 300. The population of Erie county, 
including Buffalo, which had then 8,668 in- 
habitants, was by the same census found to be 
35,719, or about the same as that of Chau- 
tauqua. More than 30,000 inhabitants resided 
outside of its villages. The country popula- 
tion of this county was considerably greater in 
1830 than the country population of Erie 
county at that time. Much the larger propor- 
tion of the inhabitants now reside in the cities 
of Jamestown and Dunkirk, and the many vil- 
lages of the county, and yet the cleared lands 
in 1830 were far less in extent than the area of 
improved land at the present time. 

In 1831 great quantities of pot and pearl 
ashes were manufactured among the hills. The 
exports from the northern and middle portions 
of the county consisted of large amounts of pot 
and pearl ashes, in which Walter Smith was a 



44 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



principal dealer. Many horses and cattle were 
also exported from the county. 

Lumbering was the leading industry in the 
south-eastern part of the county. Thickly 
scattered over the hills and more abundantly 
gathered along the streams and lowlands, grew 
that majestic and useful forest tree, the white 
or Weymouth pine. These trees grew tall and 
straight, eighty or one hundred feet without a 
limb, then sending out a few branches, they 
formed a tufted top ; they towered far above 
the surrounding forest. At maturity they were 
three to five feet in diameter, often more. They 
grew to the height of one hundred and fifty 
and even two hundred feet. The lumber manu- 
factured from the white pine was most beauti- 
ful in appearance and excellent in quality. 
These pine trees grew in all the towns south 
of the Ridge, but more abundantly in the south- 
eastern ones. A dense pine forest twelve miles 
square, covered Carroll, Poland, Ellicott and 
Kiantone, the site of Jamestown, and part of 
Busti. These monarchs of the woods have 
now nearly disappeared. 

There were many saw mills in operation in 
Carroll, Poland, Ellicott and in other towns in 
which pine trees grew. The principal ones 
were those of Judge Prendergast at James- 
town, the mills at Kennedy, at Worksburg and 
Frewsburg. The Kennedy mills sawed three 
or four millions of feet annually, as did also 
the Jamestown mills. All except that used for 
home consumption, for years went down the 
Allegheny to supply the southern market. 
Often it sold there for no more than it cost to 
manufacture and transport it. An important 
part of lumbering was the transportation of 
the boards and shingles to market. They were 
rafted down the Allegheny and sold at Pitts- 
burgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, and other points 
along the Ohio. Sometimes they were shipped 
down the Mississippi and sold in New Orleans. 
The lumber that was gathered along the Cone- 
wango, Cassadaga, Goose creek, Chautauqua 
lake and outlet and the Stillwater, was first 
rafted to Warren. The rafts were all con- 
structed in- sections. A tier of sixteen feet 
boards were laid down, and another course 
crossways upon that and so on until the re- 
quired number of tiers were obtained. This 
was called a "platform," and was firmly fast- 
ened together by means of "grubs." For a 
June, or "light fresh," or flood, a platform of 
twelve courses was laid. For a spring or "deep 
fresh," twenty-six courses were laid. Five of 
these platforms in line, hitched together by 
"coupling planks." usually constituted a suffi- 
cient raft for the Cassadaga and the Cone- 



wango above Kennedy Mills. Below Ken- 
nedy's, two of these rafts were usually coupled 
together, one behind the other. Manned by 
two men, they would run down to Warren. At 
Warren, six of these Conewango rafts, contain- 
ing about sixty platforms, would be united by 
"coupling planks" and made to form one solid 
raft which was called an "Allegheny fleet." An 
"Allegheny fleet" was usually manned by a 
pilot, ten men and a cook. When the raft 
arrived at Pittsburgh, two and sometimes as 
many as five of those large Allegheny fleets 
would be coupled together to form an Ohio 
fleet. 

To guide a raft, strong athletic men were 
needed for a crew — those who could pull 
quickly at the heavy oars when required. Much 
skill and a thorough knowledge of the river 
was necessary for the "pilot," or person in 
charge of the raft. The want of these quali- 
fications often resulted in shipwreck, and the 
loss of lumber to the owners. Pilots were 
picked men who made it the business of their 
lives to run the river during the rafting season. 
They all knew its windings, its channels, and 
its shallows. The Indians of the Allegany 
reservation were good raftsmen, and often 
made good pilots. Among the many good 
pilots whose services were in constant requisi- 
tion, were James Young, Freedom Morey, John 
Sheldon, John Fenton, Luther Clerk, "Joe" 
Jennison, "Hank" Johnson and Jesse Dean. 
Harrison Persons, familiarly known as "The 
Old General," a fine typical specimen of a 
river pilot, lived to a great age in the town 
of Ellery, which was his home for over sev- 
enty years. His first voyage down the Alle- 
gheny upon a raft was made in 1827. For fifty 
years he followed this vocation without a 
single year's omission. In one year he went 
down the river as many as nine times. After 
the third year he went in charge of the rafts as 
pilot, receiving from one hundred to two hun- 
dred dollars for his services each trip. His 
last voyage was made in 1876, when he was 
sixty-eight years of age. He made in all two 
hundred forty-seven trips down the Allegheny 
and Ohio. Before the period of railroads and 
stage coaches, raftsmen were accustomed to 
walk to their homes at the headwaters of the 
Allegheny after their trips. On his return 
journey, Mr. Persons walked from Beaver, be- 
low Pittsburgh, to Chautauqua county, one 
hundred forty-three different times. In 1840 
he walked from Wellsville, Ohio, to his home 
in Ellery, in three days, averaging sixty miles 
a day. When in his prime he was a powerful 





A.PTING ON THE RIVE 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1825-1835 



45 



e.nd resolute man, six feet six inches in height, 
straight and well proportioned. 

The business of lumbering in its various 
branches, from cutting the trees in the forest 
until it was marketed down the river, was a 
school in which a host of energetic business 
men were educated. The prosperity of James- 
town and all the southeastern part of the 
county is due to the active enterprise of these 
men. Commencing with Dr. Thomas R. Ken- 
nedy, Edward Work, James Prendergast, John 
and James Frew, a long list of names follows, 
which stand for business talent and energy: 
The Fentons, Garfields, Silas and Jehiel Tif- 
fanv, the Budlongs, the Halls, Alvin Plumb, 
and Myerses, the Dexters, Joseph Clark, Dol- 
loff, Aiken, and many others. The reputation 
of these enterprising men of the county who 
received their business training in the lumber 
trade, often extended beyond the limits of the 
county. Many of them were known in West- 
ern New York, in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. 
Some acquired a State and even a national 
reputation in other fields. Reuben E. Fenton, 
Governor of New York, and United States 
Senator, gained his first success as a lumber- 
man. Philetus Sawyer, United States Senator 
from Wisconsin, in early life worked as a hand 
in the sawmills at Kennedy and at Jamestown. 

The business of the county in 1831 had 
grown so great, especially in the lumber sec- 
tion, that the people began to feel the need of 
a bank to facilitate commercial transactions. 
Jamestown had then nearly one thousand in- 
habitants, eleven stores, one woolen factory, 
one grist mill with three runs of stone, one 
gang sawmill, three common sawmills, two 
printing offices, and a number of mechanical 
establishments. It was the commercial center 
of a tract of country as large as Chautauqua 
county, which included a part of Cattaraugus 
and Pennsylvania, that was exporting annually 
.40,000,000 feet of boards, plank and sawed 
timber, $50,000 worth of lath, shingles, sash 
and other merchandise to southern markets. 
It was estimated that about $250,000 worth of 
merchandise was annuallv imported into it. 

The United States Branch Bank at Buffalo 
p.nd a State Bank at Lockport were the near- 
est banking institutions. There was no bank 
in the southern tier between Orange on the 
Hudson and Lake Erie. Lumbermen were 
obliged to send to Buffalo, Canandaigua, and 
sometimes even to Catskill, to procure cash to 
pay their hands, and other expenses of ship- 
ping their lumber. Judge E. T. Foote was at 
this time a member of Assembly for Chautauqua 
county. Through his energetic efforts, assisted 



by those of J. E. and Benjamin Budlong, Sam- 
uel Barrett, Alvin Plumb, Henry Baker, Guy 
C. Irvine, Silas Tiffany, Samuel A. Brown and 
others, the first bank was established at James- 
town. 

It was called the Chautauqua County Bank, 
and was incorporated by an act of the Legisla- 
ture passed in 183 1. It was organized under 
the safety fund act, with a capital of $100,000, 
with the privilege of issuing bills to twice the 
amount of its capital. Elial T. Foote was the 
first president, and Arad Joy the cashier. This 
bank is the oldest in the county. 

The Legislature in April, 1831, passed an 
act abolishing imprisonment for debt. This 
change in the law produced a most favorable 
effect upon the business conditions of the 
county. 

The defeat of the State road by the Legisla- 
ture was the beginning of the agitation of the 
construction of a railroad. Long years of 
doubt and despondency were destined to pass, 
however, before the consummation of this 
great enterprise. Nearly twenty years later 
the road was completed and another era of 
prosperity commenced, like that when the Erie 
canal opened to commerce. Walter Smith was 
one of the first projectors of the New York & 
Erie railroad, and the leading and most efficient 
man in the State to promote it. He spent the 
greater part of the winter of 1831-32 in Albany, 
bringing the importance of the road to the 
attention of the Legislature, and it was largely 
through his efforts that the railroad was char- 
tered, April 24, 1832. By his influence a clause 
was incorporated in the charter requiring the 
running of a certain number of trains into Dun- 
kirk daily, thus securing to it permanently and 
bevond contingency the benefit of the road. 
The wisdom of this provision is now apparent. 
Hon. Richard P. Marvin was also one of the 
first citizens of the county to appreciate the 
importance of a railroad and one of the first 
to make efforts to secure it. He addressed a 
meeting held at Jamestown as early as Sep- 
tember 20, 1831, of which Judge Elial T. 
Foote was chairman, at which it was resolved 
that application should be made to the Legis- 
lature for a charter. This was the first pub- 
he movement made in reference to the New 
York & Erie railroad. It was through his 
efforts that the important provision was incor- 
porated in its charter, that the termination of 
the road at Lake Erie should be at some point 
between Cattaraugus creek and the Pennsyl- 
vania State line. The preliminary survev was 
made in 1832, by DeWitt Clinton, Jr. At that 



4« 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



time there were but five thousand miles of rail- 
road in the world. 

In 1832 the county poorhouse was erected. 
A farm had been purchased near Dewittville 
and near the east shore of Chautauqua Lake 
for $900. A substantial brick countyhouse 
ninety-four feet long and thirty-five feet wide 
v/as erected upon it at the expense of $3,500. 
December 21, 1832, it was opened to paupers. 
Its first boarder was Jacob Lockwood, a luna- 
tic, who remained there a permanent boarder 
for over thirty years. The first keeper of the 
poorhouse was William Gifford. He was suc- 
ceeded by William M. Wagoner, of Gerry. 
John G. Palmiter, Nicholas Kessler, A. M. P. 
Maynard and Willard Wood were early keep- 
ers of the poorhouse. Abiram Orton, William 
Prendergast, Solomon Jones, Thomas B. 
Campbell and Jonathan Hedges were appoint- 
ed the first superintendents of poor — all men' of 
worth and prominence. 

The prison rooms in the old court house 
were too contracted, had become dilapidated 
and insufficient for the detention of prisoners, 
so that by an act of the Legislature passed 
March 22, 1832, the board of supervisors was 
required to raise the sum of $3,500 for the pur- 
pose of building a jail; and $1,500 was subse- 
quently added to this amount, and a building 
erected in Mayville of brick, sixty feet in 
length, thirty-five in width and two stories 
high. It was well constructed and was then 
believed to be "impervious alike to assaults 
from without and pentup knavery within." 

Twenty years had now elapsed since the 
court house was erected, and many of the citi- 
zens felt the need of a larger and better struc- 
ture. Upon their suggestion an act was passed 
directing the building of a new court house. 
By this act Thomas B. Campbell, William 
Peacock and Martin Prendergast were ap- 
pointed commissioners to contract for and 
superintend its erection, and the board of 
supervisors was required to assess and collect 
$5,000 for the purpose. The commissioners 
contracted with Benjamin Rathburn, of Buf- 
falo for erecting the exterior of the building. 
This work was done the same summer, and 
was accepted by the commissioners. The 
board of supervisors at its adjourned meeting 
in December, 1834, by a resolution, "disap- 
proved of the act of the commissioners in ex- 
pending the whole sum of $15,000 upon the 
exterior of the building," and asked the Leg- 
islature to "remove William Peacock and Mar- 
tin Prendergast from the commission, and ap- 
point Elial T. Foote and Leverett Barker in 
their stead." The Legislature thereupon 



passed an act requiring the raising of an addi- 
tional sum of $4,000 to complete the building, 
and instead of removing the two commission- 
ers, appointed Mr. Foote and Mr. Barker as 
additional commissioners. With this appro- 
priation the court house was completed. 

One of the last trials held in the old court 
house was the most celebrated that ever took 
place in the county. On April 24th, 1834, 
North Damon came into Fredonia in great 
haste and requested Doctors Walworth and 
Crosby to go immediately to the residence of 
his brother Joseph, about three. miles from that 
village, not far from where now is Norton's 
station, on the D. A. V. & P. R. R. Upon en- 
tering the house they saw the dying wife of 
Joseph Damon lying upon a bed in the corner 
of the room, her hair, face, and the pillow upon 
which her head was laid clotted with blood, 
while Damon stood by, red-stained with the 
evidence of his guilt. A fire-poker which stood 
ty the fireplace bore unmistakable signs that 
it had been made the instrument of the bloody 
deed. The bystanders, by the direction of Dr. 
Walworth, who was a judge of the county 
court, immediately took Damon in custody. 
He was indicted, and at the September term in 
1834 was arraigned for trial for murder. By 
the evidence given, it appeared that Joseph 
Damon and his brothers followed the business 
of quarrying and cutting stone at a place still 
known as Damon's quarry ; that he was a 
rough, drinking man, and there was some evi- 
dence that he at times cruelly treated his wife. 
Late in the afternoon on the day of the murder, 
Joseph went to the house of his brother Mar- 
tin, who lived with their father and mother a 
few rods away, and upbraided them for mak- 
ing disturbance in his family and upholding his 
wife. He soon went out, and a few minutes 
Liter called to Martin and said, "For God's sake 
come in, I am afraid I have killed my wife." 
Martin immediately went into the house, and 
found Mrs. Damon lying upon the floor, bleed- 
ing profusely from wounds on her head. 
This was substantially all that was known 
about the murder. The two children of Damon, 
one a little girl aged eleven and the other a 
boy somewhat younger, were just outside the 
house, or near by, but were not sworn on the 
trial. 

No tragedy that ever occurred in the county 
made so deep and lasting an impression. Over 
thirty years had passed since the first settle- 
ment, and no great crime had been committed 
by any citizen. The people were simple- 
minded and uncorrupted. Their moral sense 
was greatly shocked by Damon's crime. The 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1825-1835 



47 



eloquent plea of James Mullett in defense of 
Damon contributed to render the case memora- 
ble, and the public execution that followed the 
jury's verdict, and which was witnessed by a 
great crowd of people, deeply branded it upon 
their memories. Addison Gardner, circuit 
judge of the Eighth Circuit, presided at the 
trial. Philo Orton, Thomas B. Campbell, Ben- 
jamin Walworth and Artemus Hearic, county 
judges, were associated with him. The jury- 
men were Solomon Jones, Thomas Quigley, 
Aretus Smith, Walter Woodward, Don S. 
Downer, Anson R. Willis, Daniel S. Rich- 
mond, Thomas R. Treat, Samuel S. Forbush. 
Isaac Cornell, Harvey Eggleston and Nathan 
A. Alexander. Samuel A. Brown, the district 
attorney, opened the case to the jury. Shel- 
don Smith, also of Jamestown, made the clos- 
ing plea in behalf of the people. Ten years 
before, in the city of Buffalo, was witnessed 
the remarkable spectacle of the public execu- 
tion at the same time of three brothers, Nel- 
son, Israel and Isaac Thayer, for the mur- 
der of John Love, a tragedy that has been cele- 
brated in prose and doggerel verse, and is as 
memorable in the annals of Erie county as is 
the hanging of Damon in Chautauqua. Shel- 
don Smith, then a talented young lawyer of 
Buffalo, had assisted in the successful prose- 
cution of the Thayers, and was now the prin- 
cipal counsel in the prosecution of Damon. 
Jacob Houghton opened the case for the pris- 
oner, and James Mullett closed the case in his 
behalf. Mr. Mullett's address to the jury is 
probably the most eloquent and powerful one 
that has ever been delivered at the bar of 
Chautauqua county, and will compare favor- 
ably, even in grace of style, with the best 
efforts of forensic oratory. 

The lucid charge of the judge, the able argu- 
ment of the counsel for the people, and the 
common sense of the jury, rendered the power- 
ful effort of Judge Mullett to save the life of a 
human being unavailing. Damon was con- 
victed of murder. The exceptions taken to 
some of the rulings of the court on the trial 
were reviewed by the Supreme Court, without 
a favorable result to the prisoner. Sentence 
of death was pronounced at the Oyer and Ter- 
miner held in March, 1835, and the 15th day of 
May following was appointed for his execu- 
tion. 

At the time fixed, a great crowd of people, 
estimated at from eight thousand to fifteen 
thousand, assembled at Mayville; one-fourth 
of the population of the county, including 
many women, were present. The execution 
took place in the open field at Mayville, on the 



west declivity of the hill, not far from the 
Lnion School building, and on the easterly side 
of the street extending westerly from near the 
court house. The sheriff, William Saxton, 
called out the 207th Regiment of militia, com- 
manded by William D. Bond, to serve as guard 
on the occasion. Elder Sawyer, at the request 
of Damon, preached the funeral sermon. He 
preached at the gallows from Proverbs xi:iQ: 
"So he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his 
own death." At the gallows, Damon had con- 
siderable to say ; among other things he claimed 
he was unconscious at the time he committed 
the crime. When the drop fell, the fastenings 
of the rope gave way, and Damon fell to the 
ground. He appealed to the sheriff to suspend 
his punishment, but the rope was readjusted, 
and the hanging completed. 

It was a subject of so much discussion at the 
time and since, that a few more facts concern- 
ing Damon and his relatives may be of some 
interest. Joseph Damon was born at Worces- 
ter, Mass., March 18, 1800, the son of Stephen 
and Hannah Damon. He came with his par- 
ents and his three brothers, Stephen, Martin 
and North, to Chautauqua county in 1816. 
They all lived upon a farm in Pomfret, near 
the residence of Elisha Norton. Little is known 
about Stephen; he was a half-brother of the 
others. Martin was a stone cutter, and fash- 
ioned many of the gravestones in the early 
burial places of the county, particularly in the 
old cemetery at Fredonia. These gravestones 
are recognized by the style of the work as well 
as the material out of which they are made. 
They are usually in a good state of preserva- 
tion, and are valuable as fine specimens of 
early skill. 

The cholera for the first time visited Chau- 
tauqua county in 1832, and three persons died 
from the disease. It appears from the proceed- 
ings of the board of supervisors in 1834 that 
two certificates had been granted by justices 
for killing wolves, evidence that wild beasts 
had not ceased to contest the rights of occupa- 
tion with man. In 1834 Elijah Risley & Com- 
pany commenced raising garden seeds in Fre- 
donia. At first they used but six acres of land, 
putting up but seven hundred boxes of seeds. 
Their business increased so that for many 
years it was a leading industry of the county, 
and they became extensively known through 
the country as leading seed men. 

In other chapters we noted the beginnings of 
the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist 
churches, and also the early work of the Con- 
gregationalists. During the frontier and pio- 
neer periods these denominations carried the 



48 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Gospel to the remotest settlements, by mis- 
sionaries and ministers especially fitted for the 
work. It is true that these itinerant preachers 
were seldom learned men, but they had vigor- 
ous, practical minds, and were usually well 
versed in the Scripture. They were accus- 
tomed to a life in the backwoods and familiar 
with the ways of the pioneers. They labored 
unceasingly and unselfishly. 

The traveling Methodist minister from 1800 
to 1816 was entitled to receive but eighty dol- 
lars a year and his traveling expenses. His 
wife was allowed eighty dollars a year. An 
allowance was made to him of sixteen dollars 
annually for each child under seven years of 
age, and twenty-four dollars for each child be- 
tween seven and fourteen years of age. It is 
said, in fact, that he received not more than 
two-thirds of that amount, and yet for this pit- 
tance these men labored summer and winter 
with unremitting zeal. 

Many of the early settlers were from New 
England or were of Puritan descent, and thor- 
oughly imbued with the old and established 
Calvinistic doctrines of that people. Between 
them and the Methodists, who were of a later 
and more liberal faith, there existed a strong 
antagonism, and a polemic warfare was waged 
for many years. The zealous and aggressive 
spirit of Methodism prevailed against all oppo- 
sition ; they made converts everywhere. For 
years the itinerant Methodist minister, mount- 
ed on horseback, with Bible, hymn book and 
saddle bags, followed forest trails, guided by 
marked trees, forded bridgeless streams, often 
camping in the woods at night, tired and hun- 
gry, enduring all the hardships and privations 
of the backwoods, to carry the Gospel to the 
pioneers. The remarkable scenes at their re- 
vivals and camp meetings, the great crowd of 
people who came to listen, the burning words 
of the preacher, awakening them to their lost 
condition, were long remembered and are 
prominent among the early events. 

Not until the Early Farming Period, were 
there religious denominations other than those 
we have mentioned, established in the county. 
The first Episcopal (Trinity) Church was 
organized August 1, 1822. at Fredonia. Rev. 
David Brown (he who delivered the excellent 
address on the occasion of Lafayette's visit to 
the county), was its first pastor. The historic 
and interesting little church edifice of this de- 
nomination at Fredonia, the first in the county, 
was completed and consecrated in 1835. St. 
Paul's Church at Mayville was organized by 
the Rev. David Brown in April, 1823. St. 
Peter's Church of W'estfield was organized 



January 20, 1830; Rev. Rufus Murray was its 
first rector. St. Luke's Church of Jamestown 
was organized by the Rev. Rufus Murray on 
the 5th of May, 1834; and St. John's Episcopal 
society was organized in Dunkirk in 1850, by 
Rev. Charles Avery. Two years later a church 
building was erected. 

In 1 85 1, prior to the completion of the New 
York & Erie railroad, a small frame building 
was purchased by the Catholics in Dunkirk. 
The Rt. Rev. John Timon, Bishop of Buffalo, 
had at times before that visited the few scat- 
tered Catholic families in the county. The 
arrival of many Catholics during its building 
and before the completion of the road made 
greater church accommodations necessary. 
The cornerstone of a spacious brick church of 
Gothic architecture (St. Mary's) was laid in 
Dunkirk by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Timon in 
July, 1852, which was dedicated in November, 
1854, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Young, under the 
invocation of the Seven Dolors of Mary. Its 
first pastor was the Rev. Peter Colgan. Later 
a German Catholic and a Polish Catholic 
church were erected in Dunkirk. Catholic 
churches have since the completion of the Erie 
railroad been erected in Westfield, Jamestown, 
Silver Creek and in other villages in the county. 

In the Early Farming Period, Free Will 
Baptist, Universalist and Christian Societies 
were organized. Elders Bailey, Barr and Hal- 
liday were among the early popular ministers 
of the latter denomination. Rev. S. R. Smith 
was perhaps the earliest promulgator of the 
Universalist faith in Chautauqua county. Rev. 
Lewis C. Todd was a preacher of that denomi- 
nation, the editor of the "Genius of Liberty," 
a Universalist paper published in Jamestown, 
and also the author of several books on Uni- 
versalism. 

Religious organizations of the many other 
existing denominations have been formed since 
the Early Farming Period. First Church of 
Christ, Scientist, was erected by the Christian 
Scientists in Jamestown upon a site donated 
by Mrs. A. M. Kent about the year 1894. 

During the early periods, churches and meet- 
ings were as well attended and the sober duties 
of life as fully performed as at the present 
time, yet the people were not Puritanical. On 
the other hand, they were social and fond of 
indulging in the few simple amusements that 
the times afforded. An old paper advertised 
that "a living African lion will be exhibited at 
the tavern of Jediah Tracy in Mayville, Octo- 
ber n, 1819; the only one of its kind in Amer- 
ica. No apprehension of danger need be enter- 
tained as he is secured in his substantial iron 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1825-1835 



49 



cage. Admittance 25 cents, children half 
price." Sometimes a single elephant was ex- 
hibited. It would be driven to the place of ex- 
hibition in the night, covered with a canvas so 
as not to be seen by the people on the way. 
These unpretentious shows excited much inter- 
est; they were the forerunners of the caravan, 
a little later of the circus and finally the mam- 
moth hippodrome. Now and then a puppet 
show, a performance of sleight of hand tricks, 
and occasionally a public lecturer on some 
popular subject, would visit the little settle- 
ments. These entertainments were enjoyed 
with greater zest than the more pretentious 
amusements of the present day. 

Dancing assemblages, or balls of the young 
people, were common and were simple and 
hearty affairs. Contra dances, as the monie- 
musk* Virginia and opera reels, and French 
four were the usual dancing figures performed. 
Square dances were uncommon, and round 
dances unknown. Roger De Coverly, Monie- 
Musk, McDonald's reel, the Arkansas Trav- 
eler, Rosin the Bow, and other ancient and 
lively tunes, played upon a single violin by a 
local fiddler, constituted the music. 

The young men were an athletic, scuffling, 
wrestling race who delighted in nothing more 
than those ancient sports by which the backs 
and limbs of all stout-hearted youth have been 
tested since the days of Hercules. Wrestling 
was the popular outdoor amusement, practiced 
at every house and barn raising, town meeting 
and public gathering. During school days, a 
high school in athletics was always established 
outside the schoolhouse, where morning, noon 
and night, the boys quite as diligently plied 
and studied the wrestling art, as their books 
within its doors. Graduates from these old 
physical culture schools would come out on 
election and town meeting days to contest in 
the ring for honors of the town. Every school 
district had its champion, and no puny cham- 
pion was he. When General Training Day 
would come at Westfield, Sinclairville and James- 
town, strong and active young men would 
gather from far and near. Where the crowd 
wasthe thickest, some athletic young man of 
spirit accomplished in the art, would mount 
a peddler's cart and announce by way of chal- 
lenge that "of all the men he could see, there 
was not one that he could not lay on his back; 
that he would be at the Boat Landing at one 
o'clock." Promptly on time the crowd would 
be there, and as promptly the dauntless young 
man himself, and boldly walk into the ring. No 
sinecure it was to hold one's own against all 
comers there, for ready for the fray were the 

Chau-4 



sons of the backwoods from the hills of Ellery 
and Gerry, whose limbs had been toughened 
by swinging the ax in slashings, and stalking 
through the woods for deer, with bodies invig- 
orated by feasting on cornbread and venison. 
There were also rough rafting descendants of 
Anak from Carroll, Poland and Kiantone, 
whose muscles had been hardened by hewing 
down pine trees, and hauling them to saw- 
mills, pulling at oars, and roughing it on Alle- 
gheny fleets. There, too, were tough, grog- 
drinking boatmen from down the river, equally 
ready for a wrestle or a fight, though seldom 
a fight occurred. Indeed it was not merely 
strength and skill, but also nerve and brain 
that was required to hold the championship 
against all comers in those old wrestling days. 

But few holidays were recognized. Thanks- 
giving Day was observed by only a few, and 
those settlers from the New England States. 
Christmas was honored but little more. The 
young people often celebrated New Year's with 
balls and sleighrides ; Washington's Birthday 
was passed by ; the Fourth of July was duly 
remembered. No day of the year, however, 
not excepting Independence Day, was so gen- 
erally observed as General Training Day, often 
in other places called General Muster Day. 
The rough life of the backwoods man, the 
familiarity of the people with the use of fire- 
arms, and the recent war in which the country 
had been engaged, were calculated to cultivate 
a martial taste, and the military spirit ran high 
for many years. On General Training days, 
which were observed in Jamestown, Fredonia, 
Sinclairville, Mayville, and other principal 
places in the county, the whole male popula- 
tion of the neighboring towns would turn out 
to witness the sham fight, military parade, and 
take a part in the festivities of the day. None 
of that day lived long enough to efface from 
memory the fun and enjoyment of General 
Training Day. The apple carts and peddlers' 
wagons dispensing their stock of apples, sweet 
cider, ginger-bread and honey, and before all, 
the stirring music of the drum and fife were 
not soon forgotten. 

These general trainings were held in Sep- 
tember of each year. Nearly all the young 
men and the greater part of the able bodied 
men served in the ranks. When this military 
system was first instituted, the men and offi- 
cers took pride in the performance of their 
duties, and for some years the soldiers were 
quite well disciplined; after a little the mili- 
tary spirit began to wane, and discipline to re- 
lax. The officers were selected with less care, 



50 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



.-id the men began to regard the performance 
of military duty as a burden. The law re- 
quired them to furnish their own arms and 
equipments and the consequence was that thev 
were dressed "in all kinds of hats, all styles 
ot coats, from the surtout to the sailor jacket ■ 



they carried all kinds of arms from the shot- 
gun to the stake from the fence," bearing a 
strong resemblance to Falstaff's soldiers, caus- 
ing much merriment to the wags of the time 
J he military musters after a while degenerated 
into a farce, and were discontinued 



CHAPTER X. 



The Early Farming 
By the State census the population of the 
county in 1835 was 44,869, an increase of 10 212 
in nye years, showing the effect that the Erie 
canal had upon the prosperity of the county 
and also showing in what high esteem the 
county was held abroad. Yet the inhabitants 
were still poor, their lands in most instances 

^nt a M ;, an , d K aI1 V lat the - v had was ^pre- 
sented by the labor that they had expended in 
clearing and improving their lands 

In 1835 the Holland Company contracted 
their unsold lands and lands of which there 
were outstanding and unexpired contracts, to 
Trumbell Carey and George W. Lay. It was 
understood that such of the settlers as could 
not pay for their farms would be compelled to 
renew their contracts, and pay a certain sum 
per acre in addition to the original price, and 
such interest as had accumulated thereon This 
proposed exaction was called the "Genessee 
1 arirt. As soon as this became known, it 
produced great excitement. A large public 
meeting was held in Jamestown at which a 
committee was appointed consisting of Elial 
T Foote, Oliver Lee, Samuel Barretf, Leveret 
Barker and George T. Camp to confer with the 
proprietors at Batavia, and ascertain their in- 
tentions towards the settlers. The committee 
so appointed were unable, however, to obtain 
satisfactory information. A second public 
^ ee . ^ > WaS hdd at Ma y vi "e, Januan 8th 
T63D- lhe people were now greatly aroused 
and this was more numerously attended than 
the former one. Leverett Barker was chosen 
president, and John M. Edson. secretary. 
James Mullett addressed the people in an im- 
pressive speech. Speeches were also made by 
Judge Foote and others; a committee was ap- 
pointed, to which was added the chairman and 
secretary to confer with William Peacock, the 
agent of the company for Chautauqua county. 
Mr. Peacock received the committee coldly 
and the little information that he gave them 
was very unsatisfactory. The result of this 
conference produced great excitement, and the 
excesses which followed the proposed exac- 
tions were such as might have been expected 



Period— 1835-185: 



•The early settlers had braved a wilderness 
and wrought for themselves homes such as ex- 
S 6 A P T at , ion and hardship could accom- 
plish, rhey had rallied at the call of danger 
shed their blood and perilled their lives in 
defense of the soil. The owners had grown 
wealthy by the mdustry of the settlers, and 
heir agents rolled in fatness ; to impose such 
terms at a time and under such circumstances 
as, in a majority of instances, would deprive 
the settlers of their farms and compel them to 
abandon their possessions, while a course of 
tair dealing and equitable requirements on the 
part of the owners would enable them, after a 
few more years of toil, to call the soil on which 
the hre and vigor of their manhood had been 
expended their own, was more than they 
would submit to or endure." 

There were small gatherings of the people 
m Gerry, Ell.cott and Ellery, in which the sub- 
ject was discussed. The more it was talked 
over, the more were the people incensed and 
inclined to resort to harsh measures. As the 
result of these gatherings, a meeting was called 
at rlartheld, which was not well attended 
I his was adjourned to the 6th of February' 
and it was understood, without a formal decla- 
ration to that effect, that the purpose would 
be tearing down the land office. On the 6th 
ot February, from three hundred to five hun- 
dred people assembled at Barnhart's Inn at 
Hartneld, principally from Gerry, Ellery, Char- 
lotte, Stockton, Poland, Ellicott, Busti and 
Harmony. Roland Cobb, of Gerry, was chosen 
chairman. Gen. George T Camp was solicited 
to become leader in the contemplated enter- 
prise, but he declined, and in an earnest speech 
endeavored to induce them to abandon their 
violent intentions. The chairman also said 
that the Land Company might yet be willing 
to make terms, should another conference be 
had with them. Nathan Cheney, an intelligent 
and resolute old settler, abruptly and effec- 
tively addressed the meeting in these words, 
I hose who are going to Mayville with me 
tall into line." The whole assemblage at once 
obeyed, chose Cheney their leader, George 





THE FIRST rOSTOFKH'E AT FAIRPOINT 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1835-1851 



Van Pelt from Charlotte for lieutenant, formed 
into line, and marched a short distance west of 
Barnes' store in Hartfield and halted. Cheney 
then called for twenty-five of the strongest 
men to do the work of demolishing the Land 
Office. The number called for promptly 
stepped forward. Among them were Harri- 
son Persons, the Allegheny pilot before men- 
tioned, "Zeke" Powers (noted for his strength, 
afterwards a soldier of the Mexican war where 
he lost his life), "Coon" and Jim Decker, "Bill" 
Pickard, Peter Strong and John Coe (from 
Pickard Street in Ellery), and other strong and 
resolute people. The people then resumed 
their march for Mayville, the sappers and 
miners with Persons and Powers as leaders, in 
advance. The only arms they carried were 
axes and crowbars and some hoop-poles taken 
from a cooper's shop on their march. Two 
kegs of powder were taken along, although no 
use was made of them. When the party 
arrived at the Land Office (which was about 
8 o'clock in the evening) Cheney posted the 
sappers and miners upon three of its sides and 
paraded the rest of the party around these 
workmen to guard them from outside interfer- 
ence. As a light was burning in the building 
when they arrived, admittance was first de- 
manded, to which no response was given. 
Cheney in a strong voice then gave the order 
to strike, which was obeyed, and all the win- 
cows came out with a crash. The door was 
broken down, and an entrance to the building 
effected. A costly clock was disposed of by 
the blow of an ax. A valuable map of the 
county, upon which every farm was delineated, 
was destroyed. The axmen made light work 
of the furniture and woodwork. They cut the 
posts and canted the building over. They found 
some difficulty in opening the vault that con- 
tained the safe, which was made of solid 
mason-work of cut stone. Van Pelt pried out 
the keystone with an iron bar; others took 
one of the pillars of the building and used it 
as a battering ram, and strong arms soon bat- 
tered down the door of the vault. The iron 
safe was pried open, and half a cord of books 
and papers of the company were taken out, 
placed on a sleigh, and carried to Hartfield. 
where a bonfire was made, and they were 
burned. Some of them, however, were carried 
away by the people and have been preserved. 
The party dispersed and went to their homes 
about midnight. 

The most of those engaged in this affair held 
contracts for the purchase of land, and in many 
instances would have suffered ruinous conse- 
quences from the company's exactions. The 



proceedings were conducted in an orderly 
manner, and those engaged were generally 
sober men. No liquor was used, except while 
the work of demolishing the building and 
opening the vault was going on. While the 
people were on the way from Hartfield to May- 
ville, Peacock was notified of their coming and 
left his office and took refuge at the house of 
Donald McKenzie, and after remaining a short 
time in Mayville he went to Erie. No further 
communication was had between the Holland 
Land Company or their agents and the settlers 
until 1838, when a sale was made of the com-' 
pany's land to Duer, Robinson and Seward 
(Gov. William H. Seward), who opened an 
office in Westfield, where the business was 
conducted without disturbance or dissatisfac- 
tion. 

During the war waged by Texas for its inde- 
pendence, Chautauqua county was represented 
by at least two soldiers. John Harding, a 
native of Chautauqua county, served with 
credit, and Mr. Pickett, of Charlotte, a young 
man in Fanning's command, was massacred 
by the Mexicans. 

The winter of 1836-37 was long, and so 
severe that the "Western Trader," a schooner 
loaded with corn and oats, bound down from 
Detroit in the fall of 1836, was frozen in the 
ice, drifted down, and lay for six weeks in a 
mass of ice off Dunkirk. She and her crew- 
were not loosened from their fetters until 
nearly June, 1837. An increased interest in 
agriculture had now been manifested for sev- 
eral years. A society formed in 1820 went 
down in a few years for the want of patronage 
by the State. It was now revived. Some citi- 
zens met at Mayville in October, 1837, to 
organize an agricultural society. Jediah Tracy 
was chosen president and William Prender- 
gast (2d) secretary. The meeting was ad- 
journed to the 4th of January, 1838, when the 
Chautauqua County Agricultural Society was 
organized. William Prendergast was chosen 
president ; Henry Baker, Timothy Judson, 
Thomas B. Campbell and Elias Clark, vice- 
presidents ; E. P. Upham, secretary ; and Jediah 
Tracy, treasurer. 

The county during the years immediately 
previous had been in a state of unexampled 
prosperity, in which Dunkirk fully shared. 
Lands both uncultivated and improved began 
to rise in value, which was first observed in 
1833. People of all classes embarked in wild 
speculations, particularly in real estate. There 
was a great demand for corner lots, and favor- 
able sites. Cities were laid out along the lake 
wherever there was a harbor ; almost everv 



52 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



village was affected. As Dunkirk was to be 
the termination of the Erie railroad, it was an 
unusually promising field for speculation. The 
crisis came in the spring of 1837. The mercan- 
tile failure in New York in March and April 
amounted to over $100,000,000; in New Or- 
leans to the amount of $27,000,000 took place 
in two days. All the banks in the county sus- 
pended specie payment. 

The winter 1837-38 was one of the mildest 
ever known. Vessels navigated Lake Erie dur- 
ing the winter, including January. In this win- 
ter occurred the "Patriot War." Many of the 
people of Canada were discontented with the 
British government, particularly the French 
inhabitants of Lower Canada. An armed re- 
bellion broke out there, which was finally sup- 
pressed with some loss of life. Uprisings of a 
less serious character occurred in Upper Can- 
ada. The little steamboat "Caroline," owned 
by a citizen of Buffalo, was captured by the 
British at Schlosser, on the Niagara river, set 
on fire, and sent over the Falls. One person 
was killed and several wounded. This affair 
caused much excitement in Chautauqua county. 
A meeting was held in January at Mayville, of 
which William Peacock was chairman, and 
George W. Tew, secretary. A committee was 
appointed to draft resolutions with reference 
to the outrage at Schlosser. Strong resolu- 
tions were passed condemning the act, and in 
favor of military preparations to protect the 
borders of the county against further out- 
rages. Gen. T. J. Sutherland, a patriot leader, 
visited the county. Some enlistments were 
obtained. Secret lodges of "Hunters" were 
formed along the frontier of Canada, to collect 
munitions, and aid the "patriots." Some two 
hundred stand of arms had been gathered, and 
were stored for the use of the "patriots" at 
Fredonia. A body of United States troops 
under Gen. Worth was sent to suppress these 
unlawful proceedings. They stopped at Dun- 
kirk and marched to Fredonia to break up the 
"Hunters' Lodge" there. Several wagon-loads 
of arms and army supplies were captured. 
Among those who ventured into Canada and 
took up arms in the patriot cause, was Linus 
W. Miller, who resided in Stockton. He was 
taken, tried, condemned, and punished by 
transportation to Van Dieman's Land. After 
an absence of nearly eight years, he returned 
to this county. The interesting story of his 
captivity he told in the "Notes of an Exile." 

On June 14th, 1838, the steamboat "Wash- 
ington," on her downward trip to Buffalo, when 
about twelve miles below Dunkirk, was dis- 
covered to be on fire. She immediately steered 



for Silver Creek, the nearest harbor, but the 
flames spread so rapidly that she soon became 
crippled and was sinking, when the steamboat 
"North America" hove in sight, took her in 
tow, and succeeded in getting her within two 
miles of the shore, where she sank. Twelve 
of the seventy persons on board were lost. 

At the meeting of the board of supervisors 
ir 1839, certificates were given for wolves 
killed in Busti and Clymer. The year closed 
with the heaviest fall of snow in the record of 
the county. About Christmas, in a short time 
the snow fell to the depth of five feet. The 
wind heaped it into drifts, rendering the roads 
entirely impassable. All communication was 
cut off even between the nearest neighbors. 
Flocks were buried in the drifts, and physi- 
cians were interrupted in their duties, result- 
ing in some instances in the death of their 
patients. 

By the census of 1S40 the population of the 
county was 47,975, an increase in five years of 
but 3,106. 

In 1841 a very large wolf was killed in Ville- 
nova. It was the last destroyed in the county. 
It was so successful in avoiding its pursuers 
that it was not killed until it had been hunted 
thirty-one days. Its skin was stuffed, and ex- 
hibited in different towns. The records of the 
board of supervisors show that a bounty of 
"ten dollars was allowed Sewall Spaulding for 
killing a full grown wolf, in the town of Ville- 
nova." 

The same portion of Lake Erie where three 
years before the steamboat "Washington" was 
lost, was the scene of the most terrible catas- 
trophe that ever occurred on the waters of 
Lake Erie. August 9th, 1841, the steamboat 
"Erie," Capt. Titus, left Buffalo at 3 o'clock 
p. m. for Chicago with over two hundred fifty 
persons on board. When off Silver Creek 
about 3 o'clock, a carboy of copal varnish on 
the upper deck near the smoke stack, became 
heated and burst. The boat had been painted 
and varnished, and in a few moments the whole 
cf the upper part of the vessel was enveloped 
in flames. The passengers leaped into the lake 
without life preservers, or the slightest article 
of buoyancy to sustain them, save one, who it 
is said laid himself out to die on the working 
beam of the engine. Over two hundred per- 
ished, of whom one hundred fifty were Swiss 
emigrants. The "DeWitt Clinton," which had 
put into Dunkirk a short time before, the little 
steamboat "Sylph," which was also lying there, 
and other small boats, hastened to the relief of 
the burning boat. They only saved about 
thirty-five persons, who were found clinging to 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1835-1851 



53 



the burning wreck, or floating on pieces of 
boxes, furniture and timber. The burning ves- 
sel appeared to be at Battery Point, while in 
fact it was several miles out. George and 
Sampson Alton and Andrew Wood put out in a 
little boat with a mere rag of a sail and saved 
young Lamberton, of Erie, who had swam two 
miles from the wreck. Others did what they 
could, but there was little to do more than to 
rescue from the waves the bodies of the lost. 
The corpses of the drowned continued to float 
ashore for two weeks or more. The greater 
number were interred in Dunkirk, many in 
Silver Creek, seven in Sheridan, some in Irving 
and a few at Van Buren. But four of the lost 
had been residents of the county. 

It is a curious and now almost forgotten 
fact, that among the industries that have been 
cultivated in this county was included at one 
time the raising of silk. As early as 1827 a 
small number of black mulberry trees, morns 
nigra, now cultivated for ornament and shade, 
were grown, and a small quantity of silkworms 
raised. A smaller tree, the white mulberry, 
mora alba, was brought into the county about 
the same time. About 1834 the Chinese mul- 
berry, morns muticaulis, the leaves of which 
were best suited for food for silkworms, was 
introduced. In 1841 an act was passed provid- 
ing for the payment of a bounty of fifteen cents 
for every pound of cocoons raised, and fifty 
cents for every pound of reeled silk made from 
cocoons raised in the county. The effect of 
this law was to stimulate for a short time the 
growing of silk. Mulberry groves were com- 
mon and silkworms for a while grown in con- 
siderable numbers. It is interesting to know 
that one hundred pounds of silk were actually 
laised in the county in 1S42. The business 
proved to be a losing speculation. 

In President Harrison's administration, while 
Daniel Webster was Secretary of State, the 
question respecting the northwestern bound- 
ary of the United States was under consid- 
eration. Webster at this time visited the 
county to interview Donald McKenzie at May- 
ville. McKenzie was born in Scotland, of dis- 
tinguished lineage, and came to Canada early 
in the last century ; for eight years he was 
engaged in the fur business. In 1809 he be- 
came one of the partners of John Jacob Astor 
in the fur trade, and was established at the 
mouth of the Columbia river, where he re- 
mained until 1812. In 1821 he joined the Hud- 
son Bay Company and was one of the council 
and chief factors, with his headquarters at 
Fort Garry, and was afterwards governor of 
the company. In 1832 he removed to May- 



ville and resided there until his death in 1851. 
His life was full of adventures and peril. When 
Webster visited McKenzie, he came from Buf- 
falo to Barcelona and thence to Mayville in a 
covered carriage. His purpose was to ascer- 
tain such facts bearing upon the northwestern 
boundary controversy between the United 
States and England as were in the possession 
of McKenzie. His visit was a government 
secret and known at the time by but few. 
Judge William Peacock was among the num- 
ber. Webster remained one day and two 
nights at the residence of McKenzie. 

In the spring of 1843, Capt. Nathan Brown, 
of Jamestown, sent down the river the first of 
his store boats. Until the building of the rail- 
road to Jamestown, these boats furnished the 
principal means for the transportation to mar- 
ket of the articles manufactured there. From 
1843 to 1880, Mr. Brown built one hundred 
fifty-four of these boats, loaded them with 
worked building materials and other wood- 
work, and sent them down the river, selling his 
cargo at points along the Ohio and other rivers, 
and finally selling his boat. The enterprise of 
Mr. Brown made him and his boats familiarly 
known along the Allegheny, Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi rivers for many years. On November 
4, 1844, late in the evening, Nathaniel Lowry, 
the leading merchant of Jamestown, while re- 
turning to his dwelling in Jamestown, was 
stabbed by a person evidently having the pur- 
pose of killing him. For a long time his life 
was despaired of. He finally recovered. Jere- 
miah C. Newman, of Pine Grove (now Rus- 
sell) Warren county, Pennsylvania, was sus- 
pected of the offense, arrested, indicted and 
tried at the Chautauqua county oyer and termi- 
ner at Mayville, in January, 1846. The trial 
was one of the most celebrated in the history 
of the county. Richard P. and Dudley Mar- 
vin, James Mullett and Madison Burnell, the 
ablest lawyers of the county, were engaged 
either in the prosecution or defense. Newman 
was convicted and sentenced to State prison 
for five years and three months. 

The same year Alvan Cornell was tried at 
Mayville before Justice Dayton for the murder 
of his wife, by cutting her throat with a razor, 
in Jamestown. He attempted suicide but 
failed. The prosecution was conducted by 
David Mann, the district attorney. He was 
defended by Samuel A. Brown, was found 
guilty, and sentenced to be hung. He was be- 
lieved to have been insane, and his sentence 
was commuted to imprisonment for life. 

By the State census taken in 1845, the popu 
lation of the county was 46,548, a falling off in 



54 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



five years of 1,427. This had not happened 
before since the settlement of the county. Dur- 
ing the ten years that followed the building of 
the Erie canal, and that had preceded the year 
1835, 2 4- 2 44 inhabitants were added to its popu- 
lation, an increase of one hundred twenty per 
cent., the most rapid growth the county had 
ever known. During the ten succeeding years 
it had added only 1,679 to ' ts population, an in- 
crease of but four per cent, and at the close of 
that period it was actually decreasing in popu- 
lation. This remarkable falling off in the in- 
crease of population from 1835 to 1845 is be- 
lieved to have been due to the fact that there 
was during that period a large emigration 
from Chautauqua county to the west, caused 
by the hard times that followed the great finan- 
cial crash in 1837, and the discouraging delay 
in building the Erie railroad. 

In June, 1846, the convention to frame a new 
constitution for the State commenced its ses- 
sion in Albany. George W. Patterson and 
Richard P. Marvin represented Chautauqua 
county in the convention. The changes made 
by the new constitution were followed by a 
statute passed in 1848 known as the "Code of 
Procedure," which entirely revolutionized the 
practice in civil procedure. It abolished the 
distinction between suits at law and suits in 
equity ; the whole system of pleading was re- 
formed, and many other changes were made of 
a radical and important character, respecting 
the procedure in civil actions. The changes 
made by the Code in practice and pleading 
much affected the legal profession. Lawyers 
who had mastered the settled principles that 
had governed the practiced were now obliged 
to devote much study to the perplexing ques- 
tions that arose under the new system. At- 
torneys then past their prime of life were 
naturally disinclined to renew their studies, 
and many of the older lawyers ceased to take 
as active a part in the profession as before, and 
some entirely retired from it. 

When the Code went into effect, it marked 
the close of an era in the history of the Chau- 
tauqua county bar. The first period of its his- 
tory (the pioneer period) commenced with the 
organization of the county and continued ten 
years until the constitution of 1821, during 
which time the old Court of Common Pleas 
was the principal legal tribunal. Four years 
of this time this court was held in John Scott's 
log tavern, and afterwards in the old court 
house. Zattu dishing was the first judge, and 
presided in the Common Pleas during all this 
period. Judge Cushing, although he had no 
superior advantages of education or legal train- 



ing, possessed the other qualities of an excel- 
lent judge. He was possessed of a superior 
mind, personal dignity, firmness and force of 
character, and was benevolent and pure in his 
life. In every respect he honored the position. 
It is fortunate that through the thoughtfulness 
of Judge Walworth the portrait of the estima- 
ble pioneer Judge now adorns the courtroom 
of the county. Had we a transcript of the 
strong faces of all the old lawyers who prac- 
ticed in his court, it would be an invaluable 
possession for future generations — of Anselm 
Potter, Jacob Houghton, James H. Price, 
James Mullett, Dudley Marvin, Sheldon Smith, 
Abner Hazeltine, Samuel A. Brown, Ernest 
Mullett, John Crane, Abram Dixon, David 
Mann and others. Although the field of their 
labors was close to the borders of the wilder- 
ness, they were men skilled in their profession. 
Several of them were college graduates, some 
were men of unusual natural capacity ; all were 
well read in legal principles and skilled in the 
practice of the law. For knowledge of the 
fundamental principles of the law they would 
not suffer by a comparison with their brethren 
of the profession in succeeding years. In 1820 
there were thirteen of these pioneer lawyers in 
the county. 

The Court of Common Pleas continued after 
the constitution of 1821, and until that of 1846. 
For nearly twenty of the twenty-five years of 
this period, Dr. E. T. Foote was its first judge. 
Like Judge Cushing, he was nol a lawyer by 
profession, but was a man of ability, and well 
fitted to preside in this popular court. He took 
great interest in the early settlers, and during 
his active years, a leading part in every enter- 
prise designed to promote the prosperity of the 
county not only as regarded its business inter- 
ests, but for the moral and religious advance- 
ment of the people also. 

Thomas A. Osborne succeeded Judge Foote 
as first judge of the Common Pleas, but held 
that position during 1843-44 only. He was a 
good lawyer, and was best qualified by reason 
of his legal attainments to fill the position of 
any who have filled the office. Mr. Osborne 
was an accomplished writer, particularly upon 
political subjects. He was a Democrat, and 
his clear and finely written articles maintain- 
ing the principles of his party often appeared 
in the "Mayville Sentinel" and other papers of 
the county. 

Thomas B. Campbell, also a Democrat, suc- 
ceeded Judge Osborne as first judge, and held 
the position for two years and until the Court 
of Common Pleas ceased to exist. The court 
suffered no deterioration with Judge Camp- 



EARLY FARMING PERIOD— 1835-1851 



55 



bell as its presiding office. Although he was 
not a lawyer, he was a strongminded, able and 
upright man, who, like his predecessors, had 
an aptitude for the law. By his strong and 
practical good sense, he commanded the re- 
spect not only of the suitors at law, but of the 
members of the bar who practiced in his court. 

The old Common Pleas in 1847 ceased to 
exist as a court. When it expired it was com- 
posed of Thomas B. Campbell, first judge; 
John M. Edson, Caleb O. Daughaday, Niram 
Sackett and Franklin H. Wait, judges. This 
had been the court most familiar to the people 
from its organization. Court week to the old 
settler was a period of creation best suited to 
his peculiar taste. His constant struggle for 
existence with the forest and with unpropi- 
tious seasons had trained him to take his great- 
est pleasure in the trials of strength, of skill 
pnd of brain. He took delight in witnessing 
the sharp encounters and trials of wit that a 
lawsuit brought forth. This old court was also 
a school of instruction. There he obtained his 
first ideas of the law, and learned the principles 
of our government. The judges were to him 
the best examples of dignity, justice and wis- 
dom, the closing plea of his favorite lawyer his 
highest ideal of eloquence, and he was not 
without reason for this opinion. Judge Mul- 
lett, Dudley Marvin and Madison Burnell, as 
forensic orators were without superiors in 
Western New York. The remarkable genius 
of Judge Mullett, his rare wit, and his power- 
ful and impressive eloquence, never failed to 
carry away and control his audience. The 
logic, the eloquence, the will of Burnell, domi- 
nated the court, and wrenched verdicts from 
juries. 

Great progress was made in education and 
schools during the Early Farming Period. 
Phin M. Miller in his exhaustive history of the 
schools of the county has aptly denominated 
this as the "Red School House Period," while 
the time preceding it he calls the "Log School 
House Period." The Fredonia Academy, al- 
though incorporated during the Pioneer 
Period, was not opened to pupils until 1826. 
Mayville Academy was incorporated in 1834; 
Jamestown Academy in 1836; Dunkirk Acad- 
emy in 1837; Westfield Academy in 1839; an d 
Ellington Academy in 1851. in 1836 provi- 
sions were made establishing school district 
libraries. The common school system, how- 
ever, remained substantially unchanged until 
1843, when town commissioners and inspectors 
were abolished, the office of town superintend- 
ent of schools created, and the board of super- 
visors authorized to appoint a county superin- 



tendent of schools. Under the provisions of 
the law, W T orthy Putnam was elected county 
superintendent of schools in 1843. Mr. Put- 
nam immediately endeavored to arouse an in- 
terest in schools and education. He appealed 
directly to the citizens of the county to aid 
him. He personally visited its schools, and 
stimulated both teachers and scholars to effort. 
Through his personal influence many new 
school houses were built in the county. But 
it was with the teachers and scholars that he 
had the most success. The first Teachers' In- 
stitute was held at Mayville in 1846, under his 
superintendence. Both teachers and scholars 
lung remembered with gratitude the interest 
he awakened in them, in teaching and learn- 
ing. The term he served as county superin- 
tendent of schools is the most memorable in 
the annals of school teaching in our county's 
history. 

During the Mexican War, which came to a 
close in 1848, several soldiers served who had 
been residents of Chautauqua county, among 
them Nathan Randall, a resident of Mayville, 
and also of Sinclairville, served under Capt. 
Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame in 
Worth's division. He was in the battles of 
Cerro Gordo, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, and 
Chapultepec, where he was wounded. He was 
a captain in the Civil W r ar. Zeke Powers, of 
Ellery, served in the war and died in the serv- 
ice. 

In June, 1848, gold was discovered in Cali- 
fornia. To reach California that year from the 
Eastern States was an undertaking greater 
than it would be now to go to the remotest 
part of the earth. People who had the hardi- 
hood and enterprise to find the mines of Cali- 
fornia that year were called "Forty-niners," 
and gained a distinction that was denied to 
those that came afterwards. Chautauqua con- 
tributed its full share of those early adven- 
turers. Among the "forty-niners" was George 
Stoneman, a native of the county, a lieutenant 
in the regular army, afterwards a distinguished 
general in the Civil War. That year he took 
some part in framing the constitution of that 
State, of which many years after he became the 
governor. 

About the first Chautauquan to arrive in 
California after the discovery of gold was Col. 
Fleman Winchester, a well-known citizen of 
the town of Ellery. He went by the way of 
Vera Cruz, the City of Mexico and Mazatlan, 
and was on his way one hundred eight days. 
He arrived at San Francisco early in June, 
1849, where he found a quiet and orderly peo- 
ple, with no civil government except what was 



5" 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



self-imposed. The charge of a blacksmith for 
shoeing a horse was twenty-four dollars, car- 
penters' wages were from ten dollars to thirty 
dollars a day, and found. Before he entered 
the mines Mr. Winchester received five hun- 
dred dollars for moving thirty cords of dirt a 
distance of six rods. 

Among those from Chautauqua county who 
journeyed across the continent that year were : 
Alonzo Winsor, Lyman Rexford and D. M. 
Bemus from Ellicott ; and Russell Wilson. 
Aretus J. Blackmer arrived in California in 
August, 1849, after a journey of ninety-nine 
days. The first four days after his arrival he 
worked on the bar near Sutter's mill, and 
gathered in that time seventy dollars' worth 
ol gold. John Clark, from Busti, was four 
months on the way. Of those who journeyed 
over the plains was a party from Westfield, 
attached to Col. Gratiot's company from Buf- 
falo, among whom was Rossiter P. Johnson. 
J. Hutchins, from Mayville, made the journey 
around Cape Horn. Some crossed the Isth- 
mus. Among others from Chautauqua county 
in 1849 were David Sabius, Arba Briggs, and 
Seneca Hoag. The greater number of these 
early miners from Chautauqua county had fair 
success and some returned with a competence. 

In 1849 not a m il e °f railroad had been built 
in the county except that portion of the New 
York & Erie railroad leading easterly from 
Dunkirk, that had been abandoned. The im- 
ports of the county were mostly brought in, 
and the exports taken out, at the ports of Dun- 
kirk, Barcelona, Silver Creek and Cattaraugus 
and over the main road that passed through 
Westfield, Fredonia, and over the Cattaraugus 
creek. In the south part of the county, Chau- 
tauqua Lake and the Conewango were to some 
extent means of communication. To reach 
these routes from the interior of the county 
many miles of dirt road, the most of it poor and 
muddy during the wet season, had to be trav- 
eled. This year important improvements were 
commenced in the roadways. Plank roads now 
began to be made. Lines leading from the 
Main road in the north part of the county 
above mentioned were surveyed and their con- 



struction commenced. These were built along 
old highways when it was practicable, but 
v/hen the grade was an objection they would 
be secured over new routes. 

The first built was the Westfield and Chau- 
tauqua plank road. Its northern termination 
was at Westfield, its southern Hartfield, where 
it was designed to intercept the travel on the 
east side of the lake. About two miles north 
oi the south termination there was a branch 
route extending to the steamboat landing at 
Mayville. This branch was built to intercept 
travel on the west side of the lake. This road 
and its branches were nine miles in length. 

The Westfield and Clymer plank road was 
organized this year. It commenced at West- 
field and extended southerly through the towns 
of Westfield, Sherman and Clymer to the Penn- 
sylvania line, one and one-half miles south of 
Clymer village, in all a distance of twenty-five 
miles. It was expected at the time that this 
line would eventually extend north to Barce- 
lona, and south through the valley of the 
Broken Straw to the Allegheny river. The 
abundance of the hemlock trees along the line 
of this road enabled its builders to obtain hem- 
lock lumber for three or four dollars per thou- 
sand. 

About this time a plank road was built from 
Smith's Mills in Chautauqua county north- 
easterly to Versailles in Cattaraugus county, 
and thence to Whites Corner in Erie county 
and beyond. 

In 1850 the population of the county was 
50,493. Hanover was the most populous town, 
having 5,144 inhabitants. Pomfret, which in- 
cluded the present town and city of Dunkirk, 
had 4,483 ; Ellicott, which included Jamestown, 
had but 3,523 ; and French Creek, the least 
populous town, but 725. The increase of 3,945 
in the population of the county in five years 
was chiefly due to the prospect of an imme- 
diate completion of a great highway of travel 
from the ocean to Lake Erie, which Dunkirk 
and all the county had so long and so anxiously 
awaited. This story has full narration in the 
chapter, "Town and City of Dunkirk." 



CHAPTER XI. 
The Agricultural Period— 1851-1861 



The period that commenced with the com- 
pletion of the Erie railroad in 185 1 may appro- 
priately be called the Agricultural Period, be- 
cause of the great advance and improvement 
made in the farming industry. Agriculture for 



twenty-five years afterwards was the chief 
occupation of the people of the county. 

In May, 1851, soon after the great celebra- 
tion, the New York and Erie railroad com- 
menced permanent operations, running five 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1851-1861 



57 



passenger trains from Dunkirk to New York 
daily ; three were first-class, and two second- 
class trains. The fare from New York upon 
the former was eight dollars ; upon the latter 
five dollars. The fine steamers "Niagara,"' 
"Queen City" and "Key Stone State" com- 
menced to navigate Lake Erie from Dunkirk 
in connection with these lines to Cleveland, 
Toledo and Detroit; the fare for the passage 
ro the latter place was four dollars. The gauge 
of the Erie road was originally six feet, which 
was supposed at the time to give great advan- 
tage over a narrow gauge in the shipment of 
freight. Particular attention was given by the 
road to the transportation of cattle and live 
stock. 

The year 1852 commenced in Chautauqua 
with an event scarcely less in importance to its 
people and to Dunkirk than the completion of 
the New York & Erie railroad. On the first of 
January of that year the Buffalo & State Line 
railroad was opened from the State Line of 
Pennsvlvania to Dunkirk, and on February 
22d to Buffalo. The Buffalo & State Line 
railroad was in a great measure originated by 
the people of Fredonia, and a large portion of 
its stock subscribed by them, and was at first 
located through that village and considerable 
grading was done on that route, but in April 
of this year it was decided by the directors to 
build the road by the way of Dunkirk. By 
subsequent consolidations of the various roads 
between Buffalo and Chicago, it became a part 
of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rail- 
way. From the first, the business of this road 
was extraordinary. It soon outstripped the 
Erie road in importance to Chautauqua county, 
and it is now, with the Erie road, among the 
leading roads of America. 

A principal route for stages, travel and trans- 
portation of freight from Buffalo, Dunkirk and 
Fredonia to Jamestown, Warren, and the 
southeastern part of the county, prior to the 
building of the Erie road, had been by the high- 
way, one branch leading through the villages 
of Cassadaga and Sinclairville, and the other 
through Stockton and Delanti, to Jamestown. 
The ascent of the ridge by the Sinclairville 
branch from the north with heavily loaded 
teams had always been a laborious task. Near 
Shumla was Scott's Hill, at the west border of 
the town of Arkwright. At the foot of this 
hill a yoke of oxen was in readiness to assist 
heavily loaded teams up the ascent. At "Walk- 
up Tavern," later known as the "Kimball 
Stand," the passengers dismounted, that the 
stage might the easier ascend another steep 



incline a few miles north of Jamestown, which 
bore the significant name of "Walkup Hill." 

Through the enterprise of the people of 
Stockton, the Central plank road was built 
from Dunkirk through Fredonia, Stockton and 
Delanti to the Kimball Stand in the town of 
Ellicott, near its north line, where it met an- 
other plank road which extended partly around 
"Walkup Hill" to Jamestown. The Central 
plank road was twenty-two miles long. An- 
other plank road was built from Jamestown to 
Frewsburg. In 1852 the Fredonia and Sin- 
clairville plank road was built from Fredonia 
through Cassadaga and Sinclairville to the 
Kimball Stand. It was twenty-two miles in 
length. North of Cassadaga it extended for 
three miles through an unbroken forest. A 
plank road was organized with Rodney B. 
Smith as president, to be constructed from 
Smith Mills south to Jamestown. It was built 
through Hanover, Villenova and Cherry Creek, 
by way of Balcoms and the village of Cherry 
Creek, to the north line of the town of Elling- 
ton, and was completed to that point in 1852. 
The hemlock plank for this road was manu- 
factured and delivered along the line of the 
road for five dollars a thousand. There were 
now over one hundred miles of plank road in 
the county. These were excellent roads at 
first, smooth and firm. Heavy loads could be 
carried over them very rapidly. Such increased 
facilities for transportation and travel greatly 
promoted the prosperity of the county. 

January 2, 1852, a fire occurred in James- 
town, sweeping away almost every building 
on the east side of Main street between Sec- 
ond and Third streets, including the old Allen 
House tavern. In 1837 a destructive fire had 
swept the same locality, the work of an incen- 
diary. Mansfield and William W. Compton, 
who occupied as a fancy dry goods store the 
building whence the fire in 1852 originated, 
were suspected of setting this fire for the insur- 
ance money. Augustus F. and Dascum Allen, 
his brother, the principal sufferers in the fire, 
vigorously prosecuted the Comptons. They 
were tried at the May term the following year. 
The trial lasted eight days and excited great 
interest. Madison Burnell assisted Daniel 
Sherman, the district attorney, with great abil- 
ity. Joshua A. Spencer, of Utica, one of the 
ablest lawyers in the State, Abner Hazeltine 
and John F. Smith, attended to the defense. 
The Comptons gave evidence to prove that 
they were six miles away at Frewsburg, at- 
tending a dance, during the fire. Although the 
evidence was circumstantial, Mansfield Comp- 



58 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ton was found guilty of arson in the third de- 
gree and sentenced to State prison for eight 
years. William W. Compton was found not 
guilty. Mansfield was pardoned by Governor 
Seymour upon the ground that the evidence 
was too weak to establish his guilt. This cir- 
cumstance afterwards gave the case a political 
importance. 

A distressing catastrophe occurred on Cassa- 
daga Lake, September 2 of this year. A party 
of forty young men and women set out from 
Delanti for a picnic upon the "Island," as it 
was called. To reach it they had to cross the 
lake. Warren Wilcox took four into his boat, 
which proved leaky and sunk, leaving all of 
his party in the lake, but Mr. Wilcox by his 
courage and self-possession saved them all. 
When this accident occurred, those in a larger 
boat managed by Jarvis Wilcox, having twenty 
young people aboard, being but a little distance 
away, witnessed the accident. The young peo- 
ple on this boat sprang to their feet in alarm ; 
this action tipped the scow, which precipitated 
all on board into the lake. J. W. Warren and 
Delevan G. Morgan, who were of this party, 
rendered efficient service in saving the lives 
of several. Seven young ladies, daughters of 
prominent citizens, were drowned, all between 
the ages of thirteen and twenty-seven ; their 
names were : Lucy Lazell, Celia Lazell, Alice 
J. Wilkins ; Mary A. Harrison, daughter of Dr. 
G. S. Harrison ; Charlotte Moore, Elizabeth M. 
Goodrich, and Philena Saddler. Jarvis Wilcox, 
the boatman, after saving several of the pas- 
sengers, was also drowned, while attempting to 
save others. Philip Phillips, afterwards widely 
known and celebrated as the "Pilgrim Singer," 
was among the saved. A great concourse of 
people assembled at the funeral. Eight bodies 
of the drowned were present, each with its 
circle of relatives and near friends. Six were 
buried in one grave, over which was erected a 
monument with an appropriate inscription. 

More than half a century had elapsed since 
a new town had been added to the list. Sher- 
man was the last. Poland was formed from 
Ellicott, April 9, 1832, and eight days later the 
town of Sherman was formed from Mina. 
Kiantone was now (November 16, 1853) 
formed from the town of Carroll. Kiantone 
perpetuates the name of the little Indian vil- 
lage that stood on the banks of the Kiantone 
creek, within the limits of the town. Kiantone 
is associated with several names of aboriginal 
derivation. The Conewango creek, which 
forms the greater part of its eastern boundary, 
bears an Indian name ; Stillwater, the principal 
stream in the north part of the town, was once 



known as the Ga-won-ge-dock, while the large 
stream in the south part bears the Indian name 
given to the town. 

Kiantone was one of the earliest seats of 
Spiritualism. The year that it was organized 
as a town, and but four years after the "Roches- 
ter knockings" were developed, a famous 
spring was revealed, it is said, to Oliver G. 
Chase and Mr. Brittingham, two early Spiritu- 
alists, not far from the site of this ancient In- 
dian village. This spring was about one and 
one-half miles above the residence of A. T. 
Prendergast, on the right bank of the Kiantone 
creek, at the foot of a high bluff and at the 
edge of the forest. It seemed to have two 
sources forty feet beneath the surface and but 
eight inches apart. One of the fountains dis- 
charged turbid, and the other transparent 
waters ; one was charged with sulphuric acid 
and iron, and the other with magnesia, soda 
and iodine. Modern Spiritualism was then at 
its very beginning. The dedication of this 
spring was one of its early demonstrations. 
At this meeting, April 15, 1853, many Spiritual- 
ists were in attendance. A marvelous history 
was attributed to the spring. It was said that 
it was known to Celts one thousand years be- 
fore, and that a knowledge of its existence had 
been for a long time lost. It was resolved that 
now a city should be built around it, to be 
called Harmonia ; that its houses should be cir- 
cular, lighted by the sun and painted blue. The 
doings at the spring, particularly the receiving 
ol communications from the spirits of deceased 
persons, were long a subject of criticism and 
ridicule. Twenty-five years later, when Spir- 
itualism was better understood, it was estab- 
lished under more favorable auspices at Lily 
Dale, on Cassadaga Lake, which thereafter and 
during many years was one of the most impor- 
tant assemblage grounds of Spiritualism in the 
United States. 

Chautauqua county has contributed its full 
share to the idiosyncrasies of the times and 
seems to have been a point whence many 
unique and independent movements, good, bad 
and indifferent, have had a start. Many of 
the early converts to Mormonism were from 
Chautauqua county, and several of its most 
famous leaders were familiar to its people in 
the early years of the Latter Day Saints. 
Among them was Sidney Rigdon. He was 
born in Allegany county, and in early life was 
a Baptist minister. He is believed to have 
surreptitiously obtained at the printing office 
at Pittsburgh the manuscript written by Solo- 
mon Spaulding, called the "Book of Mormon," 
which Spaulding is said to have intended to 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1851-1861 



59 



publish merely as an historical romance pur- 
porting to account for the peopling of America 
by the Indians. This manuscript, after it had 
been furnished to him by Rigdon, Joseph 
Smith claimed to have read through a pair of 
magic spectacles behind a screen or blanket 
to his amanuensis, Oliver Cowdery, in the pres- 
ence of David Whitman and Martin Harris 
("the three witnesses"), pretending it to be a 
translation of the hieroglyphics engraved upon 
the plates that Smith claimed were dug out of 
a hill in Ontario county, New York. There- 
after Rigdon preached the Mormon faith, was 
closely connected with Smith in his enter- 
prises, and suffered with him in the persecu- 
tions growing out of their championing Mor- 
monism. Jamestown was a gathering place for 
Mormans for a while in 1833. Rigdon was 
there, a chief among them. It is estimated 
that at one time from one hundred to three 
hundred Mormons were there. They occupied 
houses on Third street, west of Jefferson, and 
held frequent meetings, usually in the street 
near their dwellings. In 1834 they left James- 
town, having made but few converts there. 
Brigham Young having superceded Rigdon, 
the latter was contumacious and refused to 
submit to Young's authority. Finally Rigdon 
returned to the place of his birth in Allegany, 
New York, where he died, declaring himself 
to be firm in the belief of the doctrines and 
truthfulness of the "Book of Mormon." 

During the early years of Mormonism, in 
many towns of the county were gathered con- 
verts to the faith who eventually journeyed 
westward and joined Joseph Smith at Nauvoo. 
Oscar Johnson relates that: 

In 1834 there were in Laona and vicinity about thirty 
Mormons. Dr. Thomas D. Mann was practicing there 
as a physician. A Mormon elder was sick unto death, 
and the doctor took his three students with him on one 
of his visits. The elder said that he should die, but 
should arise from the grave the third day. One of the 
students whispered to the other, "We will see that he 
does." Unfortunately some of the Mormons overheard 
this, and on the third night they assembled in force to 
watch, and when the boys had the body partly removed 
from the grave they rushed upon them and succeeded 
in capturing one of the number. This year the Mor- 
mons removed, almost in a body, to Ohio, but they left 
one of their number as a witness to convict the young 
student. The one left had the habit of drinking, and, 
by a concerted effort and free whiskey, was in a pro- 
found slumber when the case was called for trial. No 
one appearing, the case was dismissed. It is to be 
doubted whether the prisoner could have been convicted 
for his efforts to verify the predictions of a dying saint. 
The accused was Dr. George S. Harrison, who for more 
than fifty years was one of the most influential citizens 
and ablest physicians in Chautauqua county. It is be- 
lieved that the same trio of medical students prepared 
themselves for their duties by a close observation of 
the bones and muscles of Joseph Damon, the murderer. 



Orson Pratt, one of the twelve Mormon 
apostles, distinguished also for his knowledge 
of mathematics and for his scientific ability, 
was once identified with the county. James D. 
Strang was another famous Mormon. He re- 
sided in Ellington, was admitted to the bar of 
Chautauqua county in October, 1836; prac- 
ticed law in Ellington, where he was postmas- 
ter for a time. He joined the Mormons, and 
became a leader among them. When the Mor- 
mons were driven from Nauvoo in 1845, they 
were divided into three factions — the "Twelv- 
ites," who emigrated to Utah ; the "Rigdon- 
ices," who followed Sidney Rigdon, and the 
' Strangites," who followed James D. Strang. 
When Joe Smith was killed, Strang claimed to 
have a revelation from God appointing him his 
successor. Strang and his followers made Bea- 
ver Island in Lake Michigan their headquar- 
ters. After a while a force of fishermen and 
others attacked them and the Mormons were 
driven from the island. Strang received 
wounds from which he died soon after at the 
Mormon village of Voree, in Wisconsin. 

The scene of Button's Inn, written by Judge 
Albion W. Tourgee, is located in Chautauqua 
county, near the brow of the hills south of 
Westfield, on the main road to Mayville. The 
story is partly based upon the existence of 
Mormonism in our county and the fact that 
some of the Mormon leaders went out from it. 

By the State census of 1855, the population 
of the county was 50,506, a gain of but thirteen 
in five years. The population of the villages 
was as follows: Dunkirk, 4-754! Jamestown, 
2,625; Fredonia, 2,076; Westfield, 1,433! Sil- 
ver Creek, 652 ; Forestville, 540 ; Mayville, 501 ; 
Panama, 500; Ellington, 487; Sinclairville, 450; 
Laona, 406; Sherman, 401; Frewsburg, 400; 
Quincv, 289; Dexterville, 270; Salem, 258; 
Ashvil'le, 247 ; Centerville, 233 ; Busti Corners, 
201; Delanti, 180; Barcelona, 169; Cordova, 
154; Dewittville, 133; Cassadaga, 131; Block- 
ville, 118; Clymer, no, and Fentonville, 100 — 
twenty-seven villages, large and small. Al- 
though the boundaries of most of them were 
not established by corporate lines, the census 
figures given fairly represent their population 
within their reasonable limits. Some since 
then have nearly gone out of existence, while 
the villages of Falconer, Lakewood, Celoron, 
Cherry Creek, Brocton, Chautauqua, Point 
Chautauqua and Bemus Point are not in the 
list, the greater number of them then having 
no existence. It is also interesting to know 
that nearly 18,000 of the inhabitants of the 
county in 1855 lived in these twenty-seven vil- 
lages, while the population of the county out- 



6o 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



side of their limits remained nearly the same 
as it was twenty-five years before, the villages 
having increased nearly four fold. 

It is interesting and may be hereafter use- 
ful to mark not only the changes in the popula- 
tion, but also the conditions of our climate as 
it has been from time to time. The winter o£ 
1855-56 was of great severity. Commencing 
about Christmas, the cold continued for one 
hundred days with scarcely a thaw ; snow fell 
more or less each day. The railroads were 
often blocked with snow, and the trains at 
times ceased to run. The mail route between 
Jamestown and Dunkirk was filled with drifts, 
and for a week, as late as in March, no New 
York or Buffalo mails were received at James- 
town. When the blockade was broken, fifteen 
mail bags were received within forty-eight 
hours at the village post office. The following 
are the thermometer records from the diary of 
an old resident of the county. The figures 
given all mean below zero: January 7, 1856, 
2 below; 8th, 8; 9th, 22; 26th, 23; February 
3rd, 24; 6th, 14; 12th, 17; 13th, 22; 14th, 28; 
19th, 25; March 7th, 2; 9th, 14; 10th, 24; 12th, 
6; 13th, 5; 30th, 4; April 1st, zero. Apple, 
peach and plumb trees were so injured by the 
cold that many died. 

The county of Chautauqua was always one 
of the largest producers of maple sugar among 
sections of a like area in the United States. 
Maple trees were abundant in every town of 
the county. According to the census of 1850, 
767,653 pounds of maple sugar were made. 
Harmony produced the most, 87,422. Char- 
lotte was by far the greatest producer accord- 
ing to its area ; that year it produced 69,195 
pounds. Busti came next with 60,350, Stock- 
ton 55,685, Villenova, 49,216. Sheridan pro- 
duced the least, 2,400. In 1857 the maple sugar 
production in the county was greater than in 
any previous year. Over a million pounds 
were made. 

Earlv in the morning of May 22, 1859, Cor- 
nelius Lynch, a farm hand in the employ of 
James Battles, a substantial farmer of the town 
of Charlotte, was found in the barn of Mr. 
Battles, bleeding and insensible, and so badly 
injured by wounds upon his face and head that 
he died during the day without recovering con- 
sciousness. Martin, son of James Battles, was 
arrested for the killing of Lynch, and was tried 
at the June court the next year. He was ably 
defended by Madison Burnell, Austin Smith 
and James A. Allen. John F. Smith, the dis- 
trict attorney, represented the people. He made 
a very able plea that occupied eight hours in 
the delivery. The plea of Mr. Burnell in de- 



fense of the prisoner was a powerful effort, and 
was the last important case that Mr. Burnell 
tried. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty. 
The sentence of Judge Richard P. Marvin, the 
judge who presided, was that the prisoner 
should be confined in prison for one year, and 
then executed on the warrant of the governor. 
This was in accordance with the statutes as 
they then existed. The defendant, by his attor- 
ney, James A. Allen, appealed the case to the 
general term, and the verdict was set aside 
upon the ground that the law was unconstitu- 
tional. 

The year 1859 is memorable for the great 
June frost. A more flattering and propitious 
spring had seldom been known. June 3rd the 
air became cold and chilly, rain prevailed, 
which changed to snow the next morning. 
During night the thermometer fell to the freez- 
ing point. The ice froze from one-half to one 
inch thick. The ground was frozen to a cor- 
responding depth. Just a week later, June 
nth, occurred a frost even more severe than 
that of June 4th. All of the grass, fruit, corn, 
winter grain and other crops were killed. The 
leaves upon the maple, the ash, and all the nut- 
bearing trees, were killed, and in a few days 
later all the foliage was yellow ; the trees ap- 
peared as if scorched by fire. Nature presented 
a most desolate appearance which continued 
through much of the summer ; even the shrub- 
bery and young saplings were killed. The ter- 
ritory that suffered by this calamity extended 
as far west as the middle of Ohio, north into 
Canada, south to Pittsburgh, and nearly to 
Cincinnati. 

Up to the meeting of the board of super- 
visors in the fall of 1859, tr,e name of the 
county had been spelled Chautauque. This 
spelling it was believed was not in accordance 
with its pronunciation by the aborigines. Upon 
the petition of Hon. E. T. Foote and others, a 
lesolution was adopted by the board on Octo- 
ber nth, 1859, directing its clerk in all records 
and correspondence to spell the name of the 
county Chautauqua. The resolution directed 
the county clerk to change the seal accord- 
ingly. 

August 26th, 1859, Col. E. L. Drake sunk the 
first oil well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, and 
at a depth of seventy-one feet struck oil. His 
success produced startling results. Great ex- 
citement followed throughout the country. 
Chautauqua county was contiguous to the oil 
region, consequently the excitement there be- 
came intense. The county by a direct line was 
not more than twenty miles from either the 
Tidioute oil belt, or the great Bradford field ; 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1851-1861 



61 



so near it was, that Chautauquans were con- 
stantly reminded of the great mines of mineral 
wealth so little distance from their boundaries, 
by the light of the burning wells of gas and 
oil nightly reflected upon the sky. They often 
came in communication with operators and 
speculators whose minds were filled with 
bright visions of wealth to be made in oil, and 
many of our county people became in a meas- 
ure infected with a mania for speculation. 
Some made fortunes, others lost all they had. 

Among those connected with our county and 
successful in oil operations, were some who by 
their ability and enterprise assisted greatly to 
develop the industry. Dr. Francis B. Brewer 
became interested in petroleum years before 
Col. Drake put down the first oil well, and was 
among the first to direct attention to its vir- 
tues, and to move in an enterprise to develop 
its production. Dr. Brewer afterwards became 
a distinguished citizen of the county, represent- 
ing it and Cattaraugus county in Congress. 
Cyrus D. Angell, a native of Hanover, in Chau- 
tauqua county, in 1867 became interested in 
and had charge of the Belle Island Petroleum 
Company, of which William C. Fargo of Buf- 
falo was president. Four years later, Mr. 
Angell became the owner of its stock. This 
company was among the most successful in the 
oil country. Among the citizens of Chautau- 
qua county in one way or another largely in- 
terested in or connected with this company or 
with Mr. Angell in the oil business, were C. R. 
Lockwood, W. T. Botsford, Amos K. War- 
ren, John R. Robertson, Sherman Williams, 
William Leet, C. G. Maples, T. S. Moss and 
Dr. Cory. 

Mr. Angell, by his intelligent observation 
and study of the subject, and by practical tests 
and surveys, established the truth of the theory 
that petroleum deposits were to be found ex- 
tending in courses, in a fixed direction through 
the oil country ; a knowledge that has proved 
of recognized and practical value to oil men. 
One of the principal oil producing belts bears 
his name. Among the citizens of Chautauqua 
county to be named who have acted a promi- 
nent part in the development of the oil indus- 
try and have been more or less successful in 
mining operations, may be mentioned Haskell 
L. Taylor, who was born in Stockton. He and 
others organized the well known oil firm of 
H. L. Taylor & Co., which became at one time 
the largest producer in the oil country. This 
company reorganized as the Union Oil Com- 
pany, with Mr. Taylor as its president, finally 



sold out to the Standard Oil Company for 
$3,000,000. 

Charles E. Hequembourg, who was born in 
Dunkirk and was once its mayor, with Dr. J. 
T. Williams, Mr. Avery and others of Dun- 
kirk, organized the Bradford Oil and Gas Com- 
pany. This company developed a large oil and 
gas interest in McKean county, Pennsylvania, 
and also in Allegany county, New York, and 
for a while supplied the city of Bradford with 
gas for fuel and illuminating purposes. Frank 
M. Johnson, who was born at Westfield, be- 
came a resident of Bradford and was largely 
interested in oil in that city, in McKean county, 
and in the Ohio and Indiana oil fields. J. W. 
and F. A. Griffith, both born in Kiantone, were 
oil men, as were E. M. Cobb, born in Gerry, 
and Frank A. Wilbur, born in Fluvanna. 

Until pipe lines afforded better means for 
the conveyance of crude oil to the refineries, 
long trains of petroleum cars, upon each of 
which were mounted great upright wooden 
cisterns, and later huge cylindrical metal oil 
tanks topped with low cupolas, were constantly 
passing over the New York, Pennsylvania & 
Ohio railroad, the Buffalo & Oil Creek Cross- 
cut railroad connecting Corry with Brocton, 
and the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pitts- 
burgh railroad. The last two named, when 
built, were intended for oil roads, and both 
communicated directly with the oil region, 
passing through Chautauqua county on their 
way to the refineries. Sometimes it would 
happen that a long train would take fire. If 
this happened in the night-time, the country 
for miles around would be illuminated by the 
flames. Such an occurrence once happened on 
the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh 
railroad as a train was passing northward 
through Wheelers Gulf, in the town of Pom- 
fret. 

In i860, occurred an event of more sub- 
stantial and permanent value to Chautauqua 
county than the discovery and development of 
oil in Northwestern Pennsylvania. That year 
the Atlantic & Great Western railroad was 
completed through the southern towns. For 
nine years the lake towns of the county had 
enjoyed railroad facilities, while the southern 
towns were wholly without them. Jamestown 
was much the largest village south of the 
ridge. It possessed better facilities for manu- 
facturing, and was so situated as to command 
a larger trade than any other village in the 
county, consequently, prior to the completion 
of the Erie road to Dunkirk, it had realized a 



62 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



more rapid growth than any other village in 
the county. But during the ten years that had 
just expired, the growth of Dunkirk had been 
greater. The latter village had now nearly 
double the population of Jamestown. Even 
Fredonia had not much less than Jamestown, 
and Westfield more than half its number of 
inhabitants. At this time, aside from such 
goods and commodities as were transported to 
and from Jamestown over Chautauqua Lake 
and down the Allegheny river, they were all 
carried in wagons and sleighs. The principal 
part of the merchandise brought into James- 
town was conveyed over the plank roads be- 
tween Jamestown and Dunkirk, a distance of 
thirty miles, and sometimes from Little Valley 
in Cattaraugus county. The gas wells of Penn- 
sylvania had not then been developed, nor was 
gas there manufactured for the uses of the 
village : it was then lighted by oil and kerosene 
used in lamps. The transportation of coal to 
Jamestown was too expensive. The village 
was chiefly heated by wood fires. That fuel 
was used in the manufactories, consequently 
Jamestown for many years was an excellent 
wood market for the country around. Farm- 
ers also of the southern part of the county 
were not in the enjoyment of the advantages 
that the railroads gave their fellow farmers in 
the northern part of the county. This was evi- 
denced by the superior improvements and con- 
ditions of the farms in the northern towns ; 
there the dwellings were of more modern 
architecture and the lands better cultivated. 
The southern portion of the county remained 
a retired rural district until i860. 

For energy and business enterprise, the citi- 
zens of Jamestown had never been surpassed 
by those of any other locality in the county. 
They entertained projects for securing rail- 
road facilities before the Erie railroad was 
completed to Dunkirk. September 24, 1850, a 
meeting was held at Jamestown, of which 
Joseph Wait was chairman, at which a com- 
mittee was appointed to confer with the peo- 
ple of Erie, Pennsylvania, and the New York 
& Erie Railroad Company, with reference to 
the building of a railroad from Little Valley 
to Erie, through Jamestown, Randolph, Ash- 
ville and Panama. In the fall of that year, a 
favorable route was found by the way of Find- 
ley Lake. 

The Erie & New York City railroad was 
organized in 1852, and during the summer of 
that year a line beginning at the New York 
& Erie railroad in Cattaraugus county was 
surveyed through Jamestown, Ashville and 



Sherman to intersect the Erie & North-East 
railroad, two miles beyond the State line be- 
tween New York and Pennsylvania. Breaking 
ground took place in Randolph, Cattaraugus 
county, May 19, 1853. Speeches were made by 
the president of the company, Benjamin Cham- 
berlain, Richard P. Marvin, Madison Burnell 
and William Metcalf of Erie, Pennsylvania. 
Work was commenced upon the railroad the 
same day where now is the village of Sala- 
manca, and in August at Jamestown. A little 
later work was commenced in the town of 
Harmony, and in December in Sherman. 

In December, 1858, the Atlantic & Great 
Western Railroad Company of New York was 
organized at Jamestown. Henry Baker, Wil- 
liam Hall, Augustus F. Allen, Bradford Bur- 
lin, Sumner Allen, Robert Newland, W. D. 
Shaw of Jamestown and Daniel Williams of 
Ashville were the Chautauqua county directors. 
This road commenced in Cattaraugus county, 
where now is the village of Salamanca. The 
first thirty-eight miles of the Erie & New 
York City railroad, extending from Salamanca 
to five miles west of Jamestown, was adopted, 
thence it extended to a point near the south- 
west corner of the town of Harmony. It was 
intended that this road should be further con- 
tinued until the valley of the Mississippi and 
ultimately the Pacific coast should be united 
by it with New York City and the Atlantic 
Ocean. 

April 26, i860, the engineers placed their 
instruments upon the new line. On the 3rd 
of July the iron was laid to Randolph, and Au- 
gust 24, i860, cars first arrived at Main street, 
in Jamestown, witnessed by a multitude ot 
people, the band on the train playing the air, 
"Ain't I glad to get out of the wilderness?" A 
complimentary dinner was given at the James- 
town House to Thomas W. Kennard, the Eng- 
lish engineer. J. W. Hill, the associate Ameri- 
can engineer ; Sig. T. Deosdados, agent for Don 
Jose de Salamanca ; Sig. Navarro, agent for the 
Duke de Rienzares, and other representatives 
of Spanish interests in this country ; John God- 
dard, of London, and Robert Thallon, of New 
York, who came on the train, and many other 
invited guests, were present. Col. Augustus 
F. Allen presided. Toasts were given and 
speeches made by William H. Lowry, Col. A. 
F. Allen, Selden Marvin and C. D. Sackett. 

The building of the road was promoted by 
Spanish capital, advanced by intelligent bank- 
ers. It was the first time in the history of 
American railroads that they had been given 
substantial support in Spain. In honor of Don 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1851-1861 



63 



Jose de Salamanca, one of the Spanish gentle- 
men who had contributed liberally to the pro- 
motion of the enterprise, the eastern terminus 
of the road was called Salamanca, a name full 
of romantic memories to those familiar with 
Spanish literature. The road was completed 
to Corry in May, 1861 ; to Meadville, Pennsyl- 
vania, in October, and to Akron, Ohio, Janu- 
ary 19, 1862. To the energy and business abil- 
ity of Col. A. F. Allen, of Jamestown, more 
than to any other, were the people of Chau- 
tauqua indebted for the successful result of 
this effort. As soon as the road was com- 
pleted, the people of Southern Chautauqua 
began to realize great benefit from it, and 
Jamestown again took the lead of all the vil- 
lages of the county in growth and business 
enterprise, which it has ever since maintained. 

The railroads began to benefit all pursuits. 
They gave a market value to products which 
before had none. Before the railroads were 
built, sheep had been slaughtered in great 
numbers for their pelts and hams (the latter 
were worth one cent a pound) and for their 
tallow, which was manufactured into candles. 
The carcasses were thrown away. Herman 
and Abner Camp, brothers, commenced the 
manufacture of candles about the year 1846 at 
Sinclairville. Twenty tons of tallow was 
manufactured into candles in 1847, and fifty 
tons in 1848. The Camps then removed their 
factory to Dunkirk, where on a more perfect 
and extensive scale they continued to manu- 
facture candles from mutton tallow. They 
had invented and patented a process by which 
newly made candles were withdrawn from the 
mold. A candle when withdrawn would draw 
after it into the mold the wick for another 
candle. Their invention greatly shortened and 
cheapened the labor of manufacturing. 

An interesting circumstance occurred while 
they were in business at Dunkirk which should 
be related. The Italian patriot, Garibaldi, 
after many battles and adventures in the wars 
of South America and in the contest with the 
French and Austrians, was banished from 
Italy. In the summer of 1850 he came to New 
York, where a public reception was tendered 
him, which he declined. In order to earn a liv- 
ing during his banishment, he made soap and 
candles for a while on Staten Island. After- 
wards he made voyages at sea from New York. 
Ultimately he returned to Italy, and became 
famous for the distinguished part that he took 
in the wars and politics of Europe. While in 
the candle business on Staten Island, he made 
a trip to Dunkirk to visit the candle factory of 
the Camp Brothers. He was entertained over 



night at the residence of Herman Camp in 
Dunkirk, meantime negotiating with the 
Camps for the purchase of the patent for the 
manufacture of candles. No agreement was 
completed, however. 

After the Erie railroad was completed, many 
old-time vocations were nearly abandoned. 
Other exports and imports, except such as were 
shipped on Lake Erie or upon the Conewango 
and Allegheny rivers, were carried over the 
roads leading into the county in wagons, and 
teaming was a common employment. Over 
the main road extending east and west through 
the north towns of the county, and over the 
highways leading south from Dunkirk and 
Fredonia through Sinclairville and Delanti to 
Jamestown and Warren, Pennsylvania, and 
from Westfield to Mayville, and the south- 
western towns of the count)', much freight was 
transported and many persons were engaged 
during much of their lives in this employment. 
Alfred Austin, an old teamster of Sinclairville, 
in the twenty-three years that he was on the 
road, made three thousand four hundred fifty 
trips between Fredonia and Sinclairville with 
a loaded team, traveling a distance equal to 
107,000 miles, or more than four times around 
the earth at the equator. With the construc- 
tion of railroads, this business practically 
ceased, and the old teamsters, their team horses 
and wagons, became things of the past. 

Staging was formerly an important occupa- 
tion. All travel west of Buffalo, after the close 
of navigation each year, passed through the 
northern towns of the county in stages. Some- 
times in the spring the ice would drift down 
Lake Erie and obstruct entrance into Buffalo. 
Boats coming down the lake at such times 
would land their passengers at Silver Creek to 
be taken to Buffalo in stages or post coaches, 
assembled there for that purpose. Thirty and 
more stage coaches have been known to be in 
waiting at one time. Even during the summer 
months, much travel passed through Chau- 
tauqua. In some years, steamboats from Buf- 
falo connected with stages for the west at 
Dunkirk, thus avoiding the bad roads east of 
the Cattaraugus creek. Besides passengers, 
the stages carried the local mail, and, in the 
winter time the through mails to the west, 
sometimes two tons in weight, requiring h 
coach exclusively devoted to that purpose. 
Adams Express matter was first carried 
through the county in stages over this route. 
These old coaches were owned and run by the 
Ohio Stage Company. They were drawn by 
four horses, and were large enough to carry 
twelve persons within, the driver and several 



04 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



persons outside. They were well constructed, 
graceful in form, and comfortable for passen- 
gers. The oval body of the coach rested on 
strong leathern straps called thorough-braces, 
which gave an easy, rocking motion when 
moving. The driver's seat was well up in 
front. There was a leather-covered boot for 
baggage behind. 

When the Lake Shore railroad was com- 
pleted, the old stage route was abandoned, and 
the stage coaches and their drivers were trans- 
ferred to the Far West and beyond the Missis- 
sippi. The writer remembers in 1855 to have 
seen many of the old stage coaches of the Ohio 
Stage Company in use on the stage route be- 
tween Dubuque and Cedar Falls, in Iowa. 

The stage route next in importance was that 
from Dunkirk and Fredonia, through Sinclair- 
ville and Jamestown to Warren in Pennsyl- 
vania. This route was a principal outlet for 
travel from Jamestown and Warren, and these 
old-fashioned post or stage coaches were in 
use over it. Stage coaches were also run from 
Westfield to Mayville, and thence alternately 
along the east and w-est shores of Chautauqua 
Lake to Jamestown. These four-horse coaches 
were also used on the stage route from Fre- 
donia through Forestville to Gowanda in Cat- 
taraugus county. With the building of later 
railroads in Chautauqua county these leading 
stage routes, one by one, were discontinued 
and the stages were run only between unim- 
portant points in vehicles less pretentious. 

The old-fashioned inn disappeared also. 
Taverns where liquors were sold during the 
first half century of the history of the county 
were very numerous. Even on the less im- 
portant roads there were many taverns. 
Thickly sprinkled along unimportant country- 
roads in many parts of the county, at this day 
may be seen old farm houses, usually more 
pretentious than their neighbors, that were 
once taverns, where there is now no need for 
an inn whatever. On the main or stage road 
from Buffalo to Erie, in the northern part of 
the county, they were still more frequent. 
Judge L. Bugbee says that on the completion 
of the Erie road the emigrant wagons all dis- 
appeared with the country taverns. The stage 
routes running east and west were abandoned 
about the same time. 

After the completion of the Erie road, cattle, 
hogs and other live stock were taken to market 
exclusively by rail. Particular attention was 
given by that company to the transportation 
of livestock from the time it began operations. 
Before it was completed they went on foot 



hundreds of miles over the long roads leading 
to Troy, Albany, New York and Philadelphia. 
The latter city formed the principal market for 
the cattle of Chautauqua county. There they 
stood highest in the list for quality, which was 
due to the measures early taken by Judge Pea- 
cock to improve its breeds. Droves of cattle 
during the summer months followed each 
other in quick succession over the long hoof- 
beaten roads leading to Philadelphia. One 
hundred twenty droves, averaging one hun- 
dred twenty-five head of cattle each, passed 
the Love Stand in Gerry on the old Chau- 
tauqua road (that being then the direct road 
to the East for livestock) in a single season. 
Thousands of cattle were at the same time 
passing over other routes through the county. 
They were usually sold to stock dealers and 
farmers of Eastern Pennsylvania, to be fat- 
tened and fitted for market upon the rich 
farms lying in the vicinity of Philadelphia. 

In 1851 lumbering was still an important in- 
dustry. In the southeastern portion of the 
county it led all the rest. By far the greater 
part of the lumber and shingles exported from 
the county went down the Conewango and 
Allegheny rivers in rafts. The great amount 
of lumber so transported involved the employ- 
ment of many strong men in rafting it down 
the rivers. The service of these men was 
almost wholly dispensed with when railroads 
reached the lumber country. 

Railroads also brought to the county new 
employments and new vocations with which 
the reader is more familiar. The changes we 
have cited will sufficiently show the great revo- 
lution that railroads made in the conditions 
before existing and the improvements in the 
fortunes of its people. Indeed, the ten years 
that last preceded the Civil War, was a period 
of prosperity. Railroads brought with them a 
great reduction in the price of all articles im- 
ported into the county, and also a material 
increase in the price of farming products, and 
consequently a rise in farm rents and in the 
value of real estate. Labor was in demand, 
and consequently wages increased. The build- 
ing of plank roads extended the advantage en- 
joyed along the chief highways of travel to 
interior and remote parts of the county. 
Money was reasonably plenty. In the smaller, 
as well as the larger villages, new buildings 
were erected, and improvements made. Their 
years of privation being ended, the people were 
satisfied with their present prosperity. The 
feverish desire to accumulate great wealth had 
not taken possession of them. At no time was 





JAMES MONTGOMERY GENERAL GEORGE STONEMAN 

Pii i Toy :i i !li i i. oi Chautauqua County 




;'i i[.i i.vki. j AMI'S M. I : I ; i i\\ : 




rUDGE WILLIAM I'll LO ICK 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1851 



65 



such genuine and universal happiness enjoyed 
by the people of the county, as in the decade 
that ended with the year i860. 

But during this period one grave subject lay 
heavily upon the public mind ; and was seri- 



ously disturbing its peace. Its close marks the 
beginning of a most momentous period in the 
history of our country — the beginning of the 
Civil War, the events of which have left their 
impression as deeply here as elsewhere. 



CHAPTER XII. 



The Agricultural 

During the Civil War, few events of conse- 
quence occurred in Chautauqua county that 
were not in some way connected with it. The 
minds of the people were too much occupied 
with its serious phases and its exciting inci- 
dents, to engage in many enterprises of impor- 
tance. Besides, the greater part of the young 
and enterprising men were away with the 
army. Had it not been for new and improved 
farming utensils, particularly the mowing ma- 
chine, which was introduced into use about 
that time, it is difficult to see how, owing to 
the scarcity of laboring men, the hay and other 
crops raised by the farmer could have been 
secured. Yet for the time being, farming and 
other industries seemed to be in a prosperous 
condition. This was in a great measure due 
to the inflated currency. One dollar in gold 
was at one time worth $2.98 in greenbacks, but- 
ter reached over fifty-five cents per pound, and 
land more than doubled in value. We will 
now note in succession the events of more 
than ordinary importance that occurred within 
the county during the war and in the years 
following it. On the night of January 31, 1861, 
a fire in Jamestown destroyed the entire block 
on the west side of Main street from Second 
to Third street, and also the Allen block then 
occupying the east side of Main street from 
Third street down to William H. Lowry's 
building. The fire also destroyed the Allen 
House barn and the livery stable, as well as 
the Shaw Hotel block which then occupied the 
west side of Main street and the north side of 
Third street, where now stands the Prender- 
gast block, and as far north as Samuel A. 
Brown's house. In February of that year, fire 
limits were established in that village, and the 
Jamestown Gas Light Company was organ- 
ized. October 8th of the same year, another 
fire occurred in Jamestown, in which twentv 
buildings were burned, including a church and 
a hotel. Jamestown had no sufficient water 
supply, and many of its houses were built of 
wood, consequently it was afflicted with a re- 
markable number of destructive conflagrations. 
In March, '1864, a soldier enlisted from a 
town in Cattaraugus county, named McDon- 

Chau-S 



Period— 1 



t8 7 5- 



aid, went into McBride's saloon in Dunkirk, 
where he met William Battles. They with 
others engaged in a game of cards, in the 
course of which a dispute arose between Mc- 
Donald and Battles regarding $10 which had 
been staked. Battles grasped the money and 
threatened to burn it. McDonald forbade the 
burning, whereupon Battles placed a pistol at 
McDonald's head and discharged it. The ball 
entered the brain, producing death. Battles 
was tried in Mayville at the September court. 
Hon. George Barker, the district attorney, ap- 
peared for the people, and Hon. F. S. Edwards 
and William M. Newton for the prisoner. 
Battles was convicted of murder in the first 
degree, and hung in Mayville jail. He was the 
second person executed in the county for crime. 
A remarkable rain storm passed over a por- 
tion of the counties of Chautauqua and Catta- 
raugus in September, 1865. The rain began to 
fall in Ellington at 10 o'clock in the forenoon 
and continued without intermission until 2 p. 
m. Mill dams above the village upon Twenty 
Eight creek which passes through the town, 
gave way. Suddenly, and without warning to 
the inhabitants, a great flood reached the vil- 
lage, carrying away houses and barns. The 
Baptist church was lifted by the water and car- 
ried against the hotel, which was swept from 
its foundations. Its landlord, Mr. Torrey, 
barely escaped drowning; stores and other 
buildings were crushed or carried away. Not 
a bridge was left in the vicinity. Gardens were 
devastated, and heaps of floodwood piled along 
the valley. The most deplorable occurrence 
was the drowning of the four small children of 
William A. Mattocks. His house was isolated 
by the water before the danger was realized 
and before assistance could be rendered. 

In 1S65 the Buffalo & Oil Creek Cross Cut 
railroad was chartered. Its name was subse- 
quently changed to the Buffalo, Corry & Pitts- 
burgh railroad. It connects Corry in Pennsyl- 
vania with Brocton in this county, where it 
joins the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 
road. Its' length is 43.20 miles; the portion 
lying in this State is 37.20 miles in length, and 
terminates at the State line, which there forms 



06 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the south line of Clymer. The two were con- 
solidated April 24th, 1867. 

August 7th, 1867, occurred an important 
event in the interest of education, in the laying 
of the cornerstone of the State Normal School 
at Fredonia by the Masons. 

November 3rd, 1868, in the course of an 
altercation, Henry Koch killed Daniel Calla- 
han, in a saloon on Third street in Dunkirk. 
On the trial, District Attorney B. F. Skinner, 
assisted by Hon. Lorenzo Morris and W. W. 
Holt, appeared for the people, Hon. F. S. Ed- 
wards, N. H. Hill and A. J. Cook for the pris- 
oner. The trial resulted in a verdict of man- 
slaughter in the third degree. 

In November, 1869, the Brooks Locomotive 
Works of Dunkirk was organized with H. G. 
Brooks, president, and Marshall L. Hinman, 
secretary and treasurer, and a capital stock of 
$350,000. These extensive works have grown 
into a great industry, one of the first of the 
kind in the world and the most important of 
any in the county. In 1901 its employes num- 
bered 2600 men and it made 382 locomotives 
that year. It has added greatly to the busi- 
ness importance and reputation of Chautauqua 
county. Horatio G. Brooks, who established 
these locomotive works, and to whose business 
ability their success has been chiefly due, was 
born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was 
in early life a locomotive engineer. In 1850 he 
brought the first locomotive to Dunkirk for 
the New York and Erie railroad. He blew the 
first locomotive whistle ever heard in Chau- 
tauqua county. In 1862 he became superin- 
tendent of the Western Division of the Erie 
railroad, and in 1865 superintendent of motive 
power of the entire Erie railroad. Upon his 
death in 1887, he was succeeded as president 
of the company by Edward Nichols, who died 
January 7th, 1892, and was succeeded by Mar- 
shall L. Hinman. 

February 4th, 1870, the Sinclairville Library 
Association was founded. It is the oldest cir- 
culating library in the county. December 12th, 
1894, it was chartered a Free Library by the 
name of the Sinclairville Free Library. It is 
the Second Free Library established in the 
county, being only preceded by the Prender- 
gast Library of Jamestown. Monday, August 
14th, 1 87 1, occurred the most fearful disaster 
that ever happened on Chautauqua Lake. The 
steamer "Chautauqua," with thirty people on 
board, on its afternoon trip up the lake, turned 
into Whitney's Bay, on the west side about 
midway between Bemus Point and Mayville, 
to wood up. As she lay at the dock her boiler 
exploded. Such was the force of the explosion 



that the boiler was torn to fragments and its 
front part blown a distance of ten rods, cur- 
ting a tree a foot in diameter half through. 
The water and land for twenty rods each way 
were strewn with wreckage, with here and 
there a mangled and bleeding body. The noise 
of the explosion was heard for many miles. 
In half an hour physicians were there from 
Mayville. Mrs. Perry Aiken was instantly 
killed ; her body was found fastened between 
the stumps of two trees that had stood upon 
the shore. Mrs. Jerusha Hopkins lay dead 
upon the beach, crushed and mangled. Henry 
Cook, a colored boy, was killed instantly. Miss 
Julia S. Hopkins, Miss Eunice Hopkins, Miss 
Elizabeth Witt Ells and Samuel Bartholomew 
died from their injuries soon after the catastro- 
phe. The body of Mrs. J. C. Cochran, of Buf- 
falo, was found the next day fifteen rods from 
the wreck and ten rods from the shore, at the 
bottom of the lake. Eight in all were killed or 
died. Fifteen others were seriously wounded, 
among them Capt. James M. Murray, his thigh 
being broken ; also Alvin Plumb and Major 
Winfield S. Cameron, prominent citizens of the 
county. 

June 22nd, 1871, the first passenger train 
passed over the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & 
Pittsburgh railroad. No event more favorable 
to Dunkirk had occurred since the completion 
of the Erie road. The road runs southerly 
from Dunkirk, along the picturesque grounds 
of the Spiritualists at Cassadaga Lake, through 
good agricultural lands in this county, termi- 
nating at Titusville in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania. It is ninety miles long. It gave Dun- 
kirk access to the coal, oil and lumber regions. 

One of the earliest projects ever entertained 
for the building of a railroad west of the Alle- 
gheny river was conceived by the people of 
Warren, Pennsylvania. In 1832 or 1833 a 
charter was granted by the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania for a railroad to follow the valley 
of the Conewango north from Warren. In 
1853 this project was revived by the people 
of Warren, and seventeen hundred shares of 
stock were obtained to build a road under the 
name of the Warren Pine Grove railroad. The 
project was never consummated until the build- 
ing of the Dunkirk, Warren & Pittsburgh rail- 
road in 1871. The first public movement 
toward building the latter road was made at a 
meeting held in 1866 by the citizens of Sin- 
clairville, at which Hon. C. J. Allen presided. 
The next winter the company was organized 
as the Dunkirk, Warren & Pittsburgh Railroad 
Company. Timothy D. Copp was chosen 
president, Hon. George Barker vice-president. 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1861-1875 



67 



and S. M. Newton engineer. By an act of the 
Legislature, towns were authorized to sub- 
scribe to its capital stock and $238,000 was sub- 
scribed by towns along the route of the road, 
which constituted substantially the capital 
upon which the road was built. Many diffi- 
culties rendered the completion of the road a 
matter of much doubt for a time. To the abil- 
ity and vigilance of Stephen M. Newton, of 
Dunkirk, the chief engineer and a director, was 
the completion of the road chiefly due. 

August 20th, 1871, Myron Eddy, a deputy 
sheriff of Jamestown, received a dispatch from 
the Police Department of Dunkirk directing 
him to arrest Charles Marlow, of Jamestown, 
a German, for the crime of murder. When this 
order was received it was supposed that some 
mistake had been made, as Marlow was known 
in Jamestown as an industrious, well-behaved 
citizen. It was soon discovered that a most 
foul crime had been committed. The murder 
was perpetrated in the cellar of the old brew- 
ery in the suburbs of the village, just under the 
brink of the hill on the west side of Main street, 
opposite its point of intersection with Kent 
street. The old brewery has long since gone 
and its place is occupied by dwellings. A 
church now stands hard by the spot. 

Valentine Benkowski, a poor Russian Pole, 
had the month before landed in New York, 
and stopped two days in Dunkirk among his 
countrymen. In less than a week he was em- 
ployed by Marlow, who understood his lan- 
guage, as a common laborer. About three 
weeks later William Bachman, an itinerant 
German, came to Marlow's and was enter- 
tained by him over night. In the morning 
Marlow told Benkowski that Bachman claimed 
to have $6,000 in money. Marlow's manner 
when he made this remark, and other sus- 
picious conduct, led Benkowski to believe that 
some crime was meditated, so later in the day 
when Marlow went down into the cellar with 
Bachman, Benkowski listened. Soon he heard 
a pistol shot. It was not until the next day 
that Benkowski found an opportunity to go 
into the cellar. He then discovered that the 
cellar stairs had been recently washed, and 
saw traces of blood as if a body had been 
dragged along the cellar floor to the furnace, 
where there was evidence that a hot fire had 
been burning. These and other circumstances 
made him sure that a murder had been com- 
mitted. He could communicate his suspicions 
to no one, for he understood no English. With- 
out giving a reason for his abrupt departure, 
he set out for Dunkirk, where there were manv 



of his countrymen. Benkowski went on foot 
to Sinclairville and stopped over night. The 
next day he went by rail to Dunkirk. On his 
arrival he told his countrymen, and they in- 
formed the police. Benkowski, Orsino E. 
Jones, a leading citizen of Jamestown who 
happened to be in Dunkirk, and also a mem- 
ber of the police force of Dunkirk, went to 
Jamestown and made a diligent search of the 
brewery premises. In the ashes of the furnace 
they found the bones and teeth of a man, and 
also ivory bosom studs like those worn by 
Bachman. 

Marlow was indicted and tried at Mayville. 
District Attorney B. F. Skinner and Hon. 
Lorenzo Morris appeared for the people ; Hoi:. 
Porter Sheldon and C. R. Lockwood, Esq., ap- 
peared for Marlow. On the trial, which lasted 
nearly two weeks, Mrs. Julia Ortman, the aged 
mother-in-law of Marlow, testified that she 
killed Bachman with a hammer in the cellar of 
the brewery in defence of her daughter, Mrs. 
Marlow, and afterwards she and her daughter 
without the assistance of Marlow burned the 
body in the furnace. The jury failed to agree. 
A second trial was held in January, 1872, be- 
fore Justice George D. Lamont. E. R. Bootey, 
then district attorney, and Lorenzo Morris, 
conducted the trial for the people, and C. R. 
Lockwood and Porter Sheldon for Marlow. 
The jury this time rendered a verdict of guilty. 
Marlow was hung in Mayville jail. This was 
the third execution of a human being for a 
crime within the limits of Chautauqua county. 

Train No. 6, consisting of an engine, tender, 
baggage and passenger cars, going north on 
the Buffalo, Corry & Pittsburgh railroad, Fay 
Flanders conductor, left Mayville at 3:15 p. m., 
December 24, 1872. A trestle work three hun- 
dred twenty feet long spanned a deep gulch 
about five miles north of Mayville and ten rods 
north of Prospect Station. The engine of the 
train passed over the trestle at a low rate of 
speed, as it approached Prospect Station. A 
broken flange on a wheel of the tender threw 
its rear truck off the track, which caused the 
baggage and passenger cars to topple, turn 
over, and fall bottom up on the hard snow be- 
neath. It was a cold day, and the cars were 
heated by stoves, from which the coals were 
scattered by the crash and set fire to the cars. 
There were forty-five persons on the train, of 
whom thirty-eight were passengers, many re- 
turning home or going to visit friends and cele- 
brate Christmas the next day. The weight c f 
the passenger car crushed some of the inmates 
and held others wedged in so tightly that they 



(iN 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



could not escape. The people quickly gathered 
to check the flames and rescue the passengers. 
In the absence of water, snow was heaped upon 
the flames. Holes were cut into the car where 
the flames would admit it, in an ineffectual 
attempt to release those imprisoned. Chains 
and ropes were employed in efforts to pull over 
the cars, and oxen were used with a like pur- 
pose, without avail. When the fire had burned 
low, a terrible and ghastly scene was wit- 
nessed. Eighteen dead bodies, bruised and 
burned, were taken out. Of the forty-five per- 
sons on the train, but five escaped with slight 
injuries, thirty-two were killed, burned to 
death, or died from their injuries. Mark 
Haight, of the firm of Moss, Haight & Dun- 
ham, bankers, of Brocton, was firmly held by 
the timbers of the car. Jack screws were ob- 
tained and the timbers lifted so that he could 
be taken out, but he was so fearfully burned 
that he expired two hours later. His partner, 
Mr. Dunham, who was sitting beside him, was 
rescued with slight injury. Of the twin broth- 
ers, Edwin H. and Edward Bell, one was in- 
stantly killed and the other escaped. Of two 
Ryan brothers, one was killed the other 
escaped. Wilbur T. Rice and his bride, who 
had been married a few weeks before, were 
both killed. Catherine Riley, of Titusville, on 
her way to visit her mother at Dunkirk, Frank- 
Green and his wife, all met their death. Fay 
Flanders, the conductor, while wedged into the 
wreck by timbers, but with his body and arms 
at liberty and suffering pain, even aided the 
rescue of a little girl who was a passenger on 
the train. Flanders exhibited great coolness 
and resolution in his dire extremity. At his 
suggestion a chain was put round his body, 
and by the effort of many strong men he was 
drawn out. His ribs were broken and his limbs 
torn and burned, and yet he survived a few 
days and died. Frank Taylor stayed by his 
brake, although he could have escaped, and 
lost his life. 

The Prospect railroad accident was the most 
terrible tragedy that ever occurred within the 
limits of Chautauqua county, excepting the 
burning of the steamboat "Erie" in 1841. In 
few accidents of this kind that ever happened 
was the percentage of loss of life so great. 

Jamestown, from the time of its settlement, 
was the leading manufacturing town of the 
county. It long had been celebrated for its 
implements, furniture, wood, cloth and textile 
manufactures. But in 1873 the most impor- 
tant manufacturing industry of the city was 
established. Before, no attempt had been 



made to manufacture worsted goods west of 
Philadelphia. That year William Hall, Wil- 
liam Broadhead and Joseph Tanner established 
the Jamestown Worsted Mills, at first called 
the Alpaca Mills. The machinery was made 
in England, and many of its skilled operatives 
came from that country. It quickly grew to 
large proportions, and its business is now con- 
ducted on an extensive scale, its products 
known from Boston to San Francisco. Even- 
tually William Broadhead retired, and the 
name of the firm finally became Hall & Com- 
pany. W. C. J. Hall, Chapin Hall, Erie L. 
Hall, Elliot C. Hall, Mrs. Rose E. Kent, Alfred 
E. Hall and Samuel Briggs all have been mem- 
bers of this firm. This industry has contrib- 
uted greatly to the prosperity of Jamestown. 

William Broadhead and his sons, S. B. and 
A. N. Broadhead, under the firm name of 
Broadhead & Sons, not long afterwards estab 
lished other very extensive textile manufac- 
tories in Jamestown which are giving thou- 
sands of people employment or daily support. 
Jamestown owes much of its growth and pres- 
ent prosperity to the energy and business abil- 
ity of the Broadhead family. 

Chautauqua county had now come to the 
front as one of the first agricultural counties 
in the State. Its farmers used improved and 
scientific methods of dairying. Chautauqua 
county butter and cheese bore a reputation for 
excellence. The county had become famous 
for its horses and cattle and apples, all of which 
were exported in great abundance. Judge 
Zattu dishing, when he came to the county 
in 1805, brought with him a half bushel of 
apple seeds from which a nursery was started 
on what is known as the Marsh farm at Fre- 
donia. This was probably the oldest orchard 
in the county. Many other early settlers plant- 
ed their first orchard with scions and with 
apple seeds brought with them into the county, 
selected from favorite varieties that were 
raised at their old homes in the East. Among 
them were Spitzenburghs, Seek-no-furthers, 
Roxbury Russets, Rhode Island Greenings and 
other excellent and now forgotten kinds. There 
were also many worthless kinds, useful only 
for cider, which have been supplanted by the 
standard varieties of later years. The apples 
of the hills in the central part of the county 
were better in quality than those raised in the 
northern towns, but the early frosts rendered 
the former a more uncertain crop. Pears, 
plums, cherries and berries of all kinds were 
successfully grown in nearly all parts of the 
county, but the northern towns and the coun- 



AGRICULTURAL PERIOD— 1861-1875 



69 



try bordering on Chautauqua Lake were de- 
cidedly best adapted to most kinds of fruits. 
Peaches of an excellent quality were rais'ed 
north of the Ridge in abundance, while among 
the hills they were poor in quality. 

In the northern towns of the county in 1874, 
the grape had become the principal staple, and 
the manufacture of wine an important indus- 
try. In 1824 Deacon Elijah Fay planted a few- 
Isabella and Catawba grape roots on his farm 
in the town of Portland. In 1830 he made five 
or six gallons of wine, and from year to year in- 
creased the manufacture until i860, the year of 
his death, when he had two thousand gallons 
in his cellar. In 1859 Joseph B. Fay, Garrett 
E. Ryckman, a grandson of Deacon Elijah 
Fay, and Rufus Haywood, built the first wine 
house in the county at Brocton. Twenty acres 
of grapes supplied it. In 1879 ^ r - Ryckman 
became the sole owner of this wine house. He- 
improved and added to the plant until it be- 
came one of the most perfect and extensive 
establishments of its kind in the county and 
in the State. In 1865 the Lake Shore Wine 
Company was formed. The year following 
there were six hundred acres of vines in Port- 
land. The Portland Center Wine House and 
other wine companies followed. 

In 1867 Thomas Lake Harris, a native of 
England, who had acquired a literary celebrity, 
and also a reputation as a successful and popu- 
lar minister of the Universalist church, organ- 
ized a society known as the Brotherhood of the 
New Life. The society purchased nearly two 
thousand acres of land in Portland, extending 
two miles along the shore of Lake Erie, and, 
besides other industries, commenced to culti- 
vate the grape, built a large wine house and 
cellar near Brocton, engaged in the manufac- 
ture and sale of pure native wine, more espe- 
cially for medicinal purposes. They laid out a 
village, intended as their industrial center, to 
be called Salem-on-Erie. They were com- 
monly known as the Harris Community. They 
manufactured thousands of gallons of wine an- 
nually. The association finally fell to pieces 
and their lands were sold in parcels. While 
they continued, their property was not held in 
common, but individuals were permitted to 
hold real estate and cultivate it on their own 
account. The authority of the Scripture and 
the marriage relations were held sacred. They 
had no written form for their government. 
Their system combined the doctrines of Plato 
in philosophy, Swedenborg in their religion, 
and Fourier in their social relations. Although 
exclusively devoted to their association, they 



lived in accordance with their professions and 
were excellent, intelligent citizens. The asso- 
ciation numbered more than two thousand 
members. Lady Oliphant and her celebrated 
son, Lawrence Oliphant, who gave up his seat 
in the English Parliament, several Japanese 
high officials, and two Indian princes, were 
residents of the community. Mr. Harris finally 
sold the lands to Mr. Oliphant, and now 
scarcely a member of the association remains. 

Portland from the beginning has been the 
leading town in the culture of the grape and 
other fruit, and the Fays were the first and 
leading family in the enterprise. 

From its small beginnings in 1824, during 
the fifty years that followed, the culture of the 
grape in Chautauqua county had been grow- 
ing so that in the Lake Shore towns of the 
county it had become a leading industry. 
About 1874 it had ceased to depend upon a lim- 
ited home market and had found without the 
county, first in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, 
an extensive and increasing demand. A new 
era in the agricultural prosperity of the county 
had now begun. Vineyards were spreading 
over the lowlands from the foot of the hills 
along the southern shore of Lake Erie and 
soon began to climb the hillsides along the 
northern face of the Ridge, and now the grape 
belt extends for a distance of about fifty-five 
miles along the southern shore of Lake Erie 
from Harbor Creek in Erie county, Pennsyl- 
vania, to Erie county, New York. The aver- 
age width of this territory is about three and 
one-half miles. While it includes a consider- 
able tract in Erie, Pennsylvania, and a small 
portion in Cattaraugus county, the principal 
portion of the grape belt is in Chautauqua 
county. It includes the most of the area of the 
lake towns and a portion of some of the adjit 
cent towns. The entire territory of the grape 
belt now cultivated contains about 120,000 
acres of which 100,000 acres are in Chautauqua 
county. The Isabellas and Catawbas were the 
first varieties extensively raised. The Concord 
was finally introduced by Lincoln Fay. The 
severe winter of 1872-73 proved it to be the 
most hard}- grape and best adapted to the soil 
and climate of Chautauqua. This variety soon 
became the leading kind raised throughout the 
county. 

An event at this time contributed more to 
promote the welfare of the county and to ex- 
tend its fame than any event before. This was 
the organization of the Chautauqua Assembly, 
now known as the Chautauqua Institution, 
which is treated in a special article in this work. 



7° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



CHAPTER XIII. 



About the first event that occurred of im- 
portance in this closing period was the com- 
pletion of the Buffalo & Jamestown, now the 
Buffalo & Southwestern railroad to the city of 
Jamestown, in the fall of 1875. This road was 
finished from Buffalo to Gowanda as early as 
1874. It has proved of great value not only io 
the city of Jamestown, but also to the eastern 
towns of the county. Ellington, Cherry Creek 
and Villenova were entirely without railroad 
facilities until it was constructed. The town 
of Ellicott was bonded in the sum of $200,000 
to aid in its building. A litigation grew out of 
it, resulting in a decision of the Supreme Court 
of the United States holding that the bonds 
were invalid ; they were never paid. The town 
of Cherry Creek had also bonded itself in a 
large sum to aid the road. A similar litigation 
arose respecting the validity of the Cherry 
Creek bonds, resulting in a settlement by which 
they were paid in part by that town. In 1876 
the Prendergast Block in the village of James- 
town was erected. 

We must regret to have to record a phenome- 
nal number of crimes and tragedies. During 
the first forty years of settlement, but few 
desperate crimes were perpetrated. But one 
felonious homicide was committed during that 
forty years, and that was the crime of Damon 
in killing his wife. During the succeeding 
thirty-three years ending with 1875, but five or 
six criminal homicides were committed. In 
marked contrast with these two periods were 
the later years. During a period that would 
naturally be supposed to be the most law 
abiding and humane, there were as many as 
seventeen felonious homicides and murders 
perpetrated in the county. The commission 
of so man}' serious offences is not to be attrib- 
uted to an unusual state of depravity, but to 
fortuitous circumstances and to the existence 
of railroads, large towns, and the less quiet 
life of the people. Crime came as an incident 
of these changed conditions. 

On January 20, 1877, Clarence S. Hale, as the 
result of an altercation, killed Gerard B. Ham- 
ilton with a moulder's ladle in Clark's foundry 
in Jamestown. Hale was tried at the following 
September court, held by Charles Daniels, jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court, and acquitted. E. 
R. Bootey, district attorney, assisted by H. C. 
Kingsbury appeared for the people ; Orsell 
Cook and Lorenzo Morris defended. 

In the summer of 1877 occurred the great 
railroad strike. The Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 



Close of the Century — 1875-1902. 

road Company made a reduction of ten per 
cent, in the wages of its employees. A strike 
followed by the Brotherhood of Engineers. 
The sympathy of the public in favor of the 
employees was general. Strikes soon followed 
on many other railroads. At one time, six 
thousand miles of railroad were tied up. 

In July the strike assumed such formidable 
proportions in Buffalo that the militia were 
called out. The Seward Guards of Westfield, 
or Third Separate Company, under Capt. J. H. 
Towle, were summoned to Buffalo. They left 
for that city on the Lake Shore road on Tues- 
day, July 27, 1877, upon a wildcat passenger 
train, consisting of a mail and baggage car and 
two coaches carrying forty passengers, and the 
Third Seward Guards. On arriving at the 
railroad bridge over Buffalo creek, the train 
was stopped by the strikers. The engine and 
mail car were detached by the mob and allowed 
to proceed, and the other cars were run on to 
a "Y." The strikers then began to stone the 
car, and tried to board it. The Seward Guards 
responded with a volley of musketry which 
had ugly effect, but were compelled to leave 
the car in possession of the rioters. Three or 
more of the rioters were wounded, some fatally. 

April 16, 1878, the first subordinate Grange in 
the world was organized at Fredonia. A. S. 
Moss, H. Stiles, .W. H. Stevens, U. E. Dodge, 
L. McKinstry, A. P. Pond, D. Fairbanks, W. 
McKinstry, William Risley, M. S. Woodford 
were present at its first meeting. U. E. Dodge 
was its first master. 

A boat race had long been advertised to take 
place on Chautauqua Lake on October 16, 
1879, between Edward Hanlan, of Toronto, 
and Charles E. Courtney, the two most 
famous oarsmen on the continent. On the 
day appointed, people from all parts of the 
country appeared at Mayville, where the race 
was to take place. Besides the representa- 
tives of leading newspapers, there came a 
swarm of pickpockets and riffraff from abroad, 
and with them wheels of fortune, sweat boards, 
roulette tables, old army games, and every 
swindle and thimble-rigging device by which 
innocent humanity could be fleeced. Trains 
and boats continued to arrive until over fifteen 
thousand people had come. And yet it all re- 
sulted in a fiasco. Courtney claimed that his 
two boats had been cut in two without his 
knowledge, and that he was unable to row the 
race. The water of the lake was unruffled. 
Hanlan appeared at the appointed time and 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



rowed the race alone. He made the five miles 
in thirty-three minutes fifty-six and one quar- 
ter seconds, and received the $6,000 stake 
money. 

James Crosby, aged thirty-two, in 1879 was 
residing upon a farm in Ellington, situated 
upon a high hill three miles west of Cone- 
wango station and one and a half miles from 
Ellington village. On the afternoon of July 
23 of that year he went to the village, and 
returned home about ten o'clock in the eve- 
ning. He alleged that on his return he heard 
a whistle from a clump of trees near his dwell- 
ing house, but thought that it was Wheeler, 
his brother-in-law, who lived across the road; 
that he continued on his way and entered his 
house, where he was attacked by some on: 
with whom he had a life struggle. That he 
clung to his assailant, who rushed out of the 
house, but was shot with a pistol and struck 
upon the head and left stunned upon the 
ground. Wheeler was aroused and a physi- 
cian summoned. His wife Emily was found 
strangled to death in bed, with the marks of 
the hand that did it on her neck. Her little 
boy aged seven years was found asleep in his 
trundle bed near his dead mother. Strenuous 
efforts were made to find the perpetrator with 
no trace. At last suspicion was awakened that 
Crosby had killed his wife, and then inflicted 
wounds upon himself. He was arrested and 
tried at the January court in 1880. Abner 
Hazeltine, the district attorney, assisted by E. 
R. Bootey and A. C. Wade, conducted the 
prosecution. Walter L. Sessions, John Baker 
and E. L. Bailey appeared for the defense. The 
jury after being out five hours found a verdict 
of not guilty. 

February 15, 1880, Charles L. Stratton, a na- 
tive of Mississippi and a resident of Poland, in 
an altercation with Elmer Frank, near Ken- 
nedy, killed Frank by stabbing him to the 
heart. Stratton was tried for the crime. Ab- 
ner Hazeltine, the district attorney, appeared 
for the people. C. D. Murray defended Strat- 
ton, who was found guilty of murder in the 
second degree and sentenced to imprisonment 
for life. It is a singular fact that the father 
of Frank had some years before been mur- 
dered and that the wife of Stratton, who was 
present at the killing of Frank, was the sister 
of Mrs. Emily Crosby, alleged to have been 
murdered by her husband a few months before 
as above related. 

In 1880 the grounds of the Cassadaga Lake 
Free Association at Lily Dale, then recently 
purchased, were dedicated. Its history is 
given on other pages of this work. 



71 

In 1880 many fine structures were erected in 
Jamestown, among them the Sherman House, 
at a cost of $125,000; the Jamestown Cotton 
mills and the Gokey block ; over $325,000 were 
expended during the year in buildings in 
Jamestown. 

February 19, 1880, Dunkirk was incor- 
porated, the first city in the county. John 
Beggs was then president of the village, and 
held his office until March of that year, when 
Horatio G. Brooks was elected its first mayor. 

In 1882 the New York, Chicago & St. Louis, 
and the Western New York & Pennsylvania 
railroads were built through Dunkirk, and the 
station erected near Central avenue on the 
south side of the city. 

The first use of natural gas for illuminating 
purposes in the United States was made in 
Chautauqua county. From the shales of the 
Portage group of rocks along the beds of sev- 
eral streams, and at various places in Lake 
Erie, carburetted hydrogen issued in great 
quantities. This gas burned with a white 
flame tinged with yellow above, and blue where 
it escaped from the burner. In 1821 it was in- 
troduced into a few of the public places in Fre- 
donia, among them the hotel which it finely 
illuminated, when LaFayette visited the place 
in 1825. The gas was obtained from a spring 
on the north bank of the Canadaway, at the 
bridge crossing that stream on Main street. 
The light house erected at Barcelona about 
1828 was lighted by this gas brought from a 
gas spring in its vicinity, mentioned in an 
early survey. After the light house was dis- 
continued, Westfield was supplied from the 
same spring. In 1848 the Fredonia Gas Light 
Company was organized. In 1858 Preston 
Barmore sunk a well and procured a much 
greater supply. Alvah Colburn afterwards 
sunk another well. The gas from this and the 
Barmore well proved sufficient, and for many 
years lighted the village. At length manu- 
factured gas was used for illuminating pur- 
poses, first in Jamestown in 1861, and in Dun- 
kirk in November, 1867. In February, 1885, 
the electric light system was put in operation 
in the city of Jamestown, and was for the first 
time used in the county. In September of the 
same year natural gas from the wells in Penn- 
sylvania was first employed to light the city 
of Jamestown. September 27th. 1888. electric 
lights were first used in the city of Dunkirk. 

In the afternoon of August 25th, 1885. ex- 
Governor Fenton died suddenly while sitting 
in the directors' room of the First National 
Bank of Jamestown, attending to his business 
duties. Business was suspended, Jamestown 



72 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



draped in mourning, and his funeral univer- 
sally attended by the citizens. Besides the Fen- 
ton Guards who acted as a guard of honor, the 
members of the Grand Army post, the public 
officials of Jamestown, many citizens from 
abroad were present, among them Hon. Ga- 
lusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, a most inti- 
mate friend of Governor Fenton, also David B. 
Hill, then governor of the State of New Yoik 
and his staff. Mr. Fenton was buried in Lake 
View Cemetery, Jamestown. At the time of 
his decease he was little over sixty-six year.= 
of age. He is mentioned at greater length in 
the chapter on Political History. 

In January, 1886, the Swedish Orphanage 
was dedicated. January 29th, John A. Hall 
died in Jamestown. He was editor of the 
"Jamestown Journal." That paper was not 
only the leading but, next to the "Fredonia 
Censor," the oldest in the county. It was 
established in 1826 by Adolphus Fletcher. 
During the more than three quarters of a 
century which has elapsed since then, it has 
been the greater part of the time the most 
influential newspaper in the county. It has 
been edited by some of the most accom- 
plished political" newspaper writers in Western 
New York. Its editors have been Adolphus 
Fletcher, Abner Hazeltine, J. Warren Fletcher ; 
Frank W. Palmer, who afterwards held high 
official and editorial positions during President 
Harrison's term, among them national public 
printer; C. D. Sackett ; Coleman E. Bishop, a 
well-known and trenchant political writer ; 
Davis H. Wait, afterward governor of Colo- 
rado ; and John A. Hall, who bought the paper 
in 1876. Mr. Hall built new buildings, im- 
proved the paper, enlarged its business, and 
absorbed other competing papers. Mr. Hall 
ably edited the paper until his death. He was 
succeeded by his son, Frederick P. Hall. After 
the death of John A. Hall, the Journal Print- 
ing Company was formed, and the "Jamestown 
Journal" is now the largest newspaper estab- 
lishment in the county. 

March 31, 1886, Jamestown was incor- 
porated the second city of the county, and 
Oscar F. Price elected its first mayor. On 
May 22 the Jamestown Bar Association was 
organized. In October the Jamestown Busi- 
ness College, the first and only institution of 
the kind in the county was organized by E. J. 
Coburn. H. E. V. Porter, later its principal, 
took charge of the practical department, and 
Miss K. A. Lambert was engaged for the 
theory department. Shorthand was taught 
under the direction of Charles M. Brown. 

August 31, 1886, a slight shock of an earth- 



quake was felt throughout the county, causing 
doors to slam, chandeliers to vibrate, billiard 
balls to move on the table, and in one or more 
instances the bells in the steeples to slightly 
ring. 

Eighteen hundred and ninety-one was the 
first year in which electricity was used as a 
motive power in Chautauqua county. June 19, 
1884, the road of the Jamestown Street Rail- 
way Company was so far completed that the 
first car, a horse-car, was run from the Sher- 
man House to the boat landing. August 25 of 
the year before, the company had been organ- 
ized with John T. Wilson (who had been active 
in its organization, and afterwards effective in 
promoting it) as president, and C. R. Lock- 
wood secretary and attorney. New articles of 
incorporation were filed October 13, 1S83. The 
motive power having been changed to elec- 
tricity, the first electric car run in the county 
passed over its road on Third street. Through 
the energy of Almet N. Broadhead, who for 
many years was president, has its success as 
an electric road been due. 

Long before horse-cars were in operation in 
Jamestown they had been in use between Fre- 
donia and Dunkirk. As early as September, 
1866, the Dunkirk & Fredonia railroad had 
been organized, and horse-cars run over its line 
a distance of about three miles. Thomas L. 
Higgins, of Fredonia, was its first president. 
During a period of nearly eighteen years before 
street cars were introduced into Jamestown, 
they had been extensively in use for passenger 
travel between Dunkirk and Fredonia. In 
187S Milton M. Fenner obtained a controlling 
interest in the road and became president. In 
1880 he took the position of secretary, treas- 
urer and manager. It afterward acquired an 
electric light and power plant, a steam heating 
plant, and the Fredonia Natural Gas Light 
Company. In 1891 electricity was substituted 
as a motive power; the first electric cars were 
run over it October 29, not four months after 
electric cars were first used in Jamestown. 

December 1st of this year the Prendergast 
Free Library building was completed, and the 
first purchase of books placed on its shelves. 
This association was incorporated by a special 
act of the Legislature passed January 29, 1880. 

Besides the many homicides committed in 
the county during the last period of its history, 
there also occurred an unusual number of pain- 
ful casualties. On September 15th, 1886, an 
excursion train from Erie to Niagara Falls, 
over the Nickel Plate railroad collided with a 
way freight in the deep cut north of the trestle 
that spanned the creek at the village of Silv:-r 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875- 1902 



Creek, the baggage cars of the passenger train 
telescoping with the smoking car. Fourteen 
people were killed or died from injuries. Wil- 
liam H. Harrison, in charge of the excursion 
train, and Louis Brewer, in charge of its loco- 
motive, were tried for manslaughter at the 
court held at Mayville the succeeding May. 
L. F. Stearns, the district attorney, repre- 
sented the people, and Jerome B. Fisher the 
prisoner. The defendants were acquitted. 
August 19, 1887, a burglar while engaged in 
entering the house of A. R. Catlin, in James 
town, was shot and instantly killed. 

In November, 1887, the first Political Equal- 
ity Club was formed, at Mrs. Daniel Gris- 
wold's, in Jamestown. Mrs. D. H. Grandin was 
elected president, Mrs. N. R. Thompson secre- 
tary, and Mrs. C. W. Scofield treasurer. The 
first county convention of Political Equality 
ever held in New York State convened at the 
Opera House in Jamestown, October 31, 1888. 
Mrs. Martha T. Henderson was chosen its first 
president; Mrs. Kate S. Thompson and Mrs. 
Annie C. Shaw secretaries ; and Mrs. Lois M. 
Lott treasurer. 

In Jamestown, on July 4, 1888, LeRoy Bo- 
gardus was murdered in broad daylight, in an 
alley on the Brooklyn side of the Chadakoin, 
and but a few steps from Main street and 
Brooklyn Square, while the streets and square 
were filled with more than the usual number 
of people. His head was crushed by the blows 
of some hard instrument. Bogardus had repre- 
sented that he was in possession of a large sum 
of money. During the greater part of the day 
he was in company with George W. Foster, 
who was seen to have in his pocket a car 
coupling pin. Foster was also seen escaping 
from the alley soon after the murder was com- 
mitted. He was indicted and tried before 
Judge Loren Lewis, at Mayville. Lester F. 
Stearns, district attorney, and Arthur C. Wade, 
appeared for the people, Vernon E. Peckham 
and E. L. Bootey for the prisoner. The jury 
after being out twenty-seven hours announced 
a verdict of guilty of murder in the second de- 
gree. The prisoner was sentenced to imprison- 
ment for life. Judge Lewis when sentencing 
him, said he owed his life to the ability of the 
attorneys who defended him. 

In 1888 the Chautauqua Lake railroad was 
completed along the Eastern shore of Chau- 
tauqua Lake from Jamestown to Mayville. It 
is 21.17 miles in length, and cost $1,080,000 
In 1890 the Gratiot of Dunkirk, afterwards one 
of the leading hotels of the county, was com- 
pleted. 



73 

Now business throughout the county and 
country was dull. The value of farming 
products had for many years been falling, and 
farming had ceased to be as profitable as u 
once had been. As one of the results, there 
were many abandoned farms that had before 
produced good incomes. In Charlotte alone 
there were fifteen deserted farms, each of 
which had once kept from eight to twenty-five 
dairy cows, and that town suffered no more 
in this respect than other towns in the county. 
In March, 1890, at Fredonia, Kosolina Bos- 
cellere killed his father-in-law Salvator La- 
tona. Both were Italians. Boscellere was 
discharged on the grounds that the killing was 
in self-defence. In August, 1892, Patrick 
Dowd, a post office robber, resident of Dun- 
kirk, in a fit of jealousy and anger over some 
woman whom he had been dining, shot and 
instantly killed George Haas, of Jamestown, at 
the Hotel Sherwin, in Fluvanna, and imme- 
diately afterwards shot four bullets into his 
own body, dying instantly. 

August 19, 1892, at midnight, the Fenton 
Guards were ordered to Buffalo on account of 
the strike by the switchmen of the Erie, Lehigh 
Valley & Buffalo Creek railroads. A long 
blast from the whistles of the Broadhead & 
Fenton Metallic Works, was the signal for their 
assembling. Two hours later they were on the 
march for the Erie depot, with Capt. Fred W. 
Hyde, Lieut. Daniel H. Post and Frank A. 
Johnson in command. At 5:40 a. m. they 
arrived at Buffalo. Over eighty men finally 
reported there for duty. The strike having 
come to an end without violence, the guards 
returned to Jamestown after an absence of 
twelve days. 

October 12, 1892, the Fenton Metallic works 
burned. August 2, Allen's Opera House in 
Jamestown was destroyed by fire. December 
15, 1893, a frightful railroad disaster occurred 
on the W. N. Y. & P. R. R. at Herrick's creek, 
two miles east of Dunkirk. The rain and melt- 
ing snow had raised the water in the creek so 
that it undermined the base of the railroad 
track over it, and the supporting bank on the 
Dunkirk side of the creek, so that when the 
westbound Mayville accommodation reached 
the bridge, it gave way. The baggage car, 
smoker and day coach were precipitated into a 
gorge twenty-five feet below. Five persons 
were killed and six more or less injured. Of 
the killed, four were residents of Chautauqua 
county — Jesse Hodge, the conductor, of Broc- 
ton ; Oscar Porter and his mother, Mrs. J. N. 
Porter, both of Brocton ; and George Wyman. 
of Fredonia. 



74 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Early on October 15, 1893, the propeller 
"Dean Richmond," Capt. G. W. Stoddard, of 
Toledo, foundered off Van Buren in a terrific 
gale on Lake Erie. No one of those on board 
survived to tell the story of the catastrophe. 
No assistance could be given. The next morn- 
ing the beach between Van Buren and Dun- 
kirk was strewn with the wreck and cargo of 
flour. The dead bodies were found as far down 
as Silver Creek, and were taken to the morgue 
at Dunkirk. Eighteen lives were lost. Where 
the boat is supposed to have been wrecked was 
a dangerous reef. At this bit of Chautauqua 
coast as many tales of disaster can be told as 
on any like strip of dangerous coast along the 
ocean shore. There it was that the "Passaic" 
met her fate two years before. There the 
"Golden Fleece" was firmly bedded in the 
rocks, and there the passenger steamer "Os- 
wego" went fast, and the lives of those who 
attempted to go ashore were lost. 

The year 1893 is memorable in Chautauqua 
county history for the financial distress of all 
classes of people. During this year, besides 
banks and bankers, occurred many other 
failures in the county among business men. 
Seven per cent, of those doing business be- 
came insolvent. 

A special meeting of the board of supervisors 
was held on the 6th of June of this year at 
Mayville, for the purpose of considering the 
question of an increase in the appropriation 
for the enlargement of the county clerk's office. 
A motion was there made to appropriate $2,000 
in addition to the $3,000 that had before been 
appropriated. But upon the suggestion that 
the city of Jamestown would make proposi- 
tions for erecting county buildings providing 
the county seat was changed to that city, an- 
other motion was made to defer expending the 
$3,000 already appropriated, and that a special 
meeting of the board be called for August 8, 
1893, to vote upon the question of the county 
seat. Attempts to change the county seat, and 
projects to divide the county, commenced with 
its organization, and were continued at inter- 
vals to the time of this special meeting. As 
this was the last effort of the kind, it will be 
proper here to give an account of the various 
attempts that have before been made. 

The act of the Legislature organizing the 
county in 1808, provided for the appointment 
of three commissioners to locate the sites of its 
county buildings. The people of Canadaway 
(now Fredonia) cleared a half-acre of land at 
the east end of the common, on the west side 
of the creek, intending it as the site of the 
county buildings. To their great disgust the 



commissioners when on their way to locate the 
county seat did not even stop to look at the 
place, but passed on and established the county 
seat in the woods where now is Mayville, and 
erected there "a large hemlock post" to mark 
the spot. To this act of the commissioners 
there came a protest, which was renewed from 
time to time with more or less emphasis. 

The first meeting of the board of supervisors 
was held at John Scott's log tavern in May- 
ville in 181 1. The board consisted of two 
members : William Prendergast, of Chau- 
tauqua ; and Philo Orton, of Pomfret. The 
first business after the organization of the 
board, and the election of certain officers, was 
to raise money to build a court house and jail. 
Supervisor Orton, representing his Pomfret 
constituents, who were not favorable to raising 
money to erect public buildings on a rival site, 
remembering also the brusque treatment of the 
commissioners when they went to locate the 
county seat at Mayville, voted "no." Repeated 
efforts on the part of Supervisor Prendergast 
failed to secure a majority in favor of this 
essential measure. Finally, when Mr. Orton 
moved to raise money for expenditures that 
had been made for the benefit of the town of 
Pomfret, Mr. Prendergast refused to concur. 
The wheels of the infant government now- 
ceased to revolve, and everything came to a 
dead standstill. After deliberating on the seri- 
ous aspect that affairs were taking, the board 
unanimously came to an agreement to raise 
money for the court house and jail, and also to 
pay the town taxes, and the clouds that had 
for a time darkened the prospects of our rising 
young county drifted away. 

In 1812 three new towns — Ellicott, Hanover 
and Gerry — were erected out of the town of 
Pomfret, through the influence of Zattu Cush- 
ing and other citizens of Canadaway, it was 
said, in order to secure sufficient strength in 
the board of supervisors to remove the county 
seat to that place. 

Efforts were made as early as 1831 to accom- 
plish a division of the county. In 1843 a m ore 
serious attempt was begun by citizens living 
in the north-eastern towns of Chautauqua, 
joined with citizens of Erie and Cattaraugus, 
to form a new county to be called Schuyler. 
Delegate conventions were held in each of the 
counties, and the legislature appealed to. Oli- 
ver Lee, then a very influential citizen of West- 
ern New York, the "Buffalo Courier," and 
Democrats in Buffalo, favored it with a view 
it is said of forming the Democratic county. 
A county convention was held in opposition, 
and the scheme terminated without success. 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



75 



In 1844, so strong was the agitation for a 
division, that January 25 of that year a mass 
meeting was held in opposition, with Judge J. 
M. Edson, of Sinclairville, president, and many 
vice-presidents. A memorial to the Legislature 
was drafted and a vigilance committee ap- 
pointed to thwart it in every town. The 
project again failed. In 1846 the attempt was 
renewed; February 11, a meeting was held to 
remonstrate against all projects for a dismem- 
berment of the county; Gen. Leverett Barker, 
Fredonia, chairman. Nearly all the towns of 
the county were represented. This movement 
to effect a division terminated like the others, 
without success. 

In 1S52 the New York & Erie railroad was 
completed, the Lake Shore was in process of 
construction, and the Atlantic & Great West- 
ern in contemplation. The consummation of 
these enterprises would secure railroad com- 
munication with all the principal parts of the 
county excepting Mayville. The difficulty of 
access to the county seat soon led to many 
schemes for a division. One project was to 
erect a new county from Chautauqua, Catta- 
ragus and Erie, with the county seat at Forest- 
ville ; another, a Ridge division, provided for a 
county seat at Westfield ; while a fourth plan 
was proposed to divide the county by assem- 
bly districts as they then existed, with county 
seats at Mayville and Sinclairville. A meet- 
ing was held at Westfield with Judge Thomas 
B. Campbell as chairman, in opposition to al! 
divisions. 

In the fall of 1852, dissatisfaction with the 
location of the county buildings took expres- 
sion in the board of supervisors. A resolution 
to remove them to Delanti in the town of 
Stockton was lost for the want of a two-thirds 
vote, required by law. A final and strong 
effort was made the succeeding year to divide 
the county. A bill passed to its third reading 
in the legislature of 1853, to organize the towns 
of Brandt, Collins, and Evans of Erie county ; 
the towns of Dayton, Leon, Perrysburgh and 
Persia of Cattaraugus county, and the towns of 
Arkwright, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Hanover, 
Pomfret, Sheridan, and Villenova of Chau- 
tauqua county, into a new county to be called 
Marshall. During the winter, Ebenezer A. 
Lester, Augustus F. Allen and John M. Edson 
and other leading citizens went to Albany 
with a largely signed remonstrance in opposi- 
tion to the bill, which was lost on its third 
reading by a large majority. This was the last 
serious effort made to divide the county. The 
building of the Cross Cut railroad twelve years 
later gave better facilities for reaching May- 



ville, which have been still further improved. 
At the special meeting of the board of super- 
visors on August 8th, 1893, a petition was pre- 
sented asking the removal of the county build- 
ings to Jamestown, to be located within one- 
half a mile from the intersection of Main and 
Third streets. A petition was also presented 
asking the removal of the county buildings to 
Dunkirk, to be located on Central avenue, on 
a plot of five acres of land on the west side of 
that street, opposite the dwelling built by 
James Gerrans, then owned by Andrew Dotter- 
weich. A proposition was also submitted for 
new county buildings in Mayville, including 
the offer of from two to five acres near the lake. 
The board finally passed a resolution to re- 
move the county seat from Mayville to James- 
town, and that the question of such a removal 
be submitted to the electors of the county at 
the next ensuing general election. The vote 
upon the subject of changing the site of the 
county buildings to Jamestown was lost at the 
election by a majority of 425 against it, 6,645 
votes having been cast in favor, and 7,070 in 
opposition. 

A committee appointed by the board of 
supervisors in the fall of 1S83 to examine the 
accounts of Orren Sperry, county treasurer, 
found that he had received in 1883, the sum of 
$159,191.33, and had expended the sum of 
$154,821.86, leaving in his hands $4,370.07. 
Nothing appeared in this report to indicate 
but what his accounts were correct and in a 
normal state. But early in 1884 rumors were 
in circulation that he had lost in the oil coun- 
try by speculations, and had drawn out and 
loaned to others large sums of money belong- 
ing t» the county, and in May of that year the 
community were startled to learn that Sperrv 
had fled to parts unknown. Nothing so seri- 
ous affecting its finances had ever before hap- 
pened to the county. It was ultimately found 
that Sperry was a defaulter in the sum of 
$89.506.47, ' of which $26,093.85 were trust 
funds and $63,412.62 were cash arising from 
taxes. No sensation lasted so long, or so uni- 
versally disturbed the equanimity of the people 
of this county. In the counsels and conven- 
tions of the Republican party, of which Sperry 
was a member, his malfeasance was a disturb- 
ing element for many years. After his de- 
parture a special meeting of the board of super- 
visors was called, and at an adjourned special 
meeting a committee was appointed, who in- 
vestigated the books and accounts. Charges 
were then made and proceedings were insti- 
tuted against him for his malversations in 
office, resulting in his removal by Governor 



7 6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Cleveland. A reward of $2,000 was offered foi 
the arrest and conviction of Sperry. Hon. 
Porter Sheldon and Charles D. Murray were 
employed as counsel for the county. At a 
meeting of the board of supervisors in the fall 
of 1884, measures were taken for a settlement 
or prosecution of suits against the bondsmen of 
Sperry, and other parties indebted to the 
county growing out of his defalcation. Six 
indictments were found against him at the 
September court of 1884, but the authorities 
were unable to find him, and he went without 
arrest. At a special meeting of the board of 
supervisors in May, 1885, a settlement was 
effected and the large claims of the county 
against the bondsmen of Sperry were compro- 
mised by accepting the sum of $35,000, and 
discharging the bondsmen from further liabili- 
ties. After leaving the United States, Sperry 
made his appearance in Mexico. Measures 
were taken to arrest him, but he found it out 
and disappeared from that country. He was 
next heard of in Canada, from where he opened 
correspondence with some of his friends at 
home, and some of them visited him there. 
While he was in Canada, an action was com 
menced by W. L. Sessions and C. D. Murray 
by the direction of the board of supervisors 
against Wilson, an oil broker of Oil City, to 
recover the amount of a certificate of deposit of 
$6,000, which had been assigned to him by 
Sperry. The certificate was payable to Sperry 
as treasurer of Chautauqua county. This it 
was claimed was notice to Wilson that Sperry 
was using public funds. The attorneys of 
Sperry recommended the dismissal of the in- 
dictment against him, that he might feel safe 
to return to Chautauqua county and give his 
testimony as a witness in the action. The 
board of supervisors, with a few dissenting 
voices, endorsed the recommendation, but 
when the matter came before Justice Green, of 
the Supreme Court, he declined to dismiss the 
indictment, stating that in his judgment such 
a course would be opposed to good public 
morals. As there was a question as to the re- 
sponsibility of Wilson, the action was settled 
by the payment of $3,000 by Wilson's wife. 

June 1st, 1893, Orren Sperry, nine years a 
fugitive from justice, suddenly appeared in 
Chautauqua county, and voluntarily surren- 
dered himself. At the May court in 1894, 
Sperry having pleaded guilty to the indictment 
against him, was sentenced by Judge Lambert 
to two years' imprisonment at Auburn. When 
he delivered himself up to the authorities, he 
was an old man about sixty-eight years of age, 
and his case now became again a matter of dis- 



cussion throughout the county, and a feeling 
of pity took the place of censure among many 
of the people. A petition was circulated and 
was very numerously signed, for his pardon. 
This greatly influenced Governor Flower, who 
pardoned him in June, 1894. Many believed 
Sperry had not been sufficiently punished, that 
his crime had been too lightly regarded. The 
"Jamestown Journal" pronounced his pardon 
to be a travesty upon justice. The pardon was 
also severely condemned by the "Fredonia 
Censor," and the "Buffalo Express." 

In December, 1894, a terrible tragedy oc- 
curred. Myron Sherman was a well-known 
farmer and resident of Busti. He was a son 
of Daniel Sherman, former sheriff, and a 
brother of Daniel Sherman, a prominent law- 
yer and citizen, then serving the last month of 
his term as its surrogate. On Friday, Decem- 
ber 7, Myron Sherman, with Mrs. Myron Sher- 
man and their little grandson, while driving 
across the railroad track between Ashville and 
Lakewood, were struck by the fast mail train, 
and all were fatally injured. The grandchild 
was killed instantly ; he was buried the next 
Monday. Mr. Sherman died the following 
Wednesday ; Mrs. Sherman died the Friday 
after. Their burial was appointed for Satur- 
day afternoon. December 15. The unusual 
circumstances of their death attracted hun- 
dreds of people to their funerals. 

Winslow Sherman, a farmer residing in 
Busti, a few miles from his kinsman, Myron 
Sherman, his wife, Mrs. Winslow Sherman, 
his daughter, Mrs. Clinton Davis, and his son, 
Byron Sherman, were at their dwelling' house 
in the forenoon of the day of the funeral. 
Winslow and Byron left the house about two 
o'clock in the afternoon to attend the funeral. 
About two hours later Byron returned. On 
his way he stopped at his neighbor's for his 
nephew, a boy of thirteen, the son of Mrs. 
Davis, who rode home with him. On their 
arrival at Winslow Sherman's dwelling house, 
while Byron was putting up the horse the 
boy went to the house, and there beheld a 
fearful and ghastly sight; upon the kitchen 
floor, amidst pools of blood, he saw the dead 
body of his mother. On the bloodsoaked 
carpet of the sitting room his grandmother 
lay dead. It was found that both victims 
were killed with an ax or some instrument 
with a sharp edge. Mrs. Davis had many 
cuts upon her face, but a blow upon the back 
of her head evidently caused her death. A 
heavy blow upon the forehead caused the death 
of Mrs. Sherman. There were many cuts, how- 
ever, upon her face. Every room in the house 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



seemed to have been ransacked. The bureau 
drawers were pulled out and their contents 
scattered upon the floor. There was two hun- 
dred fifty dollars in money hidden in a bureau 
drawer on the second floor, but it was not dis- 
covered by the robber. Footprints freshly 
made were found indicating that the murderer 
had entered the house through the woodshed, 
and departed the same way, no other clue or 
trace of the murderer was there found. Be- 
tween daylight and dark of Sunday, the day 
following, three thousand people visited the 
little brown house where the two gray-haired 
women lay dead. Although this murder was 
committed in the daytime, in a dwelling house 
in plain view of other inhabited houses, but a 
few miles from Jamestown, with a police force 
and public authorities very accessible, the per- 
petrator was not found and the Sherman mur- 
der remains a mystery to this day. 

In 1895 Lakeside Assembly was established 
on the west shore of Findley's Lake, the sec- 
ond in size of the many beautiful sheets of 
water scattered over the county. The Assem- 
bly was founded by the Rev. C. G. Langdon, 
of the United Brethren church. A plot of 
ground was secured of Mr. J. A. Hill on the 
west side of the lake, and Mr. Langdon with 
his own hands began to cut the underbrush and 
clear away the logs from the first acre used. 
He in connection with Dr. F. E. Lilly, who 
lived upon the Lake, laid out the plot into lots, 
and procured a large tent for the meetings, the 
first of which was held in 1895. During that 
season several small buildings were erected, 
and about forty lots were sold. The society 
was incorporated, and meetings held during 
several succeeding years with much success. 
The moneys received were appropriated for 
the improvement of the grounds. The Lake- 
side Assembly is modeled after the Chautauqua 
Institution, and has been conducted with suc- 
cess and with benefit to those who have en- 
joyed its privileges. Dr. F. E. Lilly was its 
first president; after his removal to California 
he was succeeded by Ebenezer Skellie ; upon 
his decease, J. A. Hill was chosen. 

Chautauqua county in 1896 was remarkable 
for its mild and pleasant weather, and great 
fruitfulness. Scarcely a frost occurred after 
the first day of April. By the first of June, 
field strawberries were in the market, roses in 
full bloom, the grass in the meadows thick and 
tall, the corn rank and vigorous. The summer 
was as beautiful as the spring. Thunderstorms 
prevailed, purifying the air, and causing a 
dense growth of vegetation. August was a de- 



77 

lightful month, the woods, pastures and 
meadows were as green as in June, but of a 
deeper shade. Autumn fulfilled the promise 
of spring and summer. Never was there such 
a crop of apples. The orchards were so loaded 
with fruit that the limbs often broke and many 
apples were spoiled. Notwithstanding the 
apples were unusually large and perfect, they 
brought little or nothing in the market. Sev- 
enty-five cents a barrel was the average price 
for the best apples, the seller to furnish the 
barrels. Cider mills were overstocked while 
running at full blast. There was an unusual 
production of grapes. By reason of the over 
production the crop was unprofitable to the 
producer. In 1897, during eight days in July, 
the thermometer early in the day rose above 
ninety degrees and there remained until late 
in the afternoon. Many times it reached one 
hundred degrees. Seldom in the experience of 
a lifetime was the weather so continuously hot. 
The people were forced to cease business on 
account of the heat of the day. 

The year 1897 seems to have been a year of 
tragedies. A foul murder was committed in 
Sinclairville at an early hour of the morning 
of May 26. Axel Lawson, of Swedish birth, 
resided with Grant Edson, a farmer who lived 
on the Ellington road about two and one-hall 
miles east of Sinclairville. For some time he 
had bought farmers' produce around Sinclair- 
ville, marketing it at Jamestown. On May 25 
he made his usual trip to Jamestown, sold his 
produce, and about ten o'clock in the evening 
set out from Jamestown to return. This was 
the last seen of him by his friends alive. About 
five o'clock in the morning of the 26th, Edson 
discovered Lawson's horse coming toward his 
barn without a driver. Examining the wagon, 
he found blood splashes on the dashboard and 
crossbar. Fearing some accident, Edson 
started in search of Lawson. At a secluded 
spot just beyond the outskirts of the village of 
Sinclairville, but within its corporate limits, 
where the road that leads around the north side 
of Cobb Hill, curves along the margin of a 
little ravine, and is there partly hidden by the 
foliage of scattered bushes and trees, he found 
the dead body of Lawson. Coroner Blood, 
District Attorney Green and Sheriff Gelm 
were notified and quickly came. Royal E. 
Sheldon, president of the village, called the 
trustees together and a reward was offered 
for the arrest and conviction of the mur- 
derer. For many days the search was con- 
tinued from where the body was found, south 
across the meadowland to the road lead- 



78 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ing over Cobb Hill. One footprint remained 
there in the dust as if the person who had 
made it was about to cross the road, but as 
this track neither continued across or up or 
down, it is believed that the person who made 
it, at this point stepped into some carriage 
awaiting him. Many citizens of the village liv- 
ing along the highway west of this place, about 
two o'clock in the morning heard a buggy 
come down Cobb Hill at a headlong speed, 
pass through the village, and with much noise 
cross the bridge on Railroad avenue and the 
railroad track at the station, and go on with 
undiminished speed along the road toward 
Cassadaga creek. Two parties saw the buggy 
with two occupants from their bedroom win- 
dows as it rapidly passed by. Notwithstand- 
ing the search was long continued, but like the 
Sherman murder of a few years before, the 
crime remained a deep mystery. 

Another tragic event occurred on Saturday, 
November 27 of this year, at Jamestown. Be- 
tween three and four o'clock in the morning, 
fire was discovered in the Atlantic block annex 
at the corner of First street and Mechanics' 
alley. The fire department responded promptly 
and the flames were soon extinguished, but no~ 
until three persons sleeping in the building 
were smothered with smoke or burned to death 
in the flames. 

In the afternoon of November 30th, a homi- 
cide occurred in a dingy saloon on North Port- 
age street, in Westfield, as the result of a quar- 
rel between Judson E. Root, the proprietor, 
and William Drake, who was under the influ- 
ence of liquor. After some rough scuffling be- 
tween the parties, Drake sat down in a chair. 
Root then went out of the room, returned with 
a gun and shot Drake as he sat in his chair, 
killing him instantly. 

Nearly one-half a million of dollars was ap- 
propriated by Congress for the improvement 
of Dunkirk Harbor through the influence of 
Hon. Warren B. Hooker, of Fredonia, Mem- 
ber of Congress, from the Chautauqua and 
Cattaraugus congressional district, and chair- 
man of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. 

In the spring an important improvement 
was also commenced in the eastern part of the 
county by which it was expected that twenty- 
five thousands of acres of practically worth- 
less land in the Conewango Swamp would be 
drained and made valuable by cutting a wide 
and deep ditch from the Kent road in the town 
of Cherry Creek, a distance of thirteen miles, 
to Waterloo, in the town of Poland. 

The City Hall in Jamestown was completed 



and first occupied in 1897. On June 27th of 
that year the short railroad connecting the 
Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh rail- 
road, near Falconer, with the Chautauqua Lake 
railroad, near Fluvanna, having been com- 
pleted, the cars were first regularly run upon it. 

The grape crop of the county was this year 
unusually large and valuable ; 4,388 carloads of 
grapes, over 12,600,000 baskets, were shipped 
by the Grape Union in the space of six weeks. 
A very large quantity was shipped outside of 
the Union. Over one thousand carloads were 
shipped in the town of Portland alone. 

Over thirty years had now passed in peace- 
ful pursuits since any citizen had been called 
upon to take up arms in the cause of his coun- 
try. Chautauqua county had been represented 
in nearly every, if not all the wars, in which 
the country had been engaged. In the early 
years of its history there were several of the 
soldiers of the old French and Indian wars liv- 
ing in the county, among them Samuel Shat- 
tuck, of Portland. His history has a special 
interest to us. He was not only a soldier of 
that old war, but a very romantic and exciting 
portion of his service rendered in it was 
actually performed in Chautauqua county, 
about fifty years before it was settled by white 
men. At one time during this old war he was 
one of Putnam's celebrated rangers, and served 
in the vicinity of Lake George, afterwards in 
the War of the Revolution and fought at 
Bunker Hill, Bennington and Yorktown, and 
other battles. His service in both wars 
amounted to twelve years. He came to Port- 
land, Chautauqua county, in November, 1823, 
to live, and died in that town September 1, 
1827, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery. 

John Owens, of Carroll, grandfather of Gov- 
ernor R. E. Fenton, was a remarkable pioneer 
of the county. He was with the English under 
Wolfe at the capture of Quebec, and with 
Ethan Allen in the Revolution at the capture 
of Ticonderoga. He died at Carroll, February 
6th, 1843, at the remarkable age of 107 years, 
probably the oldest citizen that has ever lived 
in the county, older than Mrs. Deborah Dot)-, 
who died at Frewsburg, March 5th, 1902, at the 
advanced age of 106 years. Stephen Marther 
was a soldier of the old French War and had 
a very remarkable career. 

The experience of the Frank family, of 
the town of Busti, in the French and Indian 
Wars, is worth relating. Eva Frank, the 
wife of John Frank, Sr., of another Frank 
family, when she (Eva) was a small child, her 
sister Mary, who became the wife of Myers.. 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



79 



the father of John Myers who was an early 
settler of Carroll, their mother, her little 
brother, Lawrence Frank, a maiden sister, and 
John Frank, Sr., of the other Frank family, 
were all captured in the Mohawk Valley by the 
Indians and taken to a place near Montreal and 
kept there among them three years before they 
were ransomed. Mary was detained four 
years, as she had the smallpox when her sister 
was exchanged. The mother had to carry the 
son, who was but eighteen months old, on the 
march to Montreal, and keep up with the party 
in order to keep him from being tomahawked. 
The maiden sister on her return from captivity 
had forgotten her mother tongue, and was 
taken from the Indians against her will, having 
been kept apart from her relatives, and had for- 
gotten them. All of these Franks became early 
settlers of the town of Busti. John Frank was 
again taken prisoner during the War of the 
Revolution. He escaped from his captors ac 
Oneida Lake the first night after his capture, 
through the aid of friendly Oneida Indians, 
and safely reached his house at German Flats. 
Joseph Frank, of Busti, son of Lawrence above- 
mentioned, was with the Chautauqua regiment 
in the battle of Buffalo and was shot, killed 
and scalped by the Indians. 

Orsamus Holmes was one of the earliest and 
most prominent settlers of the town of Sheri- 
dan. His father had been an officer in the old 
French War. He was himself a soldier under 
Ethan Allen, in the War of the Revolution. 
He was with Montgomery in the expedition 
against Quebec. He was afterwards captured 
by the British and taken to Canada and placed 
on board of a prison ship, but he and three 
others escaped in the night time, crossed the 
St. Lawrence, wandered seventeen days in the 
wilderness, suffering great hardships, and was 
finally captured with his companions by the 
Indians, taken back to Montreal and confined 
in prison. After a month's confinement he and 
two others overpowered the guard and escaped. 
They scaled the city wall, crossed the St. Law- 
rence, plunged into the forest, pursued by the 
Indians, and after encountering great dangers, 
at the end of fourteen days they reached the 
frontier settlements of Vermont. 

Samuel Sinclear, the founder of Sinclairville, 
and many years the supervisor of the old town 
of Gerry, enlisted in his Uncle Joseph Cilley's 
regiment (the First New Hampshire, Stark's 
regiment) when he was but fifteen years of 
age, and served three years. He was at Val- 
ley Forge, in the battles of Saratoga and Mon- 
mouth, and in Sullivan's expedition against 



the Indians. His father, Richard Sinclear, was 
a soldier of the French War, and a major of the 
Revolution. His three brothers, one an officer, 
also served in the Revolution. Mr. Sinclear 
had distinguished relatives, among them Gen 
Benjamin F. Butler, whose mother was his 
cousin. He was uncle to Lieut. -Gov. John G. 
Sinclear, of New Hampshire. 

Arthur Bell was one of the earliest settlers 
at Westfield. He was the second supervisor of 
the town of Chautauqua. He served with the 
Niagara board of supervisors at Buffalo in 
1808. He served in the American army of the 
Revolution three years. Elijah Risley, Sr., 
one of the leading citizens and founders of Fre- 
donia, was a soldier of the Revolution. 

Col. Nathaniel Fenton was the first super- 
visor of Poland, and afterward represented the 
county in the Assembly. Before he was 
eighteen years of age he was a brave and trusty 
colonial scout in the War of the Revolution. 
James Dunn, the pioneer settler of Portland, 
was also a soldier in the same war. Robert 
Seaver, a founder of the settlement at Char- 
lotte Center, and all his brothers were Revolu- 
tionary soldiers. 

Col. Nathaniel Bird, one of the most benevo- 
lent of the early citizens of the county, was 
also one of the most enterprising. He was the 
first to run mail stages over the route between 
Buffalo and Erie. In 1826 he ran the first daily 
stages and post coaches over this line. He 
enlisted in the army of the Revolution at the 
age of sixteen, and was honorably discharged 
at the close of the war, and came home ragged 
and barefoot. 

Henry Elliott, of Chautauqua, was a soldier 
of the Revolution. He was badly wounded in 
the campaign of Burgoyne, afterward served as 
coxswain on the ship "Putnam," which in its 
cruise off the coast of England captured nine 
prizes. William Martin, of the same town, 
was in the battle of Bunker Hill; and under 
Arnold and Montgomery in the expedition 
against Quebec, where he was wounded by a 
cannon ball. In 1780 he was captured by the 
Indians in a skirmish at Little Falls, and taken 
to Quebec. After several months' detention 
he made his escape. 

The foregoing are some of the names of the 
soldiers who once resided in Chautauqua 
county. More than one hundred and fifty have 
at some time had their homes here. Many of 
the earliest pioneers were Revolutionary sol- 
diers. It is interesting to know that so many 
of the continental soldiers at some time resided 
in Chautauqua county. There is scarcely a 



8o 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



pioneer burying ground but contains the re- 
mains of one or more.* 

The Jamestown Chapter of Daughters of the 
American Revolution, was organized in Octo- 
ber, 1900, its first regent, Miss Stella Florine 
Broadhead. Among its members was formerly 
Mrs. Maria Cheney Hall, daughter of Eben- 
ezer Cheney, a Revolutionary soldier. He en- 
listed in the American army at the age of seven- 
teen, and served in the Revolutionary War as 
a private. Mrs. Hall died January 17th, 1903, 
at the age of 97 years. Interesting meetings to 
promote the objects of the society are often 
held. The graves of six Revolutionary soldiers 
buried in Lake View cemetery and two in the 
Ashville cemetery are annually decorated by 
the chapter. 

A chapter of Sons of the Revolution, having 
similar purposes with those of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution has been organ- 
ized at Jamestown. Lewis Hall was its first 
regent ; Daniel H. Post, its secretary and treas- 
urer. Mr. Hall, its regent, was much devoted 
to its objects until his decease. He was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Albert L. Smalley. 

Nearly the whole of the population of Chau- 
tauqua county able to bear arms was called to 
the front during the War of 1812. The county 
was represented in the war with Mexico, and 
even in the struggle of Texas for Independ- 
ence. It furnished several thousand gallant 
soldiers and many distinguished officers in the 
Civil War, and had paid out in that contest 
for bounties and war purposes $1,078,144 and 
now was to do its share in the war with Spain. 

Eighteen hundred and ninety-eight was a 
year of brilliant events in the history of the 
country. That year covers the whole period 
of the Spanish War. The revolt of the Cubans 
from Spanish rule in February, 1895, had early 
excited the sympathies of the people of the 
United States, but not until the vigorous policy 
promised by General Weiler took the form of 



*John M. Edson, when a young man, had the honor 
of_ sitting at the table with Lafayette when he was enter- 
tained at Fredonia on his journey through the county 
in 1825. Mr. Edson says that with others, his step- 
father, Major Samuel Sinclear, and thirty other Revo- 
lutionary soldiers, sat at the same table, twelve of whom 
were from Yorktown. Mr. Edson described Lafayette 
to be a man less than six feet high, somewhat corpu- 
lent. He wore a wig of dark hair, was of a dark com- 
plexion and had full cheeks. He talked English well, 
and freely upon the subject of the war, with the sold ers, 
in which they together had participated. He was affable 
and courteous to all. Mr. Edson said that in the con- 
fusion made by the crowd of people assembled that day, 
a woman was thrown from a wagon and injured. 
Lafayette made many inquiries respecting the accident 
and expressed great concern for the injured woman. 



fire, slaughter and starvation to non-combat- 
ants, did the United States make emphatic pro 
test. The story of Chautauqua county's part 
in it is told elsewhere in this work. 

Of the other important events that occurred 
in the county in 1898 may be mentioned the 
completion of the new Erie depot at James- 
town, on the site of the old one. 

The American Library Association met at 
Celoron in July, 1898, over four hundred pro- 
fessional librarians present. The annual meet- 
ing of the Photographers' Association of Amer- 
ica was also held at the same place this year 
In June of this year, Fredonia was quaran- 
tined against the smallpox. There were no 
deaths, and the cases were of a mild type. Five 
thousand seven hundred twenty-eight cars of 
grapes were this year shipped from the grape 
district between Angola and Erie. The value 
of the crop was estimated at $1,170,000. 

In the afternoon of March 25th, Oscar E. 
Rice killed his wife in the town of Westheld. 
They had separated, and she at the time was 
serving as a nurse for Mrs. Hattie Dascomb. 
He killed her with a jackknife, in the presence 
of Mrs. Dascomb, who was at the time sick in 
bed. He then tried to kill himself, but was 
arrested before he accomplished it. He was 
tried in Mayville at a court held by Justice 
Childs. District Attorney Eleazer Green, 
assisted by H. C. Kingsbury, prosecuted in be- 
half of the people. A. B. Ottaway and S. W. 
Mason defended. The defense was insanity. 
A verdict of murder in the first degree was 
found by the jury. The finding of the jury was 
affirmed on appeal, and the prisoner was elec- 
trocuted — the first criminal from Chautauqua 
county that suffered electrocution. 

At the October county court, Joseph Patti, 
an Italian laborer, was tried before Judge 
Jerome B. Fisher for the killing of Grisaulti. 
a companion laborer. They were members of 
a gang of men working on the railroad track 
in the town of Ripley in June of the same year. 
An altercation resulted in the stabbing of Gri- 
saulti by Patti, who died a few days after. Dis- 
trict Attorney Eleazer Green conducted the 
trial for the people ; Patti was defended by 
Thomas Larkin and Archibald D. Falconer 
The prisoner was convicted of murder in the 
second degree, and was sentenced to imprison- 
ment for life. 

The year 1899 opened with a winter colder 
than had been known in Chautauqua county 
for twenty-five years. On the night of Feb- 
ruary 10th the thermometer fell to ten degrees 
and more below zero, with a high and cutting 
wind that forced the cold into the best con- 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



81 



structed dwellings. For nearly a week the 
weather continued bitter cold ; a portion of 
each day for three days it fell to more than 
twenty degrees below zero. At some places in 
the county it was reported as falling below 
thirty degrees. 

In July of 1899 a party of English from 
Jamestown were camped at Driftwood on the 
east shore of Chautauqua Lake. On the 5th of 
that month, Squire Tankard, an Englishman, 
a weaver by occupation, about noon suddenly 
appeared in the camp, and without warning 
shot and instantly killed Mrs. Beaumont, his 
wife's sister, and then shot and severely in- 
jured Mr. William Beaumont, her husband, in 
the arm. He then turned the pistol upon him- 
self, inflicting a serious but not fatal wound, 
and ran for the lake, and waded into its shal- 
low waters. He then returned to the shore and 
attempted to escape across the county, but was 
next day captured in a barn near the village of 
Gerry. The defendant was indicted and tried 
in November, 1899, before Justice Frank C. 
Laughlin. District Attorney E. Green appeared 
for the people ; A. C. and R. F. Pickard ap- 
peared for the defendant. The defence offered 
was insanity, and some evidence was given to 
sustain it. The prisoner was ably defended ; 
the jury, however, rendered a verdict of guilty 
of murder in the first degree. The attorneys 
for Tankard afterward petitioned to Governor 
Roosevelt to appoint a commission of physi- 
cians to examine the defendant as to his insan- 
ity, resulting in a stay of punishment. 

On Sunday, August 20th, a street fight 
occurred in Jamestown in which a number 
were engaged, and Axel Johnson was killed by 
some one whose identity could not be ascer- 
tained. 

A family feud of long standing came to an 
end September 23, in the town of Arkwright. 
The quarrel arose about a land controversy 
between Lavern and Cassius Wilson ; a lawsuit 
resulted in favor of Cassius. Lavern in the 
afternoon of that day left Fredonia for the farm 
of Cassius, where he found him at work in his 
corn field with his hired man. Lavern leaped 
over the fence and ran toward his brother, 
threatening to kill him. Cassius, who was a 
much weaker man physically, drew a revolver 
from his pocket and shot his enraged brother, 
killing him instantly. Cassius was arrested, 
but soon discharged, as the circumstances 
showed that the killing was done in self-de- 
fence. 

The most shocking crime of all was commit- 
ted on the same day, a few hours after the 
homicide mentioned, at Falconer, at about 

Chau— 6 



eight o'clock in the evening. Some young men 
heard the continuous screams of a woman pro- 
ceeding from a retired spot upon which a street 
crossed the Chadakoin. They ran to her res- 
cue. The screams continued until they reached 
the bridge, when they called out to her and she 
feebly answered. They found her still alive, 
but unable to speak. Before a physician could 
be called she died. Her face and throat had 
been cut. The ground about showed the evi- 
dence of the terrible struggle that had occurred 
before the helpless girl gave up her life. Hei 
name was Emily Adolphson, a young Swede 
girl. Frank Wennerholm, who had been a 
suitor of Emily Adolphson and resided in 
Jamestown, was suspected. The handle of a 
razor was found near the body, which was 
proved to have been his. The authorities 
found him in bed; the clothing he wore was 
wet and muddy, and in places stained with 
blood. There were other circumstances to 
show his guilt. A post mortem examination 
disclosed the fact that the murdered girl would 
have been a mother in a few months, which 
was a strong circumstance throwing light upon 
the motive for the crime. Wennerholm was 
tried in June, 1900, at Mayville, Justice White 
presiding. A. C. Pickard and Frank Wheeler 
appeared for the defendant ; E. Green, district 
attorney, for the people. After a short absence 
the jury returned into court with a verdict of 
guilty. Wennerholm's attorneys carried the 
case to the Court of Appeals. The verdict of 
the jury was, however, sustained, and Wenner- 
holm was electrocuted. 

This year Willard McKinstry, of Fredonia 
died. He was the oldest and one of the best 
known editors in the State. In 1842 he became 
the editor of the "Fredonia Censor," which he. 
published for over fifty-seven years. Upon his 
retirement he was succeeded by his son, Louis 
McKinstry. For years "The Censor" was the 
leading Whig and afterwards a Republican 
newspaper. It was the most influential and 
substantial newspaper in Northern Chau- 
tauqua, and is now the oldest in the county, 
having been established in 1821 by H. C. Fris- 
bee. This year Albert Hilton also died. For 
more than twenty years he was the well known 
and popular editor of the "Fredonia Adver- 
tiser and Union," the leading Democratic news- 
paper of the county. 

July 10th, 1900, the first term of a Federal 
Court ever held in Chautauqua county was 
held in Jamestown, by Hon. John R. Hazel. 
F. E. Shaw, of Charlotte, was appointed fore- 
man of the grand jury. At this term, Max La 



82 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Sar was indicted for diamond smuggling, was 
arraigned, and held in $25,000 bail. 

The most disastrous fire that Fredonia had 
ever before experienced occurred on Main and 
Center streets, January 25th, 1900. It was dis- 
covered about 1 :20 o'clock a. m. Twelve build- 
ings were burned, including the Pan-American 
Hotel, Miner's Bank, and the Dunkirk & Fre- 
donia Street Railway power house. Miss Alice 
Huntington, and Warren Leopold Bretzckgi, a 
Swiss house painter, lost their lives. Fourteen 
horses were burned in their stables. The loss 
of property was estimated at $200,000. In 
March the Taber felt factory, one of the larg- 
est manufacturing establishments in the vil- 
lage, was burned. 

A far more terrible fire than all occurred on 
the morning of December 14, of the same yeai, 
when the Fredonia Normal School buildings 
were burned. The fire broke out shortly be- 
fore six o'clock in the morning, in the base- 
ment, in the room occupied by the janitor. The 
cause of it is not known. No fuel was used in 
the building, it being heated by steam supplied 
by the street railway company. Five minutes 
after the fire was discovered, the alarm wa^ 
sounded, but in that short time the office, re- 
ception room and front way were a mass of 
flames. The elevator shaft and the two spiral 
staircases afforded a powerful draft, sucking 
the roaring flames upward to the third story, 
where were the rooms of the lady students. 
Miss Julia D. Sherman, one of the two teachers 
living in the building, by her presence of mind, 
enabled all the young ladies in the south wing 
of the building to escape but one, Miss Cora 
Storms, who perished probably in her room. 
The young ladies in the north wing ran to the 
fire escape in that part of the building, but the 
netted screen of the window was fastened so 
tightly that they were unable to remove it. 
Some then went into adjoining rooms and 
stepped out at the window and made their 
perilous way along the ice covered window 
ledge to the fire escape. The weather was in- 
tensely cold, and they suffered greatly in the 
dangerous exploit. Five young ladies were 
less fortunate ; their charred remains were 
found the Sunday following, close together, 
near the base of the fire escape, indicating that 
they were unable to tear away the screen at 
the window, and overcome by the heat and 
smoke, they had perished together. Miss 
Maude Fizzell, one of those who had crawled 
out of the window and walked along the ledge 
of the Mansard roof and was safe, exclaimed 
that she must go back to the room and get her 
diamond ring. She turned back and was seen 



no more. The janitor, Mr. Morris, although he 
could have saved his life, perished in a fruitless 
effort to stay the fire. Miss McLaury, the 
other teacher living in the building, was over- 
come by the heat, but was aided to escape by 1 
Miss Sherman. The lives of nineteen persons f 
in the building were saved. The following is a 
list of those who perished in the fire : Phineas 
J. Morris, of Fredonia, the janitor; Ruth 
Thomas, of Pike, New York; Cora Storm, of 
Eden Center, New York ; Inez Jones, of Busti, 
New York ; May Williams, Cannonsville. New 
York ; Bessie Hathaway, Lake Coma, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Maude Fizzell, Bradford, Pennsylvania ; 
seven in all. They were all interred in one 
grave. The loss of the buildings and other 
property by the fire was over $200,000. 

The burned Normal School building was the 
successor of the Fredonia Academy. A new 
Normal School building more extensive and 
costly was now built upon the site of the 
burned building, and was formally dedicated in 
the presence of a great number of people, June 
29, 1903. 

Nineteen hundred and two closes the history 
of the first century of our county. That year 
no serious crime was committed or tragedy oc- 
curred. Its events were generally of an agree- 
able character, calculated to bring up and 
strongly impress a pleasing recollection of the 
past history of the county. The Historical 
Society, which was organized in 1883, with 
Prof. Samuel G. Love as president and Dr. W. 
W. Henderson secretary, several years before, 
had resolved to celebrate in 1902 the settle- 
ment of the county. In due time the board of 
supervisors and the Hon. S. Frederick Nixon, 
its chairman, gave their influence and took 
practical measures to further the movement. 
Patriotic citizens contributed liberally to aid 
it, and when the time arrived the citizens ot 
Westfield and in all parts of the county actively 
and enthusiastically by their efforts completed 
the success of the celebration, which occurred 
June 24-25, 1902. 

An interesting event occurred but a few days 
before, which will aid in preserving in the 
future an agreeable remembrance of the cele- 
bration. This was the opening of the exten- 
sion of the Jamestown, Chautauqua & Lake 
Erie railroad, which occurred on Saturday, 
June 21st, 1902. This little piece of road lie-; 
wholly within Chautauqua county, and extends 
through its most picturesque scenery. De- 
scending at the rate of one hundred feet to 
the mile, it passes through deep cuts, over high 
but substantial trestle works, winding among 
the hills and along dark chasms and wild seen- 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875- 1902 



83 



ery, until the blue waters of Lake Erie appear 
in view, terminating in Westfield, close by the 
precipitous bank of Chautauqua creek. On 
the second day of the Centennial, a long train 
passed over this road, loaded with passengers 
from Jamestown, Falconer and Southern Chau- 
tauqua county, to participate in the ceremonies 
of the day. 

The people of the county during the year 
1902 seemed to be filled with a desire to ex- 
press their pleasant remembrance of former 
days. Reunions were held in several towns, 
where old acquaintances after years of separa- 
tion gathered from all parts, often from other 
States. The most notable of these town pic- 
nics was held at Parkhurst's Grove, in Stock- 
ton, on the 26th of August. E. L. McCullough 
presided. S. Fred Nixon was the principal 
speaker. Five thousand people were in attend- 
ance. The year before, the fourth annual town 
picnic had been held in the same grove, when 
three thousand people were present. Many 
articles of interest, relics of early days in 
Chautauqua county, were displayed in a large 
tent. Successful town picnics of a like char- 
acter were held in Cherry Creek and Villenova 
during the year 1902. 

The affection of a Chautauquan for his 
county seemed everywhere this year kindled 
anew. The Chautauqua Society of New York 
City was formed and held its first annual re- 
union and dinner at the Hoffman House in 
that city, the guests, nearly one hundred in 
number. Washington Windsor was president, 
and Justice John Woodward toastmaster. 

Principal among the citizens who have taken 
part in these commemorative gatherings and 
have in recent years rendered valuable service 
to the people of the county in preserving its 
history, the stories and faces of its old pio- 
neers, is Charles J. Shults. In 1900 he edited 
and published a fine collection of illustrated 
historical matter relating to the town of Cherry 
Creek. Afterwards he edited and published a 
like valuable collection relating to the town of 
Dayton, in Cattaraugus county. As that town 
adjoins Chautauqua, his publication is of much 
interest to our county. 

Mr. Shults was born in Ellicottville, Catta- 
ragus county, February 23, 1868. He was 
educated in the Union schools of that place. 
He learned the printer's trade of Robert H. 
Shankiand, one of the best known editors of 
Western New York. He also pursued the 
study of law and medicine. He published 
various newspapers in Cattaraugus and Chau- 
tauqua counties, among them the "Cherry 
Creek News," and has been for many years 



closely connected with Chautauqua county and 
well versed in its recent history. 

In the year 1902 the weather was so unfa- 
vorable that the attendance at the Chautauqua 
Assembly was not so great as the year before. 
Nineteen hundred and one was the Pan-Ameri- 
can year. Fifty thousand people then visited 
Chautauqua, from every State and Territory in 
the Union, including Hawaii, and also from 
Canada, New Zealand, India, China, Peru, Ger- 
many, England, Cuba, Congo, South Africa, 
Sweden, Mexico, Argentine Republic and Bra- 
zil. In 1902, although the total attendance was 
less, the duration of those in attendance was 
longer than ever before. The final exercises 
of the Chautauqua Assembly for that year and 
the last in the closing year in the first century 
of the settlement of the county were held Au- 
gust 28th, in the Hall of Philosophy. 

The Hall of Philosophy was regarded as a 
classic spot in the grove. So many notable 
men had so often discoursed upon learned and 
interesting subjects beneath the roof of this 
old Parthenon, that it had become very dear to 
Old Chautauquans. This was the last exercise- 
held within its colonades, for now it was to be 
torn down and replaced with an edifice of 
stone. 

On the opposite shore of the lake at Point 
Chautauqua, later in the season another struc- 
ture was destroyed, this time by fire — the 
Grand Hotel, a noble edifice which then occu- 
pied the most sightly place on the lake. It 
was 300 feet long by 165 feet wide, the main 
structure five stories high and the wings four 
stories. It was built in 1877-78 by the Baptist 
Association, which had control of the point at 
the time. They had hopes of making it a great 
resort equal to the Chautauqua Assembly 
across the lake. 

Chautauqua county had at the close of 1902 
reached a degree of prosperity that its citizens 
of early years had never anticipated. The 
county had all the attractions of soil and scen- 
ery, market facilities, early educational and 
social opportunities, possessed by the most 
favorable of rural communities. To these were 
added in the last quarter of a century the well- 
known important advantages, which had caused 
it to lead all other counties of the Empire State 
not having large cities within its borders — the 
growth of the grape industry, which estab- 
lished its material prosperity ; and the rise of 
the Chautauqua Assembly, which in a still 
greater degree promoted its material advance- 
ment. The beauty of the lake and its many 
attractions would have been sufficient to draw 
many to its shores. It was, however, the 



84 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



annual meetings of the Assembly that attracted 
the great mass of people to visit it, and that 
gave it its worldwide fame. During its twenty- 
nine seasons of meetings it had been visited 
by Presidents, the Governor-General of Can- 
ada, Statesmen, Governors and Generals, its 
audiences had been addressed by some of the 
most eminent men of the land, and of the day, 
audiences that were immense, that Joseph Jef- 
ferson said were so large as to appall him. Be- 
sides those who actually attended Chautauqua, 
more than ten thousand Chautauqua Home 
Reading Circles were formed and nearly a mil- 
lion people availed themselves of their benefits. 
To nearly every country in the world has the 
Chautauqua idea been carried. People every- 
where have been made familiar with the name 
of our lake. It has been adopted not only as 
the name for other assemblies, offsprings of our 
own, but as the name for other descriptions of 
places besides. 

We cannot better conclude the annals of the 
first century of our county than with some 
account of the general racial character of its 
inhabitants and of their distribution through 
the county. The first colonists have a strong 
influence in fixing the characteristics of their 
descendants for generations. The leading pio- 
neer himself leaves a deep impression upon his 
community. His ideas and methods are gen- 
erally long followed. James and John Mc- 
Mahan furnish instances of this kind. It was 
through their influence that the first settlers 
emigrated from Pennsylvania and established 
themselves around Westfield. These early set- 
tlers came from Northumberland and the coun- 
ties along the Susquehanna river, near the cen- 
ter and in the eastern part of Pennsylvania : 
some were of German, but they were generally 
descendants from the Protestant-Irish families 
that had emigrated from County Down, Ire- 
land. The McMahans were of Irish parentage. 
These Pennsylvanians were an industrious, 
reliable and religious people, and their charac- 
teristics are still to be seen in many of their 
descendants, not only in Westfield, but in other 
of the earliest settled parts of the county. The 
first who came were emigrants from the east- 
ern part of Pennsylvania, among them David 
Eason, Low Minegar and Thomas McClintock. 
These were the earliest settlers at Fredonia. 
The same is true of Captain James Dun, who 
first settled at Portland. 

In the south part of the county, John Frew 
and Thomas Russell, in Carroll, and Robert 
Russell, of Kiantone, all came from Pennsyl- 
vania, and all of Irish parentage from the 
County Down. 



The earliest settlements in the south part of 
the county were made at Kennedy, in the town 
of Poland, and at Worksburg (now Falconer) 
in the town of Ellicott, by Pennsylvanians. 
Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, although he never 
became a resident of the county, may be said 
to have been the founder of Kennedyville. 
Edwin Work was the founder of Worksburg. 
A friendship and certain business relation-hip 
existed between these men. They both came 
from Meadville. Work was born in Franklin, 
Pennsylvania. He studied law and was admit- 
ted to the bar and subsequently was the prose- 
cuting attorney there. He married Mrs. Jane 
Cameron, the widow of Joseph Cameron. He 
was a man of enterprise and ability and integ- 
rity. He caused mills to be built at Worksburg, 
and roads and bridges to be constructed three 
years before any settlement was made at 
Jamestown. When almost the only travel was 
made by Indian trails, keelboats and canoes on 
Chautauqua Lake and the larger streams in the 
southeastern part of the county, he constructed 
keelboats at his mill for the transportation of 
salt from Mayville to Pittsburgh and for other 
purposes. Work ran lumber from his mills to 
New Orleans, as he had done before from the 
Kennedy mills. He shipped cotton when he 
arrived at Natchez, and sold his boats at New 
Orleans for lumber for more than their cost. 
He may be said to be the pioneer of the south- 
ern part of the county, as McMahan had been 
of the northern towns. Worksburg was for 
several years the most important settlement in 
the southern part of the county, as the Cross 
Roads had been in its northern part. The first 
settlers of Poland and Ellicott, through the in- 
fluence of Kennedy and Work, like those of the 
Cross Roads, came from Pennsylvania ; not 
from the Susquehanna region in the east pari 
of the State, but from Meadville and vicinity, 
in Western Pennsylvania. Among these pio- 
neers were Wilson, Culbertson, George W. 
Fenton, the father of Governor Fenton, Ross, 
and other well-known pioneers. Man}' of the 
settlers from Western Pennsylvania or their 
immediate ancestors originally had their homes 
in Northumberland and other counties on the 
Susquehanna, and most often had a Protestant- 
Irish parentage. 

But it was only for a few of the first years 
that settlement was chiefly from Pennsylvania. 
The migrations of men have been generally 
from the East towards the West, with a strong 
tendency to follow lines of latitude, and this 
law was substantially observed in the subse- 
quent settlement of our county. For nearly 
fifty years after the first beginning of settle- 




! 






CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



85 



merit, immigrants came here almost entirely 
from the middle and eastern counties of New 
York and from the New England States. The 
pioneers of the middle and a portion of the 
eastern counties of New York, in accordance 
with the law of migration, had come from the 
county immediately to the eastward. So it is 
that the settlers of Chautauqua county for a 
period of fifty of its earliest years were mainly 
of New England extraction. Of our own 
earliest pioneers many also were from the Brit- 
ish Isles — Irishmen, Scotchmen and English- 
men. Alexander Cochran, a Protestant or 
Scotch-Irishman from the North of Ireland, 
was the first settler of Ripley ; Alexander Find- 
ley, an Irishman, from Pennsylvania, was the 
first settler of Mina. 

When the frontier period had come to a close 
by the organization of Chautauqua as a sepa- 
rate county in the year 181 1, the places that 
have now proved to be the most important 
points in the county had all been selected and 
settled, including Westfield, Fredonia and 
Jamestown. The population, influence and 
wealth of these three towns indicate the fore 
sight and good judgment of their founders — 
Col. James McMahan, Judge Zattu Cushing 
and Judge James Prendergast. 

Judge James Prendergast, Colonel James 
McMahan and Judge Zattu Cushing, three 
leading pioneers of these different and distinct 
parts of the county, besides having broader 
and more comprehensive views as to the direc- 
tion in which the development of the county 
would tend, were possessed of more means 
than most of the early settlers, and could there- 
fore proceed with more deliberation and care in 
choosing the spot at which to stake their for- 
tunes. Colonel McMahan was a surveyor, 
quite familiar with the western wilderness. He 
had traversed the county from its southern 
limits to Lake Erie as early as 1795 with a 
view to location, and finally chose the beauti- 
ful farming land adjacent to Westfield as pre- 
senting the most favorable prospect. Judge 
Cushing also passed through the county in 
1798 or 1799 on his way to Presque Isle to 
superintend the building of the ship "Good In- 
tent," and again on his return east. He select- 
ed his home on the Canadaway, in the fine 
lands around Fredonia, as offering the great- 
est promise to one who would choose a home 
on the frontier. He was no doubt influenced in 
his choice by similar considerations to those 
that governed Colonel McMahan. Judge 
Prendergast, who as early as 1794 or 1795 
traveled extensively in the Southwest, having 
visited the Spanish country of Northern Louisi- 



ana, and in 1805 journeyed through Pennsyl- 
vania to Tennessee with a view to settlement 
in that State, had at last explored the region 
around Chautauqua Lake and along the Cone- 
wango, saw in the magnificent forests of 
Southern Chautauqua a source of wealth. He 
saw also a prospect of its immediate realiza- 
tion in the Allegheny and its tributaries, which 
offered the facilities for the transportation of 
the lumber manufactured at their sources to 
the great market which he perceived was des- 
tined to grow up in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi. 

As lumbering and clearing the land was the 
chief vocation, lakes and water courses, large 
and small, were the principal circumstances 
determining what points were longest to con- 
tinue business centers. Not until fifty years 
after the first settlement of the county did rail- 
roads come to revolutionize transportation and 
travel, changing business centers. The Hol- 
land Land Company deemed Mayvilie, at the 
head of Chautauqua Lake and at the head of 
the navigation of river courses to the Missis- 
sippi Valley and also at the termination of the 
Short Portage to Lake Erie, to be the place 
of importance in the county, as it did the har- 
bor at Barcelona at the opposite termination 
of the portage, and the small harbor at Catta- 
raugus creek. These three places were re- 
garded as the principal points of consequence. 
So much so that they were the only places in 
the county that the company saw fit to survey 
into village lots. Silver Creek was undoubt- 
edly selected for its harbor and water power. 
For the latter reason Forestville, Worksburg, 
Kennedy and Frewsburg, were chosen for set- 
tlement, as was Sinclairville by its pioneer, 
Samuel Sinclear. He thought also that its 
proximity to what he believed would some time 
be an important highway extending eastward 
and westward between the county seats of the 
southern tier of counties of the State to be 
intersected at or near Sinclairville by another 
important highway extending between Buffalo 
and Pittsburgh, would make it a place of some 
note. For similar reasons the crossing at the 
Portage road had much influence in establish- 
ing the location of the first settlement of the 
county at Westfield. 

The county organized and settlement made 
at all of its principal points, emigration was 
continued from Eastern New York and the 
New England States with great vigor. It con- 
tinued almost exclusively from that portion of 
the country for quite forty years and until the 
county had gained three-fifths of its present 
population. At the end of that time it was 



Si. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



inhabited by people almost entirely of New 
England and English extraction. During that 
period the immigrants came in independently 
of each other, and in single families. Some- 
times it would hanpen that the inhabitants of 
a neighborhood came from a single locality in 
the East. 

Several small colonies of English early set- 
tled in the county. The literature and the lan- 
guage, the laws and the traditions of Eng- 
land, are so like those of America, that the 
few distinctive characteristics of these superior 
people disappear more quickly than those of 
any other country. A large portion of the set- 
tlers of the northeast part of the town of Mina 
and the northwest part of the town of Sher- 
man were Englishmen, many of them from 
County Kent. They began to settle in the 
county about the year 1823. Among those 
English pioneers were James Ottaway, the an- 
cestor of A. B. Ottaway, one of the ablest and 
best known lawyers in the county ; William 
Relf, Edward Chambers, Edward Barden, 
Thomas Coveney, William Mayborn, Benja- 
min Boorman, John Thorp and Richard Bass. 

In Charlotte there were many English fam- 
ilies. The street leading from Sinclairville to 
Cherry Creek was first settled by families prin- 
cipally from the South of England. Samuel 
Hurley was the pioneer, he came as early as 
1817. Abraham Reynolds next came in 1819, 
direct from London ; twice he walked from 
Charlotte to New York. Robert LeGreys 
came in 1819; John Thorn in 1834; and in 1836 
John Reed from Devonshire ; Richard Brock, 
Thomas D. Spiking and Thomas Thompson 
came later. The street leading north from the 
Center to Arkwright was also largely settled 
by Englishmen wholly from Yorkshire, in the 
North of England, among them Thomas Pear- 
son, ancestor of Arthur C. Wade, the well- 
known lawyer of Jamestown. William Wright 
and Thomas Dickinson came together in a 
ship from Hull, and settled on this street ; Wil- 
liam Hilton in 1830 ; his son John, who has been 
a director on the Erie railway. The descend- 
ants of these Englishmen and many others 
who came later, constitute a large and sub- 
stantial portion of the population of the town. 
Englishmen early settled in other parts of the 
county. 

About twenty years after the selection of 
Jamestown for settlement by James Prender- 
gast, there came from the Midland counties of 
England the Wilson and Bootey families and 
settled at Jamestown, on the southeast side of 
the Chadakoin, and cleared the land on what 
is now known as English Hill, within the 



bounds of the city of Jamestown. John T. 
Wilson, of the Wilson family, long one of the 
most enterprising and respected citizens of 
Jamestown, and the late Edward R. Bootey, 
of the Bootey family, one of the most able and 
esteemed lawyers of Chautauqua county, were 
both born in Jamestown. Later on and prior 
to 1840, there came from England, William 
and Charles Mace, John Spring, John Armi- 
tage and others. In 1843 William Broadhead. 
who has contributed more to the prosperity 
and advancement of Jamestown than anyone 
now living, came direct from Yorkshire in Eng- 
land ; he was followed the next year by his 
father and Thomas Sunderland, who selected 
Busti for their homes ; and soon after, the 
Northrups, Lords and Jabez Whitley, who also 
settled in Busti. Further additions of Eng- 
lishmen were made in the fifties and sixties. 
These were mostly from Lancashire and they 
largely settled in Sugar Grove and Youngsville, 
Pennsylvania. Soon after the Civil War, the 
manufacturing industries of Jamestown called 
Englishmen from the manufacturing districts 
of England. Early in the seventies many more 
Englishmen came to take a principal part in 
establishing the great textile industries of that 
city. Among them were the families of Joseph 
Turner, Edward Appleyard, Joseph Apple- 
yard, Edward Pickles, Edward Cawley, Samuel 
Briggs, William Briggs, David Hilton, Joseph 
Rushworth, T. H. Smith, Joseph Metcalf, R. 
E. Toothill and the Sedgwick brothers. 

A few Frenchmen early came to Chautauqua 
county. Quite a number of French families 
settled in the northern part of the town of 
Charlotte, and a few in other parts of the 
county, but at no time have the French ex- 
ceeded one hundred in number. Of those who 
settled in Charlotte, John Cardot came in 1828 
or 1829. In 1833 Mr. Tackley, Peter Belandret, 
Mr. Landers, Joseph Gillett and families, Lewis 
and John Simmons and afterwards John and 
August Boquin and Nestor Lamblin and fami- 
lies came. They were all substantial and re- 
liable citizens. 

Irishmen were among the earliest pioneers. 
At first they came independent of each other 
and were scattered among the different settle- 
ments of the county. About the year 1S36 they 
came in large numbers and more in a body, to 
work upon the New York & Erie railroad, then 
in process of construction. About fourteen 
miles of the road was built by them from Dun - 
kirk into the town of Arkwright. when the 
work was suspended and this portion of the 
road abandoned. Theirs was the first work 
performed in building a railroad in Chautauqua 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



county. The result of their labor is still to be 
seen in the old and partly obliterated "cuts and 
fills" and stone culverts that were constructed 
along the line of this piece of abandoned road. 
Many of these Irishmen afterward became citi- 
zens of Villenova, Arkwright and Charlotte. 

By the census of 1845, the population of the 
county was 46,548, nearly all of American 
birth, and almost entirely of British descent, 
much the greater number having been born in 
New York or in the New England States. Per- 
haps 2,500 of the inhabitants of the county were 
of foreign birth, and of these almost all were 
from the British Isles. There were a few Ger- 
mans and Frenchmen, and scarcely one from 
any other country of Europe. Never have the 
people of the county been so purely of British 
extraction since then. In 1845 i* was seldom 
that a person could be found who had come 
from Continental Europe, or could speak any 
other than the English language. When it hap- 
pened it was regarded as a notable circum- 
stance. 

Soon after the year 1845, there began to sec 
in from European countries to the county a 
great tide of immigration which has continued 
without interruption until the present time. 
The first to come were Hollanders. They came 
to the town of Clymer. About the year 1844 
was the beginning of their settlement in that 
town, and now a large percentage of its popu- 
lation are of Holland stock. These citizens re- 
tain in a marked degree the characteristics, 
manners and customs of the parent country. 
The impress of original nationality is likely to 
remain longer with their descendants than 
with the descendants of any other people in 
the county. 

No people have occasion to take more pride 
in their ancestry than those who can trace 
their lineage directly or indirectly back to Hol- 
land. New York is the only State in the Union 
that was principally settled by the people of 
that country. There is much of the State 
that has pleasing remembrances of this in- 
teresting country. In New York City, along 
the Hudson, at Albany, and in the Mohawk 
Valley, live the descendants of this people. 
Holland sympathized with America in her 
struggle for Independence. Soon after the 
Revolution, when it was known as the Repub- 
lic Batavia, eleven staid merchants of the city 
of Amsterdam had such faith in our republi- 
can form of government which at that time 
was regarded by most of the civilized world as 
but a visionary experiment, as to invest a large 
sum of money in the wild lands of the western 
part of this State. They constituted what is 



known as the Holland Land Company. There- 
after for many years the interests of this com- 
pany were most intimately blended with the 
history of our county. Theophilus Cazenove, 
Paul Busti, and John J. Vanderkemp, natives 
or citizens of Holland were the earliest agents 
for the disposition of its lands. 

With the building of the Erie railroad, be- 
ginning about 1849, began a still greater irrup- 
tion of foreigners into the county. Dunkirk 
was the objective point. The Irish were the 
first on the ground, but were closely followed 
by the Germans. The immigrants from both 
of these countries were mostly poor. The 
greater part became permanent residents. Ex- 
cepting the English, no foreigners have be- 
come so quickly and thoroughly Americanized 
as the Irish and Germans. They readily adopt 
American customs, quickly comprehend the 
free principles of government and learn to con- 
servatively apply them. 

After the Irish and Germans came the 
Swedes. Jamestown was then the objective 
point. Three young women from Sweden 
came to Jamestown in 1849. One became the 
wife of Frank Peterson, one Mrs. Otto Peter- 
son, and the third went farther to the west. 
These were the first Swedes to settle in the 
county, the forerunners of the thousands that 
came afterwards. It is said that Samuel John- 
son and Andrew Peterson and some others 
came the same year. The first child of Swed- 
ish parents born in the county was a daughter 
of Andrew Peterson ; it died in infancy. Theo- 
dore, son of Samuel Johnson, born December 
29, 185 1, was the first male child born of Swed- 
ish parentage in the county. Since 1849 tne 
immigration from Sweden to this county has 
been very great. Jamestown is the principal 
place of Swedish settlement, as Dunkirk in the 
north part of the county is now the principal 
home of the Irish, the Germans and the Poles, 
and Fredonia, Westfield and Silver Creek of 
the Italians. More than one-third of the popu- 
lation of Jamestown are Swedes or of Swedish 
parentage. A large percentage of the inhabi- 
tants of the southern towns of Ellicott, Car- 
roll, Kiantone, Busti, Ellery, Chautauqua, 
Harmony and Ellington, and of the town of 
Pomfret are natives of Sweden. 

The people of this nationality at length be- 
came so numerous that in 1874 a Swedish 
newspaper, the "Folkets Rost" (People's 
Voice), was established in Jamestown by Olof 
A. Olson and others. It has been published in 
the Swedish language under different names 
until the present time. The Swedes have estab- 
lished many religious organizations, and have 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



built many churches. The first was the Swed- 
ish M. E. church; it was organized in 1852, 
and a church built. They have established 
libraries and many societies for educational 
improvement and for charitable purposes. The 
Gustavus Adolphus Orphanage, or home for 
orphan children, was organized and incor- 
porated in 1884. The Home owns 87 acres of 
land in East Jamestown, and a brick four-story 
building, which with outbuildings is worth 
$40,000. August J. Lindblad, who has been a 
director and its secretary for many years, has 
been one of the most zealous and faithful work- 
ers for the Home. By the census of 1855 there- 
were 453 persons born in Sweden ; in 1900 the 
natives of Sweden in the county had increased 
in number to 7,151. 

By the census of 1855, there were but five 
Danes in the county. The first to arrive in. 
Chautauqua county was M. P. Jacobson, of 
Jamestown, in 1854; he came from Bornholm, 
an island of the Baltic ; he was a carriage- 
maker and blacksmith by trade. He was fol- 
lowed by L. H. Tideman, a carriage and sign 
painter, and later by A. C. Holmes. John and 
Nicholas Romer were prominent among the 
early Danes. They came in the early sixties 
to Jamestown and entered into the employ of 
Charles Jeffords in the manufacture of axes. 
Nicholas was foreman of the factory. They 
afterwards established an extensive model ax 
factory in Dunkirk. C. C. Beck came to James- 
town in 1864 and established the first ice in- 
dustry of that city. He also engaged in the 
building of steam and other boats on Chau- 
tauqua Lake. For several years nearly all the 
boats upon the lake were built by him. 

The Danes of Jamestown with but few ex- 
ceptions came from the island of Bornholm, in 
the Baltic. But few Danes outside of James- 
town reside in Chautauqua county. They have 
organized various social and religious societies, 
and are intelligent, industrious and law-abiding 
citizens. According to the census of 1900, 316 
residents of the county are natives of Den- 
mark. 

In 1855 there were no Norwegians in the 
county ; by the census of 1900 there were only 
twenty. John A. Hale, of Jamestown, is said 
to have been the first who came from that 
country. Oscar O. Olson was born in Stor- 
hammer, Norway, in 1849, came to the United 
States in 1872, and is prominent among them. 

The Swedes, the Danes and the Norwegians, 
constituting the Scandanavian branch of the 
Teutonic races, are so nearly related to the 
Anglo-Saxons that it makes it easy for them 



to assimilate with and to become in every 
sense of the word American citizens. 

Next after the Swedes came the Polanders. 
They settled in Dunkirk. The first to come 
were Abrose Johnson, Anthony Pogorzelski, 
Joseph Fleming, and John Winkler and their 
families. In 1855 there were 21 Polanders in 
Chautauqua county. Later they began to come 
in greater numbers ; and in 1875 there were 
eighty-five Polish families in Dunkirk, and that 
year St. Hyacinth's Roman Catholic Church 
was erected at a cost of $10,000. The Poles 
principally reside in Dunkirk and the country 
roundabout. They are educating their chil- 
dren and making rapid progress. They are 
among the best farmers in the county ; through 
their energy and industry they are securing 
good homes. In 1900 there were 1,027 natives 
of Poland residing in Chautauqua county, and 
many more descendants. 

The Italians were the last of our foreign- 
born residents to come to Chautauqua county. 
With the exception of a very few who resided 
in Dunkirk, Westfield, and perhaps at some 
other places, there were none of that national- 
ity residing in the county previous to 1890. 
These few were not common laborers, but men 
skilled in some trade or vocation. They were 
usually intelligent, and sometimes educated 
men. Mr. Martignoni, now of Dunkirk, and 
Frank Potalio, of Westfield, are among the 
early Italians. By the census of 1855 there 
was not a single Italian residing in the county, 
and yet fifty years ago and before that date, 
Garibaldi, the most eminent of Italians, came 
to this far western country and visited Dun- 
kirk. Joseph Serrone was the first Italian to 
establish a permanent residence in Dunkirk. 
He came in March. 1888, and established a 
fruit store there. His daughter Lucy was the 
first child born of Italian parents in Dunkirk. 

The Italian population first began to appear 
along the line of the Lake Shore railroad, and 
settle about the same time in several of the 
northern towns of the county. In the early part 
of the year 1891, Toney Dolce and Alex Gen- 
tile came to Westfield. Since then there has 
been a constant influx of this people to that 
village. In 1892, while the street railway was 
being constructed between Dunkirk and Fre- 
donia, some Italian laborers from Buffalo were 
engaged in work upon it, among them Peter 
Lauza. He brought his family from Buffalo 
and took up his residence in Fredonia, and was 
the first to reside in Pomfret. In 1893 relatives 
of the Lauzas and other families, about ten 
families in all, came from Buffalo, with a few 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



others from Italy, to Fredonia. From that 
year to the present time they have been in- 
creasing rapidly in the vicinity of Fredonia, 
coming usually upon the invitation of their 
relatives who preceded them. In 1894 Peter 
Lauza was the first to open the new industry 
of wine making to the Italian settlers in West- 
ern New York. This wine industry is largely 
carried on by Italians residing in the county, 
but American firms have also been started. 
This wine is made of the pure grape juice and 
allowed to ferment itself. This industry has 
been so greatly developed within recent years 
that grape lands have greatly increased in 
value. Antonio La Grasso is now at the head 
of a large wine industry in Fredonia. Pietro 
Elardo and Antonio La Duca are large manu- 
facturers. One hundred thousand dollars are 
probably invested in the wine business at and 
near Fredonia. There are many successful 
Italian farmers cultivating lands in the Ameri- 
can way, among them the Russo brothers. 
Frank La Grasso has an extensive macaroni 
factory. 

The first to settle at or near Brocton was 
Peter Rumfolo and his family and brother-. 
Rumfolo came about 1892 or 1893. He was 
followed by other families until now there are 
about one hundred Italian residents in that 
town, among them the two brothers Faso, who 
own an extensive wine cellar. These Italians 
are from the island of Sicily and are all small 
in stature but one, who is taller and larger than 
the others, whose name is Paolicckia, and who 
came from Italy proper. His family conform to 
the customs of America, and he manages one of 
the largest grape farms in the vicinity and is 
successful in the wine business. Many Italians 
have settled in Dunkirk and still more near 
Silver Creek, where they are engaged in rais- 
ing grapes and making wine. In considerable 
numbers they are beginning to appear in other 
towns in the county. The Italians now resid- 
ing in Chautauqua county are an industrious, 
law-abiding and peaceful people. They show 
an interest in educating their children. Their 
children attend the public schools, are eager to 
learn and make rapid advancement in their 
studies. 

It is a singular fact that the majority of the 
Italians residing in Chautauqua county came 
from the single town of Valledolmo, in Central 
Sicily. This is true also of many of the Italians 
residing in Buffalo and other parts of the State. 
The Italians are the last of our foreign popula- 
tion that have immigrated to Chautauqua 
county in considerable numbers. 

By the United States census taken in 1850, 



the rapid increase of the foreign population and 
the great change that was soon to take place 
in the racial character of the people of the 
county first began to appear. By this census 
residents of foreign birth had increased to 
3,622, about seven per cent, of the whole popu- 
lation. These foreigners were more than two- 
thirds Irish, English and Canadians, the re- 
mainder were principally Germans from the 
continent of Europe. 

By the census taken in 1855, a still greater 
change appears to have taken place in these 
respects. By this census fourteen per cent, of 
the whole population were foreign born. Of 
these, 2,483 were born in Ireland ; 1,455 m Eng- 
land ; 1,207 m Germany ; 453 in Sweden ; 334 in 
Canada; 289 in Holland; 128 in Scotland; 93 
in France ; 45 in Switzerland ; 27 in Wales ; 25 
in Prussia; 21 in Poland; 5 in Denmark; 2 in 
Asia; 1 in Russia, and none from Norway, 
Italy, Spain or Portugal. Of these 3,223 were 
born in Continental Europe against 4,345 born 
in the British Dominions. 

By the census of 1875, taken at the beginning 
of the last period in the history of the county, 
it appears that 1,138 were born in Canada; 
2,143 in England ; 3,987 in Ireland ; 341 in 
Scotland. In all, 7,609 were born in the Brit- 
ish Dominions, while 3,946 were born in Ger- 
many, and 6,156 in other countries, principally 
in Sweden, a total of 10,102, who were a ma- 
jority all born in Continental Europe. The 
whole population of the county aside from a 
few Indians, at the beginning of the last period 
of its history was 64,781, of which 17,711, 
being 27 per cent., were born in foreign coun- 
tries. 

According to the census of the county taken 
in 1900, almost at the close of the first cen- 
tury of our history, the whole population of 
the county had increased to the number of 
88,314 inhabitants, of which 70,765 were native- 
born citizens, and 17,549 foreign-born. Of the 
foreigners, the Swedes were far the most nu- 
merous, as the Irish had been during the early 
years of the immigration. Seventy-one hun- 
dred fifty one were born in Sweden ; 2,859 m 
Germany; 2,085 m England; 1,244 in Ireland; 
1,127 in Poland; 977 in Canada; 761 in Italy; 
437 in Holland; 316 in Denmark; 186 in Scot- 
land; 106 in Switzerland; 76 in France; 41 ir 
Russia; 21 in Austria; 20 in Norway, 19 in 
Wales; 12 in China; 12 in Finland; 9 in Asia; 
1 in Hungary ; 1 in Turkey ; 1 in Belgium ; 1 
in Cuba, and 44 in other countries. 

In 1875 over 27 per cent, of the whole popu- 
lation of the county were foreign-born, while 
in 1900 but 20 per cent, were of foreign birth. 



9° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Yet it is probable that in 1900 as many citizens 
were of foreign blood, largely of Continental 
Europe, as at any time in its history. By the 
census of 1900, 47,721 were native-born citizens 
having native-born parents, while 40,403 of its 
inhabitants were either of foreign birth or both 
parents were of foreign birth, 40 per cent, of 
the whole population. About sixty years be- 
fore, about 20 per cent, only were of this char- 
acter, and this small number were not tinc- 
tured with the blood of Continental Europe. 

We have yet to mention two other classes 
of people residing in the county who may be 
said to be to the manner born. The colored 
people of African descent have been settlers to 
some extent ever since the county was first 
settled, and still remain distinct from all other 
classes by reason of a far wider racial differ- 
ence. Joseph Hodge, or Black Joe, was sell- 
ing goods to the Indians on the Cattaraugus 
creek as early as 1792. In 1806, when William 
Prendergast, Sr., his sons, daughters and 
grandchildren, came in a body together, they 
brought with them from Pittstown, New York, 
their favorite slave Tom. Other slaves and 
free negroes drifted into the county while it 
was in process of settling. As many as eight 
slaves resided in the county with their masters 
in 1817. According to the census reports there 
were five slaves in the county in 1814, three in 
1820, and one as late as 1830. In 1850 there 
were 140 colored people of African descent in 
Chautauqua county, 70 males and 70 females. 
Some of them were runaway slaves and others 
were free-born. All were natives of the United 
States and many of Chautauqua county. Of 
these, Mrs. Katherine Harris was the oldest. 
She was born in Pennsylvania, is 94 years of 
age, and resided in Chautauqua county 75 years 
(1900). Her grandfather on her father's side 
was a negro rescued from a slaveship on its way 
from Africa. Her other grandparents were 
white. The colored population in 1900 was 148, 
mostly residing in Jamestown, and of these 78 
were males and 70 were females. 

According to the census of 1900, 31 Indians 
were residing upon the part of Indian reserva- 
tion that lies in Chautauqua county in the 
town of Hanover. 

Of the 88,314 inhabitants in the county 
according to the United States census taken in 
1900, the town of Arkwright has 918; Busti, 
2,192; Carroll, 1,684: Charlotte, 1,406; Chau- 
tauqua, 3,590; Cherry Creek, 1,745; Clymer, 
1,229 • Dunkirk Citv, 1 1,616 ; Dunkirk town, 454 ; 
Ellery, 1,628; Ellicott, 3,118; Ellington, 1,330; 
French Creek, 1,014; Gerry, 1,198; Hanover, 
4,778; Harmony, 2,998; Jamestown city, 22,- 



892 ; Kiantone, 491 ; Mina, 1,038 ; Poland, 1,613 ; 
Pomfret, 6,313; Portland, 2,690; Ripley, 2,256; 
Sheridan, 1,633; Sherman, 1,560; Stockton, 
1,852; Villenova, 1,206; Westfield, 3,882. 

The population of the cities and villages of 
the county was : Jamestown, 22,892 ; Dunkirk, 
11,616; Fredonia, 4,127; Westfield, 2,430; Sil- 
ver Creek, 1,944; Falconer, 1,136; Mayville, 
943; Brocton, 900; Sherman, 760; Cherry 
Creek, 701 ; Forestville, 623; Sinclairville, 577; 
Lakewood, 574; Celoron, 506; Panama, 359; in 
all, 50,088 people. In the fifteen or more 
smaller villages and hamlets, there were at 
least 4,000 more inhabitants, making in all 
54,000 residents of cities and villages, leaving 
about 34,000 living in the country districts. 
Although Chautauqua is called a rural county, 
five-eighths of its inhabitants were in cities 
and villages. In the last 50 years the village 
and city population had increased threefold, 
while the population of the country part of the 
county remained about the same that it was 
fifty years ago, and but little more than it was 
seventy years ago. 

Although there may be little to distinguish 
the early annals of the county from those of 
other parts of Western New York, no century 
in the history of Chautauqua that will come 
after the present will be of equal interest. The 
tale of the pioneer, his free and simple life, his 
great expectations, the hardships he endured, 
the sacrifices he made and his final success will 
always interest. The novelty of a life in the 
backwoods, and the rapid progress that settle- 
ment made in this first hundred years, will in 
the future bear a romantic interest. If the 
early pioneer were here now, he would marv.;l 
at the changes that have been wrought, the 
railroads that have been constructed, the towns 
and cities that have been built, the green fields 
that spread everywhere among the hills. When 
the sound of his ax was first heard along the 
shore of Chautauqua Lake the Indian had not 
taken leave of Fair Point, the deer browsed in 
its groves, and the wolf nightly serenaded 
there. Now all is changed ; in the same groves 
thousands gather from all parts of the land to 
listen to the discourse of orators and philoso- 
phers from all parts of the world upon scien- 
tific and advanced topics of the da)'. All this 
change has occurred in the span of a single life. 
Austin Smith was born in March, 1804, mar- 
ried the daughter of the first pioneer in the 
county, became an able lawyer, the contempo- 
rary of Jacob Houghton, James Mullett and 
Dudley Marvin, and other almost forgotten 
lawyers, distinguished in the very earliest 
annals of the county. He in his prime took a 



CLOSE OF THE CENTURY— 1875-1902 



prominent part in the affairs of the county, and 
was one of the best known of its early citizens 
and in 1903, at the advanced age of ninety- 
nine years, Mr. Smith was still living in the 
village of Westfield. 

A few other facts will serve to show in a 
striking way how great has been the change, 
and how rapid has been the progress of the 
county in the first hundred years of its his- 
tory. 

In 1801 the county was an uninhabited wil- 
derness. By the census taken in 1810, nine 
years later, it had a population of 2,381. In 
181 1 it was an organized county. That year 
$1,500 was voted by its supervisors to build 
a court house and jail, and $988 for all other 
town and county purposes. In 1821, ten years 
later and but a short time before the Erie canal 
was built, while the county was yet emerging 



from its pioneer condition, the equalized value 
of the real estate of the county was $1,849,248. 
The town, State and county taxes had increased 
to $8,292. In 1850, the year before the Erie 
railroad was completed, the equalized value of 
its real estate was $5,301,368, and the taxes, 
town, county and State, were $39,145, and now 
a half-century later, in 1902, the equalized 
value of real estate is $37,403,184, and the total 
town, county and State tax is $221,945. 

In 1850, about the middle of the first cen- 
tury of its history, when the county was on 
the eve of entering on its greatest era of prog- 
ress, not a mile of railroad of any kind was in 
operation in the county ; in 1902 there were two 
hundred fifty miles of steam railroad and 
twenty-four miles of electric road built, and 
more than fifty miles more of electric road soon 
to be constructed. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Opening of the Twentieth Century. 



The year 1903 was ushered in by a disastrous 
fire in Jamestown, the Hall Estate Block at the 
corner of Main and Third streets being badly 
damaged, while the tenants all sustained severe 
losses. For five hours the firemen under Chief 
Wilson fought the flames and saved the block 
from total destruction. This disaster was the 
beginning of a series of fires, drownings and 
accidental injuries that marked the beginning 
year of Chautauqua's second century. 

At the opening of the 1903 session of the 
New York House of Representatives, S. Fred- 
erick Nixon was placed in nomination by As- 
semblyman J. Samuel Fowler, of Chautauqua, 
and for the fifth time was elected speaker of 
the house, an honor gracefully acknowledged 
by Speaker Nixon. 

On March 5, Mrs. Betsey Hudson, of Beulah 
Place, Jamestown, celebrated the beginning of 
her 100th year, her guests finding their hostess 
in good health, and except for infirmities of 
sight and hearing, in possession of all her 
faculties. 

At the same time Mrs. Sarah Andres, of Sil- 
ver Springs, was entering upon her 101st year 
in wonderful health, reading without glasses 
and rising at six each morning. 

On the night of January 8-9, fire broke out 
at No. 10 South Main street, Jamestown, which 
caused a loss of $40,000 before it was brought 
under control. 

On January 17, 1903, Maria Cheney Hall, 
daughter of Seth Cheney, a Revolutionary 
soldier, and widow of James Hall, a Civil War 



veteran, died at her home in Jamestown, in her 
ninety-seventh year. Her early life was spent 
in Kiantone, but her later years in Jamestown. 
She was a member of the local chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, the 
only "true daughter" belonging to that body. 
She was deeply revered by her sisters of the 
chapter, who officially paid suitable tribute to 
her memory. 

At five o'clock a. m., January 20, a fatal fire 
occurred at Dunkirk, in which Fred Teadt, a 
man of 70, was burned to death. 

The opening of the fishing season of 1903 
on Lake Chautauqua was marked by a sad acci- 
dent on the morning of February 2. David 
Pederson, a stalwart Dane in the prime of life, 
driving a fish coop on the lake for a day's fish- 
ing, lost his bearings in the thick fog and drove 
directly into an open body of water. Heavily 
weighted with clothing, he quickly sank, and 
did "not rise again. He left a wife and five chil- 
dren. 

Funeral services were held in the Methodist 
Episcopal church of Cherry Creek, Sunday, 
February 8, 1903, in memory of Vernon F. 
Skiff, who died in the Philippines. He was one 
of the teachers first sent out by the govern- 
ment to the islands, and was in charge of a 
school of one hundred Filipino children, none 
of whom could speak English, nor could he 
speak their language. Mr. Skiff was a gradu- 
ate of Fredonia State Normal School, class of 
1901, and a resident of Cherry Creek, that vil- 



9 2 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



lage also the home of his parents, his brother 
and sister. 

On February 26, 1903, the cornerstone of the 
Federal building at Jamestown was laid. 

The plant of the Jamestown Dining Table 
Company was almost totally destroyed by fire, 
March 5, 1903, Night Watchman Walter Ru- 
land losing his life, and Fire Chief Wilson sus- 
taining severe injuries. 

On June 29, 1903, the new State Normal 
School building at Fredonia was dedicated. 
The handsome and adequate building replaced 
the one destroyed by fire, December 14, 1900, 
with the loss of seven lives. The new building, 
one of the costliest and handsomest school 
buildings owned by the State of New York, 
and a worthy monument to the cause of edu- 
cation, was duly dedicated to its intended pur- 
pose, with impressive services held in the 
chapel. State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction Charles R. Skinner delivered an ad- 
dress, as did S. Frederick Nixon, speaker of the 
New York House of Representatives, and 
others. Louis McKinstry, editor of the "Fre- 
donia Censor," and for many years secretary of 
the local board, prepared and read an historical 
sketch of the school. 

The Republican county convention met at 
Dunkirk, July 1, 1903, and renominated J. D. 
Gallup for county clerk, Charles Kenney for 
coroner, and S. Frederick Nixon for Assem- 
bly (Second District). John C. Jones, a new- 
comer in the official life of the county, was 
nominated for sheriff after a sharp contest. He 
had been a member of the county committee 
from Westfield for several years, and a mem- 
ber of the executive committee. Arthur C. 
Wade, of Jamestown, a well-known attorney, 
was nominated for Assembly from the First 
District. 

At the meeting of the County Board of Su- 
pervisors, S. Frederick Nixon was unanimously 
elected chairman. O. D. Hinckley, who had 
been an officer of the board for thirty-three 
years and clerk for about twenty years, having 
declined to again serve, Frederick W. Hyde, 
of Jamestown, was elected clerk ; Theodore A. 
Case, of Ellington, was elected chairman pro 
tern. 

On October 5, 1903, the first trolley car to 
make its appearance in Westfield ran over the 
line from Northeast, stopping at the Main 
street bridge. 

John J. Aldrich, former county clerk and 
supervisor, died in Jamestown, October iS, 
1903. He was a lifelong resident of Chau- 
tauqua county, a merchant of Ellery and 
Jamestown, and very popular. He was elected 



county clerk in 1876, and was reelected to suc- 
ceed himself, the only instance of the reelec- 
tion of a county clerk in Chautauqua during 
the forty years preceding his own. In 1888 he 
was elected supervisor from Jamestown, was 
chairman in 1890-91, and a member of the 
board continuously until 1896. 

The proposition to bond the State for $101,- 
000,000 to improve the Erie canal met with de- 
feat in Chautauqua county, where the vote 
stood 3,441 for, 10,626 against. The full Re- 
publican county ticket was elected by about 
the usual majorities in an "off" year. John C. 
Jones, the candidate for sheriff, was the only 
new official elected, County Clerk Gallup and 
Coroner Kenney being reflections. Speaker 
Nixon was again elected Assemblyman from 
the Second District, Arthur C. Wade from the 
First District. 

At a meeting of the commissioners of the 
Niagara Reservations, held at Niagara Falls, 
December 22, 1903, Charles M. Dow, of Chau- 
tauqua county was elected president of the 
commission, the third to fill that office since 
the creation of the commission two decades 
earlier. Mr. Dow had been a member of the 
commission for about five years and had taken 
a deep interest in preserving the natural beau- 
ties and grandeur of the reservation and in 
providing facilities and accommodations for 
visitors. 

An important event in Masonic circles 
marked the beginning of the year 1904. On 
January 4 two bodies of the Ancient Accepted 
Scottish Rite were instituted in Jamestown : 
Jamestown Lodge of Perfection, with Shelden 
B. Brodhead, thrice potent grand master ; 
Jamestown Council, Princes of Jerusalem, with 
Samuel Briggs as grand master. The officers 
of Palmoni Lodge of Perfection and of Pal- 
moni Council, Princes of Jerusalem, and other 
notables in Masonry, were present, performed 
the rites of institution, and conferred the de- 
grees upon a large class of candidates. 

Bitter cold marked the opening week of the 
new year, the United States government ther- 
mometer at No. 5 Garfield street, Jamestown, 
registering 31 degrees below zero at 8 p. m., 
January 4. This was the lowest reading of the 
thermometer since government weather rec- 
ords had been preserved in the city. Reports 
from all parts of the county were of abnormal 
cold, and Obed Edson, of Sinclairville, an au- 
thority on county affairs, asserted that "this 
morning was the coldest of any within my 
recollection." 

At the opening of the New York Legislature, 
January 6, S. Frederick Nixon, of Chautauqua. 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



93 



was elected speaker of the house. On the 
speaker's desk was a beautiful floral design, a 
tribute from Westfield friends ; fourteen links 
in yellow immortelles were emblematic of the 
fourteen terms Mr. Nixon had served as As- 
semblyman, while the six gavels in white im- 
mortelles surmounting the design were in 
token of his sixth election as speaker. At the 
same session of the house, Arthur C. Wade, of 
Jamestown, took his seat as a newly-elected 
member. 

The Chautauqua County Society of New 
York City, composed of one hundred members, 
men and women, who formerly lived in Chau- 
tauqua county, held their second annual din- 
ner at the Hoffman House, January 26, 1904, 
Justice John Woodward, of Jamestown, presid- 
ing as toastmaster. Louis McKinstry, of Fre- 
donia, was the first speaker, and was followed 
by Dr. John T. Williams, of Dunkirk. 

The proprietor of the hotel, John F. Cadda- 
gan, a former resident of Dunkirk, opened the 
rarely used banquet hall for the occasion, and 
threw open his own private parlors to the 
society. 

Ira Lucas, the newly-elected supervisor from 
Clymer, and a prosperous farmer, committed 
suicide by hanging, January 28, 1904, the body 
being found hanging from a beam in his own 
barn. Temporary aberration was the only 
cause that could be assigned for his deed. The 
severe weather of the winter had made the 
county roads impassable, and this preyed upon 
his mind, he thinking that as supervisor he 
would be blamed for their condition in Clymer. 

A pleasing feature of county official life was 
the marriage of James D. Gallup, for seven 
years clerk of the county, on February 8, 1904, 
the bride, Mrs. Mary Waite Pope, a daughter 
of Frank M. Waite, copy clerk in the county 
clerk's office. 

The breaking up of the severe winter of 
1903-04 brought with it severe floods, which 
were particularly destructive in Kiantone, the 
Stillwater overflowing and covering acres upon 
acres with ice cakes. 

At the final adjournment of the State Legis- 
lature, April 15, 1903, Speaker Nixon was pre- 
sented by vote of the Assembly with an order 
for an oil portrait of himself, to be hung in the 
speaker's room at the capitol. This was an 
unusual honor, as but two previous speakers 
have their portraits hanging in that room. 

April 29, 1903, marked the closing hours of 
the life of George W. Patterson, of Westfield, 
a man of culture and public prominence, son of 
Governor George W. Patterson. 

A fatal factory fire occurred in Jamestown, 



Friday afternoon, May 6, 1903, in which An- 
drew Nord, a man of sterling worth, lost his 
life. The fire destroyed the large four-story 
furniture factory of A. C. Nordquist & Com- 
pany, with its entire equipment and a large 
quantity of valuable lumber. Three houses 
were also destroyed, and several others badly 
damaged. Mr. Nord, a partner in the com- 
pany, was in the office of the factory, and it is 
thought that in seeking to warn employes of 
their danger, he was overcome by smoke. He 
was born in Sweden and had reached the age 
of fifty. His body was recovered. 

The discovery of the body of Frank Lane, 
near Driftwood, closed the last chapter of a 
tragedy which occurred on the afternoon of 
November 6, 1903, when Rell Jackson and 
Frank Lane hired a boat and started out to 
hunt ducks on Lake Chautauqua. That was 
the last time they were seen alive. The follow- 
ing day the boat was found on the beach of 
Shearman's bay, but all attempts to find the 
bodies failed and in December the lake closed 
with its secret untold. On April 14, 1904, the 
body of Mr. Jackson was found floating not far 
from shore between Greenhurst and Fluvanna, 
but not until June 8 was the other body dis- 
covered. On the afternoon of that day, Mor- 
ris O'Connell, engineer of the Chautauqua 
Lake train, due in Jamestown at 6:35, while 
running at high speed on that portion of the 
road near the lake at Driftwood, caught a 
glimpse of a floating body, stopped his train, 
ran back to the place, and there found the long 
sought for body of Frank Lane. 

On Monday, July 4, 1904, cars of the Chau- 
tauqua Traction Company began making regu- 
lar trips between Jamestown and Chautauqua. 
One of the passengers on the first car, which 
left the Sherman House at six o'clock, was 
Bishop John H. Vincent, one of the founders 
of the great Chautauqua Institution. 

The Chautauqua County Republican Con- 
vention met in Jamestown, July 5, 1904. 
Arthur C. Wade, of Jamestown, and S. Fred- 
erick Nixon, of Westfield, were renominated 
for the Assembly ; Frank K. Patterson, of Dun- 
kirk, for district attorney; Frank S. Wheeler 
for special county judge; and Edward B. Os- 
good, of Portland, for coroner. 

At 6:30 p. m., July 7, the hardware store at 
Chautauqua was discovered in flames, which 
were not subdued until the entire business 
square of the Assembly grounds were in ashes. 
Men and apparatus were sent from Mayville 
and Jamestown, and with their help the local 
firemen were able to save the Children's 
Temple, Kellogg Memorial building, the meat 



94 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



and milk depots, all of which were in grave 
danger. The fire interfered little with the 
regular routine of Chautauqua life, and soon 
after it was found to be under control the usual 
evening audience gathered in the amphitheatre. 

The centennial anniversary of the settlement 
of the town of Sheridan held August 25, 1904. 
was a most creditable celebration of an histori- 
cal event. A monument was unveiled at the 
James Collins farm, two miles east of the vil- 
lage of Sheridan, on the site of the log house 
built by Francis Webber in August, 1804. 
After the unveiling, the people gathered in Pat- 
terson's grove in the village, where speeches 
were made by J. G. Gould, of Sheridan, whose 
father was the first white child born in the 
town of Pomfret ; Obed Edson, of Sinclair- 
ville ; S. Frederick Nixon, of Westfield ; Man- 
ley J. Toole, and A. B. Sheldon, of Sherman, 
whose grandfather, Winsor Sheldon, bought 
land from the Holland Land Company in 1807, 
and with his brother Haven, in 1S10, built the 
first sawmill in that section. U. J. Doty, whose 
grandfather settled in Sheridan in 1820, read 
a carefully prepared and valuable historical 
paper. 

September 13 was the opening day of the 
nineteenth annual meeting of the national en- 
campment of the Union Veteran Legion of the 
United States in Jamestown. Veterans of the 
Civil War from many parts of the country were 
in attendance, and the city most royally enter- 
tained them. 

A killing frost swept over Southern and Cen- 
tral Chautauqua on the night of September 2i, 
doing vast damage. The northern part of the 
county escaped without great loss through the 
protection the heavy vegetation afforded the 
grapes. On the lowlands of the Cassadaga 
Valley in the town of Carroll, the mercury 
dropped to twenty degrees above zero. 

The County Board of Supervisors met in 
annual session in Mayville, September 26, 1904. 
New members were E. J. Daughertv, Thomas 
Hutson, C. A. Mount, H. N. Crosby, L. E. 
Button, Michael C. Donovan and Charles J. 
Anderson. The member elected for Clymer 
having died, his place was filled by the appoint- 
ment of the former supervisor from the town, 
Lorenzo P. McCray, Jr. The vacancy caused 
by the resignation of John W. Willard, of 
Jamestown, was filled by the appointment of 
Charles J. Anderson, a former member of the 
board. All the old officers of the board were 
reelected. Fred W. Hyde was again appointed 
clerk; Louis McKinstry, assistant clerk; 
Charles J. Shults, journal clerk, and Arthur B. 
Ottaway, attorney. 



Austin Smith, of Westfield, died October 
25, 1904, aged 100 years, 7 months, 9 days — 
Chautauqua's oldest inhabitant. Said Phin M. 
Miller of him in the "Centennial History of 
Chautauqua County" (1902) : 

Any attempt even to outline our educational history 
omitting to mention the name of Hon. Austin Smith 
would mark the effort a failure. During an active, use- 
ful and long life he has been closely identified with the 
cause of education. He was the first principal of the 
first academy in the county, beginning his work in 1826. 
In 1830 he settled in Westfield. He was a member of 
the first boSrd of trustees of Westfield Academy, organ- 
ized in 1837, and ever its warm and earnest friend. In 
1868, when the high school succeeded the academy, he 
was elected president of the Board of Education. For 
more than sixty years he was an active, intelligent edu- 
cational force doing good work for the cause in which 
he had a peculiar interest. His name has always been 
the synonym for all that is pure and true. 

Austin Smith was admitted to the bar in 
February, 1830, and began practice in West- 
field the same year, having Abram Dixon as 
his partner until Mr. Smith was appointed by 
Governor Seward surrogate of Chautauqua 
county in 1840, an office he held four years. 
He was a member of the Legislature of 1850- 
51, and in 1853, on the recommendation of 
Secretary Chase, was appointed examining 
agent of the United States Treasury Depart- 
ment for South Carolina and Florida. Later 
he filled the office of tax commissioner. On 
March 16, 1904, he celebrated his centennial 
anniversary, being at the time in good health, 
able to receive the friends who called to con- 
gratulate him, and to have his photograph 
taken. In 1828 Austin Smith married Sarah 
H., daughter of the pioneer settler, Col. James 
McMahan. 

At 5 :30 a. m., November 26, an alarm called 
out Dunkirk's fire department to extinguish 
flames in a boxcar near the Erie depot. On 
returning from the fire a combination hose and 
chemical wagon was struck by the Southwest- 
ern Limited Express train on the Lake Shore 
railroad, Frank Miller, the driver of the wagon, 
being killed, the other fireman receiving severe 
shocks, but no severe injuries. 

At 1 a. m., December 7, the freight house of 
the Lake Shore, at Westfield, was discovered 
in flames, and owing to the high wind the build- 
ing, book records of the office and several 
freight cars were destroyed before the firemen 
had the fire under control. The nearby Lake 
Shore Hotel was saved. 

Warren Dalrymple, a veteran of the Civil 
War, serving in the 112th New York State In- 
fantry, who had been living alone on the 
Eggleston farm since the death of his wife. 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



95 



April 8, 1904, was found dead in his chair, late 
in the afternoon of December 12. 

At the opening session of the 1905 Legisla- 
ture. S. Frederick Nixon, of Chautauqua 
county, was for the seventh time elected 
speaker of the House of Assembly. This ex- 
ceeded all previous records for length of serv- 
ice as speaker, six terms having been the limit. 

Immediately after the passing of the old 
year in Mayville, John K. Patterson assumed 
the duties of district attorney of Chautauqua 
county, his oath of office having been recorded 
with County Clerk Gallup, and his bond with 
County Treasurer Swift earlier in the day. He 
succeeded Eleazer Green, of Jamestown, and 
had during the previous four years been Ah 
Green's assistant. 

On January 9, 1905. Chautauqua, among 
otber counties of the State, was awarded by 
the State Court of Claims money paid into the 
State Treasury under the law of 1869, which 
could have been retained to apply to the sink- 
ing fund for the redemption of bonds issued 
to aid in railroad construction half a century 
earlier. The amount returned to Chautauqua 
county was $44,014.19. 

Amid profoundly impressive scenes, a memo- 
rial tablet was unveiled in the high school 
building, Jamestown, during the afternoon of 
January 13, to the memory of Samuel Gurley 
Love, born 1821, died 1893, organizer of James- 
town public schools, and their superintendent, 
1865-1890. Frank W. Stevens, a former mem- 
ber of the Board of Education, made the memo- 
rial and dedicatory address. 

One of the largest security company bonds 
executed in Chautauqua county up to that 
time was issued January 14 by Arthur B. 
Hitchcock for $120,000. The bond was issued 
on behalf of Theodore A. Case, of Ellington, 
as committee of the person and property of 
Henry Allen, of the town of Conewango, who 
had been adjudged incompetent. 

Unusual distinction attended the 74th annual 
meeting of the Chautauqua County Trust Com- 
pany, held in Jamestown, January 18, 1904. 
This arose from the fact that it was presided 
over by the nonagenarian A. G. Dow, of Ran- 
dolph, then in his 97th year, and father of 
Charles M. Dow, president of the company. 
The veteran director and presiding officer was 
quite vigorous physically, and his mental facul- 
ties seemed unimpaired, despite his great age. 

Early in the morning of February 16, fire 
destroyed the interior of the main business 
block of Brocton, causing a loss of $50,000. 
Help came from Dunkirk, which combined 
with the efforts of the local firemen kept the 



fire within the limits of the block in which it 
started. 

A storm swept over Chautauqua county on 
the night of February 17, which was the worst 
in many years. With a few noteworthy ex- 
ceptions, every train in the county was held in 
the snow, and much inconvenience as well as 
suffering resulted. Rural mail carriers were 
in many cases unable to cover their routes, and 
dairymen were badly interferred with in mak- 
ing deliveries. 

Charles S. Abbott, vice-president of the 
Eastman Kodak Company, and one of James- 
town's best known business men, died at Oak 
Lodge, near Enfield, South Carolina, March 1, 
1905. The body was brought to Jamestown 
for burial. 

Dr. Julien T. Williams died at his home in 
Dunkirk, April 10, 1905. He was a son of Dr. 
Ezra and Sarah King (Clark) Williams, who 
were among the pioneer settlers of the county, 
moving from Oneida county to Dunkirk in 
1820. Dr. Williams was born in Dunkirk, No- 
vember 15, 1828. He was a graduate of Fre- 
donia Academy, class of 1849, an d in Novem- 
ber, 1851, received his M. D. from Castleton 
Medical College. He practiced medicine and 
conducted a drug store in Dunkirk until 1882, 
then purchased the plant of the Dunkirk Print- 
ing Company and became editor of the "Dun- 
kirk Observer." Later he was editor of "The 
Grape Belt." He was a member of the Dunkirk 
Board of Education continuously from 1853 
until his death ; member of the Assembly in 
1S64, and again in 1885 ; and county supervisor, 
1887-1891. On the day of his funeral, busi- 
ness was practically suspended in Dunkirk, 
and many organizations attended the services 
in a body. Dr. Williams married Julia King 
Thompson, of Dunkirk, and they were the par- 
ents of a large family. 

The shops of the Silver Creek Upholstery 
Company were damaged by fire during the 
night of June 10, to the extent of $20,000. The 
firemen could do little to save the inflammable 
interior, but did wonderful work in saving the 
two three-story buildings which comprised the 
plant. 

The justices of the Supreme Court in con- 
vention assembled at Albany, June 19, 1905, 
elected Jerome B. Fisher, of Chautauqua 
county, to be Supreme Court reporter for a 
term of five years, at a salary of $5,000, Judge 
Fisher receiving thirteen out of twenty-one 
votes cast. 

On June 20, 1905, the Fredonia National 
Bank was closed by order of the Comptroller 
of the Currency. The bank was founded '»-. 



9 6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



1865 by Chauncey Abby, who was its president 
until his death in 1894. This failure caused a 
great deal of distress, and legal complication 
resulted. The finances of the town were some- 
what involved, and Fred R. Green, cashier of 
the bank, was arrested on June 23, on serious 
charges. He was later tried on thirty-five 
counts and plead guilty to four, involving the 
charge of falsifying the bank's records. He 
was sentenced to six years in the State peni- 
tentiary. 

On application of Attorney General Mayer, 
Justice Hasbrouck. on June 29, appointed 
Frank L. Smith, of Silver Creek, receiver for 
the State Bank of Forestville, that institution 
having been reported insolvent by State Super- 
intendent of Banks Kilburn. 

The building owned by Reade & Smith, pro- 
prietors of the "Cherry Creek News," in which 
their editorial rooms and printing plant were 
located, burned to the ground on the morning 
of July 5. The "Jamestown Journal" courte- 
ously extended the temporary use of their 
facilities to "The News." The Jamestown 
Panel and Veneer Company suffered the com- 
plete loss of their plant in Jamestown, together 
with machinery, material, lumber and finished 
product, by fire, in the early morning hours of 
July 4, the loss totalling $30,000. Early in the 
morning of July 27, fire destroyed practically 
$30,000 worth of property on the principal busi- 
ness street of Panama. 

On July 27 the State Assembly finally dis- 
posed of the long drawn out "Hooker Case" 
by its refusal to remove Judge Hooker from 
the State bench. The case originated in Chau- 
tauqua county in charges against the political 
integrity of Judge Hooker by the County Bar 
Associates. The matter came before the Leg- 
islature finally upon Judge Hooker's demand 
for an investigation, and after a full hearing 
the vote for removal stood: 41 Republicans 
and 35 Democrats. Against removal: 58 Re- 
publicans and 9 Democrats. Under the Con- 
stitution, one hundred votes were necessary to 
remove. This was a celebrated case in the 
State, and in Chautauqua county it had entered 
deeply into its politics. Judge Hooker served 
out his full term as Supreme Court Justice, 
and until his death, fifteen years later, con- 
tinued his residence in Fredonia. 

Justice George Barker, one of Chautauqua's 
most distinguished sons, a man of rare ability 
and for half a century prominent in the politi- 
cal life of the county, died in Fredonia, July 20, 
1905, aged 82. He was twice county district 
attorney, and for twenty years a Justice of the 
Supreme Court of New York. In his early 



political life he was a firm friend and political 
ally of Governor Fenton, whose name he pre- 
sented to the convention which nominated Mr. 
Fenton for Governor. Justice Barker married, 
in 1857, Achsah Gleason, who preceded him to 
the grave, leaving an only child, Mary Eliza, 
who married John Woodward, of Jamestown, 
also a Justice of the Supreme Court of New 
York. 

The certificate of incorporation of the Chau- 
tauqua Worsted Mills was filed in the court 
house at Mayville, August 5. The capital 
stock of the company was $200,000: the princi- 
pal office of the company, Falconer ; the pur- 
pose, the manufacture of worsted yarns, 
worsted goods and textile fabrics. 

On August 11, 1905, President Roosevelt 
was the guest of honor of the Chautauqua In- 
stitution. This was the second time the insti- 
tution had entertained a President, General 
Grant having been a guest while chief execu- 
tive of the Nation. After an informal break- 
fast in Higgins' Hall, President Roosevelt was 
introduced to a large audience in the amphi- 
theatre by Bishop John H. Vincent, the silent 
but impressive Chautauqua salute welcoming 
the distinguished guest. The President spoke 
for an hour on Popular Education and Democ 
racy, though he protested his address had no 
specific or definite title. After singing "Amer- 
ica," the audience was dismissed and the presi- 
dential party left the grounds. 

The first car over the Warren & Jamestowa 
railway, No. 54, reached the Humphrey House 
in Jamestown, September 2, 1905, making the 
connection between Jamestown and Warren. 
Pennsylvania, an accomplished fact after many 
months of weary waiting. 

The Board of Supervisors in annual meeting, 
October 1, 1905, organized by the election of 
S. Frederick Nixon, chairman; J. A. McGuin- 
ness, clerk ; Louis McKinstry, assistant clerk ; 
J. A. Clary, journal clerk; A. B. Ottaway, 
attorney. A resolution of regret at the resig- 
nation of Capt. Frederick W. Hyde, after 
twenty-two years of service as journal clerk, 
was passed. 

Samuel Frederick Nixon, speaker of the New 
York State Assembly and chairman of the 
Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors, 
died at his home in Westfield, October 10, 1905. 
He was a man of strong personality, lovable in 
nature, earnest and aggressive in what he 
deemed to be right, and a born leader of men. 
He was identified with many business enter- 
prises, but was best known for the prominent 
part he bore in the public life of the county 
and State. He was always interested in poli- 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



97 



tics, and almost as soon as through college he 
was elected supervisor. For twenty consecu- 
tive terms he held that office, and but the Sat- 
urday before his death his townsmen nomi- 
nated him for the twenty-first time. Fourteen 
of those years of service were as chairman of 
the board, as well as its actual and unques- 
tioned leader. 

He was elected member of the Assembly 
from Chautauqua, Second District, in 1887, 
when twenty-six years of age, and with the 
exception of the years 1890-91-92 held that 
office continuously. For many years he had 
had no opposition in his own party for the 
Assembly nomination, and for the seven years 
preceding his death he had been elected 
speaker of the house by the unanimous vote 
of the Republican members. No other man 
ever equalled his record of seven consecutive 
terms as speaker. A few weeks prior to his 
death he was nominated for the Assembly for 
the sixteenth time. 

He was born in Westfield, December 3, i860, 
youngest of the two sons of Samuel and Mary 
E. (Johnston) Nixon, and grandson of a 
wealthy family of County Down, Ireland. He 
was survived by his wife, two sons and a 
daughter. Speaker Nixon was buried in the 
village cemetery at Westfield, October 13. A 
most remarkable gathering of distinguished 
men., including Governor Higgins, ex-Gov- 
ernor Odell, State Senators, Assemblymen and 
Supreme Court Judges, were present to pay 
the last tributes of respect to their friend and 
long-time associate in the State government. 

The November elections resulted in the 
usual Republican majorities for the county 
office, with the exception of the First Assem- 
bly District, where William R. Rawson, the 
candidate of the Independent Republicans and 
regular Democrats reduced Arthur C. Wade's 
plurality to 178. Henry K. Williams was 
elected Assemblyman from the Second Dis- 
trict, he being substituted after the death of 
Speaker Nixon, the nominee of the convention. 

The Board of County Supervisors with every 
member present, elected Theodore A. Case, of 
Ellington, chairman to succeed S. Frederick 
Nixon, deceased. Harley N. Crosby, of Ellicott, 
was chosen chairman pro tern. Supervisor 
Thompson, appointed by the town board to 
succeed Mr. Nixon, announced the latter's 
death and moved that the board adjourn out of 
respect to the memory of their former chair- 
man. 

The Fredonia village board of trustees voted 
that a sum of about $4,000, which the town 
treasurer had on deposit in the Fredonia Na- 



tional Bank, should be made good to the town. 
A dividend of twenty-five per cent, had been 
paid depositors, which with a similar amount 
ready to be paid, left the treasurer with about 
half the original amount to pay. 

The State Assembly, with the Senate, the 
Governor, and other State officers and repre- 
sentatives of the Court of Appeals, and other 
courts, in the presence of an audience com- 
pletely filling the great Assembly chamber and 
representing all parts of the State, on the eve- 
ning of March 27, 1906, formally honored the 
memory of Samuel Frederick Nixon, who for 
fifteen years represented in the Legislature, 
from the Second Assembly District of Chau- 
tauqua county, and for seven consecutive years 
served as speaker of the House of Assembly. 
After the audience had gathered, the members, 
present and former, of the Assembly ; the Sena- 
tors, the elective and appointive State officers, 
the members of the judiciary and finally Gov- 
ernor Higgins and his secretary, marched into 
the Assembly chamber and were seated. Prayer 
was offered by Rev. George L. McClellan, D. 
D., Speaker Nixon's family pastor, and musi- 
cal selections were rendered by a local quar- 
tette. James W. Wadsworth, Jr., who suc- 
ceeded Mr. Nixon as speaker, presided and 
made a brief address. Lewis L. Carr made the 
memorial address, which was a masterly and 
sympathetic eulogy of the great speaker. Mrs. 
Nixon, her children and other members of the 
family were present and occupied the speaker's 
room beside the rostrum. 

The Chautauqua County Board of Super- 
visors met in special session for the purpose of 
redistricting the county under a law requiring 
that in all counties having two or more Assem- 
bly districts the supervisors should meet on 
May 22 for that purpose. It was found un- 
necessary to make any change in the boundary 
line of the Assembly districts in Chautauqua 
county, and a resolution was passed by the 
board to that effect. The calling of the board 
together at the time necessitated its reorgani- 
zation for the ensuing year, which was done 
with little change from the organization of the 
previous year, the only one being the election 
of W. L. Nuttall, of Mina, as chairman pro 
tern, to succeed H. N. Crosby, of Jamestown. 

The Republican county convention in ses- 
sion at Dunkirk, July 26, nominated for county 
judge, Arthur B. Ottaway, of Westfield; for 
surrogate, Harley N. Crosby, of Falconer; for 
countv clerk, Emerson J. McConnell, of May- 
villeffor sheriff, Leon E. Button, of Harmony. 
The convention endorsed Theodore A. Case, of 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Ellington, for State Senator from the Fiftieth 
District. 

The Chautauqua County Traction Company 
opened its line from Mayville to Westfield, 
September 15, 1906. 

Rovillus R. Rogers, of Jamestown, was 
chosen president of the Council of School Su- 
perintendents of New York State at the con- 
vention held in Jamestown, October 20, 1906. 

The vote for Governor in Chautauqua county 
in 1906 was: Charles E. Hughes, R, 11,786; 
William R. Hearst, Independent League and 
D., 5,360. The vote for State officers and Con- 
gressmen did not vary greatly from the fore- 
going figures, although Mr. Hughes was the 
only State officer elected on the Republican 
ticket. In the county the Republican nominees 
for the county offices were elected by about the 
usual figures. 

The Board of Supervisors met in annual ses- 
sion September 24. Augustus F. Allen hav- 
ing resigned when nominated for the Assem- 
bly, the credentials of Leon L. Fancher were 
received, which showed his appointment to suc- 
ceed Mr. Allen as supervisor from Wards ( 
and 2 of the city of Jamestown. A resolution 
to move the county seat to Jamestown was 
voted down. The increased assessed valuation 
of real estate in the county over 1905 was 
shown to be $1,387,348. 

Justice of the Peace Piatt M. Parker, of Fre- 
donia, one of the best known men of the vil- 
lage, died November 17, 1906, aged 62. He 
was born in Fredonia, March 9, 1844, and spent 
his entire life in the village. He was educated 
in Fredonia public school and academy, be- 
came a civil engineer and surveyor, and dealt 
extensively in real estate. He was justice of 
the peace for twenty years, village engineer 
fourteen years, deputy sheriff several years, 
and for one term under-sheriff of Chautauqua 
county, serving under Sheriff Jenner. 'Squire 
Parker was a member of the Baptist church, 
and Forest Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. 
He was a man in whom the community placed 
the most implicit confidence. Forest Lodge 
by his request was in charge of the funeral 
services. 

Among the appointments announced in De- 
cember by the Attorney General-elect, William 
F. Jackson, was that of Frank H. Mott, one of 
the leading Democrats of Western New York, 
to be Deputy State Attorney General. 

Orsino E. Jones died at his home in James- 
town, January 25, 1907. He was a native son 
of Jamestown, and no man in the city had a 
wider experience or more varied life. He was 
a man of strong physique, regular, temperate 



habits, and a tireless worker. He was chief of 
Jamestown's fire department for a number of 
years, and he did much for the material ad- 
vancement of Jamestown and gave liberally 
towards the public institutions and charities. 
He left no immediate family. 

At the age of 86, Lorenzo Martin, one of the 
best known farmers of his section of the 
county, died at his farm one mile east of Busti, 
Sunday, February 17, 1907. He was born in 
Busti, and when he was eight years of age his 
parents bought the farm upon which their son 
spent seventy-eight years of his life. Of the 
one hundred persons present at his marriage 
to Mercy Jenkins in 1842, Mrs. Martin alone 
was living when Mr. Martin died after a mar- 
ried life of sixty-five years. Three children 
survived their father — Mrs. Edwin Knapp, of 
Tecumseh, Nebraska ; Mrs. Alice M. Spencer, 
of Jamestown ; and Rev. D. L. Martin, who 
gave up ministerial work in Michigan in 1905 
to return to the homestead and care for his 
aged parents. 

Edward C. Brown, of Jamestown, a highly 
regarded business man, was found dead in his 
room in the Manhattan Hotel, New York City. 
He was a son of Col. James M. and Charlotte 
Brown, his father a Civil War veteran, captain 
of Company B, 72nd New York Regiment, 
volunteers, and colonel of the 100th Regiment, 
killed in battle. His remains were brought to 
Jamestown, where his widow continued to re- 
side. 

In his ninety-fourth year, James M. Hodges, 
of Lakewood, passed away, March 23, 1907. 
He was born in Vermont, but when in his 
fourth year his parents moved to Erie county, 
New York, where Mr. Hodges resided until 
thirty-two years of age, when he came to Chau- 
tauqua county. He spent fifty-five consecutive 
years of his life on a farm in the town of Har- 
mony, but the last seven years were spent with 
his son Alpheus, in Lakewood. He was a man 
of splendid health, and until his last illness of 
ten days' duration, which resulted in his death, 
he was never sick enough to spend even one 
entire day in bed. 

Edwin A. Bradshaw, vice-president of the 
Journal Printing Company and chief editorial 
writer on "The Journal," 1889-1907, died at his 
home in Jamestown, April 4, 1907. He was a 
man of most engaging personality, and as a 
writer was graceful in literary style, but at his 
best as a paragrapher, having the ability to 
say much in a few lines. Under the heading, 
"Noted in Passing," he gave to readers of "The 
Journal" thousands of paragraphs of rare 
humor and philosophy. He married, in 1897, 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



99 



Belle E. Smith, and left a son, Robert Cook 
Bradshaw. 

Marshall Littlefield Hinman, a former presi- 
dent of the Brooks Locomotive Works, and 
one of the founders of the plant, died at his 
home in Dunkirk, May 3, 1907. Mr. Hinman 
was born in Cattaraugus county, December 12, 
1841, and in 1861 first came to Dunkirk, where 
he had a leading part in organizing The 
Brooks Locomotive Company in 1869. He was 
the first secretary-treasurer of the company, 
and finally its president. He was president of 
the Lake Shore National Bank of Dunkirk, 
1891-96; president of the Board of Education, 
1886-92; mayor of Dunkirk two terms, 1885 
until resigning in 1887; president of the board 
of water commissioners, 1889-1892. On Christ- 
mas Day, 1901, he joined with the Brooks 
heirs in making an endowment of $100,000 to 
Brooks Memorial Library, Dunkirk. 

F. W. Stevens, of Jamestown, was appointed 
chairman of the Up-State Public Utilities Com- 
mission, to take effect July 1, 1907. 

The cornerstone of the new county court 
house at Mayville was laid with impressive 
ceremony, July 24, 1907. The exercises were 
conducted by the Grand Lodge of New York, 
Free and Accepted Masons, the following Ma- 
sonic lodges of the county participating in the 
parade and other exercises of the day : James- 
town and Dunkirk Commandaries, Knights 
Templar; lodges from Jamestown, Forestville, 
Fredonia, Dunkirk, Sinclairville, Cherry Creek, 
Sherman, Westfield, Silver Creek, Brocton and 
Mayville. 

The village was gay with flags and bunting, 
every business house and public building in the 
central part of the village being elaborately 
decorated with the national colors. Bands 
were playing long before the formal exercises 
began, and the village was filled with repre- 
sentatives from all parts of the county, with 
many from elsewhere in the State. The new 
building is on the site of the old one, which 
for three-quarters of a century had served the 
people of Chautauqua as a court house. 

The oration was delivered by Rev. George 
L. MacClelland, D. D., of Westfield, and was 
an eloquent impressive review of the history 
of the county. The usual articles were con- 
tained in a small compact copper box, which 
was fitted into a corner of the stone. Upon its 
cover was engraved this inscription. "Made 
and presented by Thomas Hutson, chairman of 
the building committee, July 24, 1907, May- 
ville, N. Y." All members of the County 
Board of Supervisors were present. 



At a special meeting of the Board of Super- 
visors the work of dividing the county into 
two Assembly districts was completed as fol- 
lows : First District, population 49,001 ; Ark- 
wright, Busti, Carroll, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, 
Ellery, Ellicott, Ellington, Gerry, Harmony, 
Jamestown, Kiantone, Poland, Stockton and 
Villenova. Second District, population 47,825 ; 
Chautauqua, Clymer, Dunkirk (town and city), 
French Creek, Hanover, Mina, Pomfret, Port- 
land, Ripley, Sheridan, Sherman and Westfield. 

Fire at an early hour of the morning of Sep- 
tember 1, 1907, devastated a thickly settled 
square in the village of Lakewood. 

The county returned the usual Republican 
majorities in the November elections of 1907, 
the county officials all being reelected. In 
Ellington, Charles J. Main, Prohibitionist, was 
elected supervisor over William Anderson, the 
Republican nominee. The uncalled-for criti- 
cism of Theodore A. Case, chairman of the 
Board of Supervisors and his consequent re- 
fusal to accept the nomination again, contribut- 
ing largely to that result. Augustus F. Allen 
and Charles R. Hamilton were reelected as- 
semblymen from the First and Second Dis- 
tricts. 

Crawford Stearns, a pioneer resident of the 
county, born in Arkwright in 1830, son of Ben- 
jamin Stearns, and father of former State Tax 
Commissioner Lester F. Stearns, died in For- 
estville, November 28, 1907. Benjamin Stearns 
moved from Vermont to Chautauqua county 
during the first decade of its existence and 
settled on land now within the limits Dunkirk. 

Orin Braley, of Kiantone, an octogenarian 
and a lifelong resident of the same section, 
dropped suddenly dead in his barn, April 20, 
1908. His father, Elisha Braley, came to that 
section of the county from Vermont in 181 1. 

Portage Inn, Westfield's new hotel, built by 
former Sheriff John C. Jones, was formally 
opened April 28, 1908, with a banquet given 
by the Business Men's Association in recogni- 
tion of the enterprise shown by Mr. Jones in 
giving Westfield a new and modern hotel. 

The Chautauqua County Board of Super- 
visors met September 28 and organized. Wil- 
liam S. Stearns, of Pomfret, was elected chair- 
man ; A. B. Sheldon, chairman pro tern. ; J. A. 
McGinnies, clerk; Louis McKinstry, assistant 
clerk ; J. A. Clary, journal clerk. The increased 
assessed value of land in the county increased 
over 1907, $1,699,198. 

James S. Sherman, Republican candidate for 
Vice-President, spoke in Jamestown on the 
evening of October 15, and was given an en- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



thusiastic welcome. Governor Hughes, a can- 
didate for reelection, spoke in the same city, 
October 30, on his second visit to Chautauqua 
county during the campaign. Judge Alton B. 
Parker spoke for the Democracy, October 31, 
1908. William H. Taft, the Republican candi- 
date for President, spoke at Dunkirk from the 
rear platform of his car, November 2. 

The entire Republican ticket was elected in 
Chautauqua county: Edward B. Vreeland, 
Congressman; Charles M. Hamilton, State 
Senator ; Emmons J. Swift, county treasurer ; 
Charles E. Dodge, superintendent of the poor ; 
Albert E. Nugent, special surrogate ; Charles 
Blood, Bergen F. Illiston and Ellis W. Storms, 
coroners ; Augustus F. Allen and John Leo 
Sullivan, assemblymen; Charles W. Hurlburt, 
Charles W. Whitney and Judson S. Wright, 
school commissioners. Charles E. Hughes was 
reelected Governor by an increased plurality, 
his vote in Chautauqua county 15,060; Lewis 
E. Chanler, his Democratic opponent, receiv- 
ing 7,039, the highest vote cast for any Demo- 
crat in the county. William H. Taft, for Presi- 
dent, received 15,617; William J. Bryan, 6,174. 

In this election, Chautauqua lost her prestige 
as the banner Republican county, Kings, Onon- 
daga, Monroe and Westchester all giving 
greater pluralities for Taft and Sherman than 
was given in Chautauqua. Charles W. Hamil- 
ton, candidate for State Senator, received the 
largest vote cast for any candidate on the Re- 
publican ticket, either local or State. 

Benjamin Franklin Matthews, one of the 
oldest residents of the town of Gerry, died at 
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Emory M. 
Kinne, three miles northeast of the village of 
Gerry, Sunday, December 6, 1908, in his 87th 
year. He was one of the twelve children born 
to Caleb and Margaret (Van Salisbury) Mat- 
thews, pioneer settlers of Chautauqua county. 
At the time of his death he was the oldest man 
born in the town. He served during the Civil 
War in Company E, 112th Regiment, New 
York Volunteer Infantry, and was a farmer 
of Gerry until the infirmities of age incapaci- 
tated him. 

Carl Frederick Abrahamson, senior member 
of the dry goods Abrahamson-Bigelow Com- 
pany, died December 21, 1908, suddenly 
stricken with apoplexy. He was born in 
Sweden, May 24, 1858, and in 1871 was brought 
by his parents to Chautauqua county. He be- 
came one of Jamestown's most prominent mer- 
chants, and was a pillar of strength to the First 
Lutheran Church and to Gustavus Adolphus 
Orphanage. He served as member of the 
Board of Supervisors from Jamestown, and in 



that body made his influence felt for good. He 
married, in 1897, Christine Anderson, who 
survived him with an infant daughter. 

Governor Hughes on January 6, 1909, sent 
to the Senate the name of Egburt E. Wood- 
bury, of Chautauqua county, to succeed him- 
self as State Tax Commissioner. Mr. Wood- 
bury was born in Cherry Creek, Chautauqua 
county, and after attending Albany Law 
School, was admitted to the bar in 1884. In 
that year he began the practice of law in 
Jamestown ; was chairman of the Republican 
committee, 1888-89 > member of Assembly, 
1890-93; and for several years surrogate of 
Chautauqua county. 

Edmond H. Pease, the oldest volunteer fire- 
man in Jamestown and a veteran of the Civil 
War, died January 29, 1909, aged 63. He en- 
listed in Company G, 122nd Regiment, New 
York Volunteer Infantry, at Jordan, August 
8, 1862, and was mustered out at Washington, 
June 23, 1865. He was engaged at Gettysburg, 
and was then wounded ; captured by Confed- 
erate troops, May 6, 1864, and from that date 
until December 9 was confined in Anderson- 
ville prison. After the war he located in James- 
town, where on January 6, 1870, he joined 
Deluge Engine Company, and was on the 
active list until his death. 

Robert N. Marvin, son of Judge Richard 
and Isabella Newland Marvin, died in James- 
town, February 6, 1909. Early in life he en- 
tered actively into business life and assumed 
the management of his father's estate. Among 
the many responsible positions which he filled 
was that of executor of the Prendergast estate 
and in that capacity he was in charge of con- 
struction of the beautiful church and library 
that perpetuate the name of that old James- 
town family. For four years he represented 
Ellicott on the Board of Supervisors and with 
generous unselfish public spirit served his com- 
munity. He married Mary Elizabeth Warner, 
who survived him. 

Westfield was visited by a destructive fire 
early on February 25, 1909, and it was not 
until help had arrived from Fredonia and Broc- 
ton that the fire was brought under control. 
While there were no casualties, five firemen 
from Brocton had a narrow escape when the 
heavy cornice and part of the brick wall of the 
Wells block fell. 

Ransom B. Lydell, supervisor of the town 
of Ellicott and president of the First National 
Bank of Falconer, died at his home on Work 
street, Falconer, April 19, 1909. He was a son 
of Lucius and grandson of Luther Lydell, who 
came to Chautauqua county and settled in 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



Poland in 1828. His maternal grandfather, 
Judge Joel Burnell, came to the county in 
1810 and settled in Charlotte. Ransom Lydell, 
at the age of twenty-one, was elected justice 
of the peace in Poland. In 1884 he moved to 
Falconer, where he became prominent in busi- 
ness and in public life. He married Mina J. 
Covey, and they were the parents of eight 
children. 

Jay Mann, a farmer near Findley Lake, was 
killed in an explosion of dynamite while blow- 
ing out stumps on his farm, about one mile 
south of the village of Sherman, May 21, 1909. 
He had been removing stumps by means of 
dynamite during the afternoon, and about four 
o'clock arranged two charges in two different 
stumps, a fuse being attached to each. He 
lighted one of the fuses, and hurried away to 
what he considered a safe distance. He did 
not, however, place sufficient distance between 
himself and the stump in which the other 
charge had been placed, and that omission 
proved fatal, although he did not apprehend 
danger from that source. The concussion pro- 
duced by the first explosion caused the charge 
in the other stump to explode, the force of the 
blast carrying Mr. Mann thirty feet through 
the air and frightfully mangling him. He died 
about three hours later, retaining conscious- 
ness throughout the entire period. 

Marcus H. Ahlstrom, one of the founders of 
the Ahlstrom Piano Company, its vice-presi- 
dent and traveling representative, died in 
Jamestown, June 14, 1909. He was born in 
Gothland, Sweden, and was the first member 
of his family to come to the United States. He 
was a resident of Jamestown from 1868 until 
his death, and a man most highly esteemed. 
He left a widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Lyon Ahl- 
strom, and a daughter Gladys. 

Nathan Dwight Belden, for nearly sixty 
years a resident of Chautauqua county, died at 
his home in Mayville, June 15, 1909, aged 73. 
He was born in Connecticut, but was" brought 
to Chautauqua county by his parents. He 
married Sarah Aldrich, February 2, 1859, and 
during their more than fifty years of married 
life resided in the towns of Ellery, Stockton 
and Chautauqua. For twenty-seven years 
Mayville was their home, their residence on 
Erie street. Mr. Belden was town overseer of 
the poor for about fifteen years ; was an Odd 
Fellow : and an official member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. Mrs. Belden survived 
her husband, with two daughters — Alice, wife 
of Lewis B. Bixby ; and Emily, wife of Frank 
Lane, of Florence, Massachusetts. 



At a singularly harmonious convention of 
Chautauqua's Republican hosts, held in Dun- 
kirk, June 22, John P. Hall, of Sherman, was 
nominated for sheriff; Luther S. Lakin, Jr., of 
Jamestown, for county clerk ; and Dr. Bergen 
F. Illston, of Jamestown, for coroner. Later, 
Augustus F. Allen and John Leo Sullivan were 
renominated for the Assembly from the First 
and Second Chautauqua county districts, and 
Judson S. Wright for school commission, 
Third District, an office he had filled for seven 
previous years. 

On Sunday, July 4, 1909, the First Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church of Jamestown cele- 
brated with special services the centennial of 
Methodism in Chautauqua county, the ninety- 
fifth anniversary of the founding of the James- 
town church ; the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
the laying of the cornerstone of the present 
church ; and the twenty-third anniversary of 
its dedication. Bishop John H. Vincent 
preached in the morning, the choir rendering 
special music of a high order. Bishop Vincent 
preached the dedicatory sermon twenty-three 
years earlier, and there were in the audience 
117 persons who heard him on that occasion. 

Boomerton and South Dayton suffered heavy 
financial and business loss on the night of July 
17 by fire, which destroyed the mill of the 
Jamestown Panel and Veneer Company at 
Boomerton, and a great portion of the business 
section of South Dayton. The loss at the mill 
was $25,000; to the village, $45,000. 

Walter Gifford, former member of the As- 
sembly from Chautauqua county, past mas- 
ter of the New York State Grange, a promi- 
nent farmer, and one of the oldest native-born 
residents of the county, died at his home on 
Fulton street, Jamestown, August 9, 1909. He 
was born in Busti, May 8, 1829, and there re- 
sided upon his farm until a few years prior to 
his death. He became interested in the Patrons 
of Husbandry in its early days, and was influ- 
ential in that organization, serving as master 
of the State Grange four years. He repre- 
sented Chautauqua county in the State Assem- 
bly in 1891-92. He married Eliza C. Robert- 
son, who survived him, with two daughters — 
Mrs. H. B. Jenkins, of Dumont, New Jersey, 
and Mrs. Orren B. Hayward, of Jamestown. 

The Board of Supervisors met in the new 
court house at Mayville, Tuesday, August 17, 
1909, and formally accepted the new building 
from the contractor. The building was com- 
pleted within the amount appropriated, $135,- 
000. Bonds were issued to the amount of 
$130,000, the $3,000 owing above that amount 
being paid from other funds. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Mrs. Eliza Bullock Albro, the oldest resident 
of Busti, died January 17, 1910, in her ninety- 
second year. She was born in Busti, Novem- 
ber 26, 1818, daughter of Rev. William Bullock, 
and was the widow of David Albro, to whom 
she was married at the age of twenty-five. She 
left a son, Frank Albro. 

On February 12, 1910, Governor Hughes ap- 
pointed Robert J. Cooper to be special surro- 
gate for Chautauqua county, to fill a vacancy 
caused by the resignation of Albert E. Nugent. 

A special meeting of the Board of Super- 
visors was held March 10, 1910, to consider the 
report of a committee appointed by the board 
concerning a county tuberculosis hospital. 

A fire which caused Jamestown the loss of 
a valuable life — Capt. Jonathan Hanson, com- 
mander of fire police — and a half million dol- 
lars in property, began in the Gokey factory, 
Saturday night, March 12, 1910. On Sunday 
night, or soon after midnight, the ruins of the 
factory blazed up and started a conflagration 
which eventually consumed the Gokey busi- 
ness block and the Sherman House, wrecked 
the Briggs block and spread alarm to the entire 
business section. Captain Hanson was in- 
stantly killed by falling debris. Joel Oberg, 
second lieutenant of fire police, was seriously 
injured, as was Alfred F. Shoestring, first as- 
sistant foreman of Deluge Engine Company. 
The entire city department, with that of the 
village of Falconer, was used in fighting this 
Jamestown's most serious fire. 

The funeral service of Captain Jonathan 
Hanson, the gallant captain of Jamestown fire 
police, who fell in assisting to quell the great 
fire of March 12-13-14, was held March 15, 
from the State Armory, preceded by a brief 
service at the home. The large armory was 
inadequate to accommodate the throngs who 
wished to honor the dead officer by their pres- 
ence, and after the drill shed and galleries had 
been filled to overflowing, many were turned 
away. The funeral services, under the direc- 
tion of Rev. Horace G. Ogden, D. D., were of 
a very impressive character. Captain Hanson 
was buried with military honors, and after the 
brief service at the grave in Lakeview Ceme- 
tery, a squad from Company E, fired three vol- 
leys and the bugler sounded "Taps." 

On the morning of March 15, Alfred E. Shoe- 
string, assistant foreman of Deluge Engine 
Company, who was injured at the same fire in 
which Captain Hanson lost his life, died at the 
Woman's Christian Hospital in Jamestown. 
Again, vast crowds assembled to honor the 
memory of a brave man, and the large audi- 
torium of the First Methodist Episcopal 



Church of Jamestown was filled long before 
the hour for the services to begin. Business 
was generally suspended by request of the 
mayor, and it seemed as though the entire city 
turned out to pay a tribute of respect to the 
young volunteer who, leading the way into the 
burning building, gave up his life as nobly as 
ever did a soldier on the field of battle. Rev. 
Horace G. Ogden conducted the funeral serv- 
ices, and at the head of the fireman marched 
Chief Wilson, leading his "boys" with reverent 
mien and heavy heart. He was buried in Lake- 
view Cemetery. 

On March 18, 1910, a bronze memorial tablec 
was unveiled to the memory of Miss Calista 
Selina Jones, who taught in the public schools 
of Chautauqua county for nearly sixty years. 
The tablet was presented to the public schools 
of Jamestown by Mrs. Elvira Stearns, a sister 
of Miss Jones, and was placed in the main 
corridor of the high school building. 

Henry Le Fevre Brown, a distinguished vet- 
eran of the Civil War, died in Jamestown, April 
29, 1910, aged 67. He was at the time of his 
death one of the three men residing in James- 
town who were awarded medals of honor by 
Congress for gallant deeds. Mr. Brown's deed 
was thus described in his citation : "Volun- 
tarily and under a heavy fire from the enemy, 
he three times crossed the field of battle with 
a load of ammunition in a blanket on his back, 
thus supplying the Federal forces whose am- 
munition had nearly all been expended, and 
enabling them to hold their position until rein- 
forcement arrived." For nearly thirty years 
he was identified with the railway mail service 
and held responsible position. He compiled a 
history of the 72nd Regiment, New York Vol- 
unteer Infantry, and possessed the most com- 
plete data of Chautauqua county men in the 
military service. He left a widow, and a son, 
Harold LeFevre Brown, of Jamestown. 

William Broadhead, Jamestown's foremost 
manufacturer, died May 21, 1910, in his ninety- 
second year. He was of English birth and 
parentage, but from the year 1843 ne was a 
resident of Chautauqua county. He became 
a large manufacturer of textiles in Jamestown, 
and to him the worsted interests of the city 
owe their origin. He retained his interest in 
Jamestown until the end of his life, and on the 
occasion of his eighty-first birthday said, in 
response to felicitations, "When I came to 
America I came to be an American, and while 
of course I believe that England is the place 
in which to be born, I most firmly believe that 
America, and particularly Jamestown, is the 
place to live." He was survived by four chil- 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



103 



dren, his sons succeeding their father in the 
management of the Broadhead business inter- 
ests. 

On Monday, August 1, 1910, the annual con- 
vention of the International Bible Students' 
Association began in the large amphitheatre 
at Celoron, on the shores of Lake Chautauqua, 
adjacent to Jamestown. Forty-five hundred 
Bible students were in attendance. The con- 
vention was one of the largest gatherings of 
its kind ever held in this country. Representa- 
tives from every town in the county attended 
during the week it was in session. The con- 
vention was remarkable for the number in at- 
tendance and for its splendid organization for 
the management of the formal meetings and 
entertainment of visitors. 

Dr. James Brooks, for sixty years a practic- 
ing physician of Ellington, died August 5, 1910. 

William H. Sprague, who for fifty-six years 
was engaged in the hardware business prior to 
his retirement, died by his own hand, August 
15, 1910. He was a grandson of Captain Jo- 
seph Sprague, of Rhode Island, an officer of the 
Revolution, and a son of Nicholas Sprague, 
who came to Western New York about 1828 
and established a paper mill at Laona. Wil- 
liam H. Sprague at the time of his death was 
seventy-eight years of age, and afflicted with 
chronic stomach trouble. This affected his 
mind to such an extent that, unable to bear 
the pain, he ended it. 

The one hundredth anniversary of the first 
settlement of Jamestown was observed at the 
afternoon session of the Chautauqua County 
Society of History and Natural Science, Obed 
Edson, president of the society, presiding. 
The guest of honor was Mrs. Lucy Akin, of 
Ellery, a daughter of John Bowers, who built 
the first house in Jamestown, in 1810. Obed 
Edson read a paper on "The First Settlement 
in Jamestown;" Mrs. Mary Hall Tuckerman, 
on "The Women of the Early Day ;" Abner 
Hazeltine, on "The Beginnings of Jamestown 
D. A. R. ;" Nichols, of Westfield, on "History 
of the Triangle;" and Mrs. Kate Cheney, on 
"Reminisences of the Prendergasts." 

The Board of Supervisors met in annual ses- 
sion at Mayville, September 26, 1910, and or- 
ganized by the reelection of the officers of 
1909, A. Morell Cheney, of Ellery, chairman 
pro tern., the only new official elected. The re- 
port of the clerk of the board, Joseph A. Mc- 
Ginnies, showed an increase in assessed value 
of land in the county over 1909 to be $2,188,193. 

On the afternoon of October 14, 1910, Theo- 
dore Roosevelt, the then only living ex-Presi- 
dent of the United States, addressed a political 



gathering on the campus of Jamestown High 
School. He was given an enthusiastic wel- 
come, and in his speech displayed at its best 
the wonderful force as a public speaker. His 
last previous visit was on November 7, 1898. 

While the State went Democratic by a large 
majority, Chautauqua county swung true to 
her moorings and gave the Republican ticket 
the usual majorities, although the vote was 
light. The vote on Governor stood Stimson, 
Rep., 10,547 ; Dix, Dem., 4,906. In the county 
the successful candidates were : Charles M. 
Hamilton, State Senator ; Rev. Julius Lincoln, 
Assembly, First District ; John Leo Sullivan, 
Assembly, Second District; Edward J. Green, 
district attorney; Frank S. Wheeler, special 
county judge ; Robert J. Cooper, special surro- 
gate ; Edward B. Osgood, coroner. 

John S. Nevins, of Westfield, was appointed 
sealer of weights and measures by the Board 
of Supervisors, a new office created under a 
State law. 

Among the new public officials who assumed 
office with the new year (1911 ) was Rev. Julius 
Lincoln, pastor of the First Lutheran Church, 
of Jamestown, who had been elected Assembly- 
man on the Republican ticket from the First 
Chautauqua District. He did not give up his 
pastoral relation, but returned to Jamestown 
from Albany each week-end to fill his pulpit. 
Edward L. Green succeeded John K. Patterson 
as district attorney, and Robert J. Cooper 
assumed the duties of special surrogate. The 
other officials of the county succeeded them- 
selves. On January 2, 191 1, John Alden Dix 
was inaugurated Governor of New York, and 
for the first time in eighteen years the Demo- 
cratic party was in power in the State. 

A factory fire destroyed property valued at 
$50,000, belonging to the Peerless Furniture 
Company, of Jamestown, early in the morning 
of January 4, 191 1. 

The figures of the census of 1910 for tha 
minor civil divisions of Chautauqua county 
were made public by the Director of the Cen- 
sus on January 24. The figures for the various 
villages showed an increase in practically all of 
them over the population of 1900, and many of 
the rural towns showed an increase. The com- 
plete figures follow : 

Arkwright 843 

Busti, including Lakewood village 2,136 

Lakewood village 564 

Carroll 1.564 

Charlotte, including part of Sinclairville 1,258 

Sinclairville 542 

Chautauqua, including Mayville 3,515 

Mayville ••••• 1,122 



104 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Cherry Creek town and village 1,380 

Cherry Creek village 606 

Clymer 1,164 

Dunkirk, Ward I 5.569 

Ward 2 3,399 

Ward 3 3,852 

Ward 4 4,401 

Dunkirk town 429 

Ellery 1,695 

Ellicott, including Celoron and Falconer 4,371 

Celoron 619 

Falconer 2,141 

Ellington 1,235 

French Creek 882 

Gerry with part of Sinclairville 1,155 

Hanover, including Cattaraugus Indian Reser- 
vations, part of Forestville and Silver 

Creek village . •. 5,670 

Forestville 721 

Silver Creek 2,512 

Harmony, including Panama 2,847 

Panama 337 

Jamestown, Ward 1 4,438 

Ward 2 4,577 

Ward 3 4,695 

Ward 4 5,511 

Ward 5 6,039 

Ward 6 5,636 

Kiantone " 520 

%™ A 1.033 

roland 1,447 

Pom fret, including Fredonia /.309 

Portland, including Brocton 3,058 

Brocton village 1,181 

Sherman, including Sherman village 1,568 

Sherman village 836 

Ripley 2,230 

Sheridan 1,888 

Stockton 1,781 

Westfield, including Westfield village 4481 

Westfield village 2,985 

Total population of county 105,126 

Total population of county in 1900 88,314 

Henry Rappole, a veteran of the Civil War, 
former county superintendent of the poor and 
treasurer of Jamestown, died at his home in 
Jamestown, January 25, 191 1, in his seventy- 
eighth year. He lost an arm in the battle of 
the Wilderness, May 5, 1S64, and to quote a 
comrade, "No braver soldier ever stood in line." 
He was born in the town of Ellery, October 
27, 1833, son of Adam and Elizabeth (Rico) 
Rappole. 

Levant L. Mason, who for sixty years was 
engaged in business in Jamestown, died Febru- 
ary 13, 191 1, in his eighty-fifth year. Devoted 
to the art of free-hand engraving, he could not 
give up the work he had followed so capably 
for so many years, and until a few weeks prior 
to his death he would frequently take up his 
engraving tools and at the age of eighty-four 
was able to carve upon gold or silver as daintily 
and perfectly in script or old English as ever. 
In 1850 he brought his bride to Jamestown and 
established a home at No. 204 Lafayette street, 



and there they celebrated their golden wedding 
and lived for sixty years until death. He was 
a prominent member of the Masonic order, one 
of the founders of the Chautauqua County Soci- 
ety of History and Natural Science, and long 
an official member of St. Luke's Protestant 
Episcopal Church. He left a son, John C. Ma- 
son, and daughter, Mrs. Frederick P. Hall. 

At midnight, February 28, 191 1, the James- 
town Volunteer Fire Department gave way to 
a paid department of thirty-five full-pay men 
and twenty-five call men. 

Captain Joseph S. Arnold, one of the oldest 
veterans of the Civil War, died in Jamestown, 
March 15, 191 1, in his eighty-ninth year, the 
last survivor of his immediate family. He en- 
listed in the Seventh Company of Sharpshoot- 
ers, was mustered in as captain, September 12, 
1862, and although nearly forty years of age 
at that time, he outlived every company com- 
mander of the 112th Regiment, New York 
Volunteer Infantry, to which the company was 
attached. He was discharged on account of 
disability, April 29, 1864. His only son, George 
C. Arnold, a member of his father's company, 
died in the service. Captain Arnold's wife, 
Mary Phillips, died in 1902, both natives of 
Chautauqua county, born in the town of 
Ellery. 

The State Capitol at Albany was partially 
destroyed by fire during the morning hours of 
March 29, 191 1. The fire destroyed the entire 
west wing of the building and did incalculable 
damage before being brought under control. 
The injury to the building was immense, while 
the loss in books and priceless documents can- 
not be computed. The State Library suffered 
heavily. The famous collection of Indian 
relics from Chautauqua county was preserved 
intact. A. C. Parker, State Archaeologist, and 
his assistant, carrying the entire exhibit in 
their cases to a place of safety. This valuable 
collection was made by Mr. Parker himself, 
from Irving, Ripley and Sinclairville princi- 
pally. An interesting fact in connection with 
the rescue is that, though made of tinderlike 
hair or the dryest of wood, not a single object 
connected with the Indian religious and mys- 
tery rites was destroyed. Even the hair of the 
famous medicine masks was unsinged, much 
to the surprise of museum officials. 

Alanson Ostrander, one of the few remaining 
pioneers of the town of Gerry, died at his home 
on the Ellington road, April 16, 191 1, in his 
eighty-seventh year. He was born in Tomp- 
kins county, New York, but when four years 
of age was brought to Chautauqua county by 
his parents, David and Mary (Cooper) Ostran- 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



105 



der. For fifty years the farm upon which he 
died was his home and there he was survived 
by his aged wife Abigail. He also left a son, 
Frank Ostrander, of Gerry Hill, and two 
daughters — Mrs. Joseph Trusler, and Mrs. 
Walter Crawford. 

Important action was taken by the County 
Board of Supervisors April 18, 191 1, in voting 
a new State road to be built along the east or 
Beraus Point side of Lake Chautauqua. Three 
other highway propositions were voted : The 
Jamestown-Frewsburg road, a distance of four 
and a quarter miles ; a brick highway from the 
State line to French Creek, through French 
Creek towards Findley Lake, a distance of six 
and two-thirds miles, and five and a half miles 
leading from Fredonia toward the village of 
Cassadaga and the Stockton town line. The 
county's share of the expense of these high- 
ways to be borne from a bond issue of $120,000. 

The survivors of the Ninth Regiment, New 
York Cavalry, met in fiftieth anniversary at 
Jamestown, August 29, 191 1. The regiment 
was recruited largely in Chautauqua county, 
and left Camp Seward at Westfield, Novem- 
ber 9, 1861. Among the visitors was General 
Daniel Sickles, General George S. Nichols, and 
other military men of note. The old veterans 
were royally entertained, and found that the 
hearts of their entertainers went with their 
welcome. 

The forty-ninth anniversary of the departure 



of the 112th Regiment, New York Volunteer 
Infantry, for the front, was celebrated at Fre- 
donia, September 13, 191 1. Survivors to the 
number of 106 were lavishly entertained by 
the residents of the village, and voted to return 
for their fiftieth anniversary celebration in 
1912. Thirty-two survivors of the 49th Regi- 
ment gathered in Jamestown, September 16, 
191 1, for their annual reunion and fiftieth anni- 
versary of the departure from Buffalo for the 
front in 1861. Four companies of the regiment 
were recruited in Chautauqua county. 

Isaac N. Button, a merchant of Panama, was 
instantly killed by the collapse of a scaffold at 
a concrete dam under construction just west of 
the village of Panama. At the same time, 
Charles Blanchard, of Panama, was so badly 
injured that he died the next day. Both men 
were sightseers at the dam and were standing 
on the scaffold, which gave way. Mr. Blanch- 
ard, seventy-one 3'ears of age, had spent his 
life in Panama, and had held many village and 
town offices. Mr. Button was proprietor of the 
mill and feed store at the Corners. 

The November elections of 191 1 were en- 
tirely in favor of the Republicans. The county 
officials elected were: Treasurer, Emmons J. 
Swift; superintendent of the poor, Charles E. 
Dodge; coroners, Charles Blood, Ellis W. 
Storms; Assemblymen. First District, Rev. 
Julius Lincoln ; Second District, John Leo Sul- 
livan. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Opening of the Twentieth Century (continued). 



Charles H. Corbett died at his home in Sher- 
man. January 19, 1912, in his sixty-seventh 
year. He was born in Mina, October 5, 1845;, 
son of Newell and Persis Corbett. The Cor- 
bett and Newell families came from New Eng- 
land to Chautauqua county about 1825. Rob- 
ert Corbett built and operated a flour mill at 
Findley Lake, and Jesse Newell was one of 
the early farmers in the neighborhood of Pres- 
byterian Hill in the town of Sherman. Charles 
H. Corbett, grandson of Robert Corbett and 
Jesse Newell, was a successful merchant of 
Sherman, and gave much time to the public. 
He served three terms as town clerk, was treas- 
urer of school board, chief of fire depart 



Ancient Order of United Workmen of the 
State of New York ; was a thirty-second degree 
Mason, a Knight Templar and a Noble of the 
Mystic Shrine. He married Narcissa Dutton, 
of Sherman, and left a son, Frank D. Corbett. 
Almon Augustus Van Dusen, a former judge 
of Chautauqua county, died February 10, 1912, 
in his seventieth year. He practiced law in 
Mayville, and several times was the Demo- 
cratic candidate for county judge. While he 
always reduced the usual Republican majority, 
he never overcame it until 1890, when, after 
serving a brief period by appointment of Gov- 
ernor Hill, he again made the campaign as the 
Democratic candidate, to succeed Judge Lam- 



ment, and supervisor, 1882-83 ; Assemblyman, bert, appointed Supreme Court Justice. _ Mr 

1884; chairman of the Democratic County Van Dusen carried the county by a majority 

Committee, member of Democratic State Com- of 899 votes, receiving a Republican majority 

mittee. one of the organizers and every year of from 4.000 to 6,000. He served six years 

but one, vice-president of the State Bank of as countv judge and in 1895 was nominated for 

Sherman. In 1891 he was grand master of the the Supreme bench. The Chautauqua county 



io6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



bar paid Judge Van Dusen fitting tribute in 
memorial resolutions. 

Captain Albert Gilbert died in Santa Bar- 
bara, California, April 28, 1912, in his sixty- 
first year. He received his commission during 
the Spanish-American War, serving with Com- 
pany E, Sixty-fifth Regiment, United States 
Volunteers. He was, with Reuben Earle Fen- 
ton, instrumental in bringing the Fenton Me- 
tallic Manufacturing Company to Jamestown 
in 18S7. When that company was consolidated 
with the Art Metal Construction Company, he 
retained his connection with the business, in 
which he was a recognized pioneer — the manu- 
facture of metal furniture and office fixtures. 
Captain Gilbert married Jeannette, daughter of 
Governor Reuben E. Fenton, who survived 
him, with a son, Earle Fenton Gilbert. 

On May 11, 1912, Jamestown Chapter, Sons 
of the American Revolution, dedicated a bronze 
tablet at the boat landing to commemorate the 
construction of a dam there in 1782 by the 
King's Eighth Regiment, thus raising the 
water that they might float their boats and 
proceed on their way to attack Fort Pitt. The 
principal speaker of the occasion was Frank H. 
Mott, secretary of the chapter. 

On Thursday, September 12, 1912, the fiftieth 
anniversary of the departure of the 112th Regi- 
ment, New York Volunteer Infantry (Chau- 
tauqua Regiment) for the front, was celebrated 
by a reunion of the veterans of the regiment at 
Jamestown. One of the veterans present was 
N. John Swanson, who at the same time was 
celebrating his ninetieth birthday, he march- 
ing away to the war on his fortieth birthday. 
The occasion was one of deepest interest and 
every particular of the celebration was worthy 
of the event commemorated. 

Arthur B. Ottaway, county judge, and Mrs. 
Myrtle Redfield Nixon, were married in St. 
Peter's Episcopal Church, Westfield, October 
2, 1912. This wedding was of especial inter- 
est to Chautauquans from the fact that Judge 
Ottaway had for six years served as district 
attorney and for eight years as county judge, 
and was at the time a candidate for reelection. 
Further interest attached to the marriage, for 
the bride was a daughter of George Redfield, 
and widow of S. Frederick Nixon, so long in 
public life in the county and State. 

Job E. Hedges, Republican candidate for 
Governor, visited Chautauqua, October 25, 
1912, and in the evening addressed a large au- 
dience in the Opera House at Jamestown. 
President Taft passed through Jamestown dur- 
ing the morning of October 26, and delivered 



a ten-minute speech from the rear platform of 
his private car. 

William Northrop, who came from England 
a lad of fifteen and made his home in Busti, 
died there October 26, 1912, aged eighty. He 
served Busti as justice of the peace several 
years, was supervisor 1890-98, and was always 
deeply interested in public affairs. 

Although in 1912 there were regular and pro- 
gressive Republican tickets in the field in addi- 
tion to the Democratic ticket, Chautauqua 
county withstood the attacks from foes within 
and foes without, and elected every Repub- 
lican on the county ticket save one, Cheney, 
Republican, being beaten in the First Assem- 
bly District by Jude, a Progressive. The 
Democratic national and State tickets carried 
Dunkirk, Arkwright, Cherry Creek and Char- 
lotte. Charles M. Hamilton, Republican, of 
Chautauqua, was elected Congressman ; Judge 
Ottaway was reelected county judge; Luther 
S. Lakin, Jr., reelected county clerk ; Frank V. 
Godfrey elected State Senator; John L. Sulli- 
van was chosen Assemblyman from the Sec- 
ond District ; Harley N. Crosby was reelected 
surrogate ; Gust. A. Anderson elected sheriff, 
and Bergen F. Illston was reelected coroner. 
The vote for President in the county was: 
Taft, 7,881 ; Roosevelt, 6,480 ; Wilson, 4,814. 
Chautauqua county furnished two candidates 
for State Treasurer — Ernest Cawcroft, Pro- 
gressive, and Arthur A. Amidon, Prohibition. 
Cawcroft received in the county, 6,254 votes; 
Amidon, 1,053; Archer, Republican, 7,821; 
Wyrell, Democrat, 4,575. For Governor : Sul- 
zer, Democrat, had 4,731 ; Hedges, Republican, 
8.269; Straus, Progressive, 6,272. Sulzer car- 
ried the State. 

Gardner Dunham dropped dead at the home 
of his daughter, Mrs. Alvah Shelters, four 
miles from Sinclairville, December 10, 1912. 
Mr. Dunham was in his ninety-sixth year, and 
had spent nearly his whole life in that section 
of the county, his father settling there in 1819. 

Daniel Griswold, of Jamestown, died sud- 
denly in the Erie railroad station at Kennedy, 
January 31, 1913. He was one of the last links 
connecting the pioneer period of Chautauqua 
county with the present. He came to the 
county when a lad, and grew up a sturdy 
specimen of American manhood. He drove 
the river half a century prior to his death and 
from that drifted into the life of a lumberman, 
a business which claimed his interest till the 
last, he being president of the Union Lumber 
Companv. He was a supervisor from the town 
of Poland, 1865-69; from Ellicott, 1884-85; and 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



107 



from Jamestown, in 1886. In 1871 he moved 
from Poland to Salamanca, and in 1873 began 
his residence in Jamestown. In 1881 he was 
elected a director of the Chautauqua County 
Bank, and May 8, 1890, was elected the presi- 
dent, serving several years. He married, No- 
vember 18, 1868, Martha Townsend, of Carroll. 
Two children survived him — Miss Martha 
Townsend Griswold, and Daniel Griswold. 

Mrs. Mary Moore Merrell, recognized as 
Jamestown's oldest woman resident, died at 
the home of her granddaughter on West Third 
street, April 21, 1913, aged ninety-eight years, 
two months and twenty days. She was born at 
Sheldon, Genesee county, New York, January 
31, 1915, youngest daughter of Elijah and 
Mary (Beardsley) Norton. In 1839 she mar- 
ried Robert Johnson Merrell, and in 1855 came 
to Chautauqua county. She survived all her 
six children. 

During the street car strike in Jamestown, 
there was a strong mob spirit manifested and 
open rioting resulted. Mayor Carlson issued 
a proclamation of warning, and under a call 
from Frank W. Stevens the citizens met and 
from the gathering about three hundred men 
volunteered for special police service duty, 
without pay. This number was soon increased 
to nearly five hundred, to whom the oath of 
office was administered. They were assigned 
to various posts in the city and most effectively 
policed the city. There was no further rioting, 
and through the efforts of a Citizens' Concilia- 
tion Committee, of which Frank W. Stevens 
was the capable head, an agreement was 
reached between company and employes — the 
strike, however, lasting nearly two months. 

Frank H. Mott, of Chautauqua county, 
Democratic candidate for Secretary of State 
in 1902, and Deputy Attorney General of the 
State in 1907, was appointed Secretary of the 
Up-State Public Service Commission, June II, 
1913, by Governor Sulzer. 

On September 29 the Board of Supervisors 
met in annual session at the court house in 
Mayville. William S. Stearns was elected 
chairman; A. Morelle Cheney, chairman pro 
tern. ; Joseph A. McGinnies, clerk ; Louis Mc- 
Kinstry, of Fredonia, was elected assistant 
clerk; James A. Clary, journal clerk, and Ed- 
mund Dearing, of Mayville, page. These men 
were the veterans of the board, Mr. McKinstry 
then serving his twenty-fifth, Mr. Clary his 
eighteenth and Mr. Dearing his thirty-third 
year with the board. Mr. McGinnies had been 
a member of the board seventeen, L. P. Mc- 
Cray sixteen, and W. L. Nutall eleven years. 
The statistical table presented by the clerk of 



the board showed the assessed value of real 
estate in the county had increased $2,643,671 
over 1912. The increase in personal property 
valuation was $52,755. 

At the November elections of 1913, William 
S. Stearns, chairman of the Board of Super- 
visors, was elected district attorney for Chau- 
tauqua county. His opponent, Glen W. Woodin, 
Democrat and Progressive, made an exception- 
ally strong canvass and cast a large vote — 
8,349 against 8,620 for Mr. Stearns. Frank S. 
Wheeler was elected county judge ; Robert J. 
Cooper, special surrogate ; Edward B. Osgood, 
coroner ; A. Morelle Cheney and John Leo Sul- 
livan, Assemblymen. Several supervisors who 
were candidates for reelection were defeated, 
new members succeeding in Arkwright, Char- 
lotte, Chautauqua, Cherry Creek, Dunkirk, 
Hanover, Poland and Sherman. A new mem- 
ber was appointed in the place of Supervisor 
Webber, of French Creek, at the next meeting 
of the board. The only Progressive on the 
board, Jesse A. Foster, of Busti, was defeated 
by the Republican opponent, Fred P. Sim- 
mons. In Arkwright, Eder A. Tarbox was 
beaten by Ransom A. Matthewson, Democrat, 
by a margin of two votes. The candidate in 
French Creek died during the campaign, but 
enough votes had the name of Lucas Gleason 
written in to elect him. 

Edward Beardsley shot and badly wounded 
John G. W. Putnam, overseer of the poor for 
the town of Chautauqua, January 14, 1914. 
Mr. Putnam was in the Beardsley home on the 
Sherman road, three miles from Mayville, to 
take the nine children to some institution where 
they would have proper care. He was accom- 
panied by Gust. A. Anderson, sheriff of the 
county, and by Gerry W. Colegrove, under- 
sheriff. Two shots were fired by Beardsley, 
both taking effect. The sheriff and under- 
sheriff drove hastily away to Mayville to place 
Putnam under medical care, leaving Beardsley 
in possession. He barricaded the doors and 
windows and withstood a siege of exactly one 
week, although the house was completely sur- 
rounded and numerous shots were exchanged. 
Finallv, Special Deputy Charles Backus was 
admitted to the house, and getting possession 
of Beardsley's gun brought him to Mayville 
without resistance. Beardsley claimed he was 
defending his home against invasion. Mr. 
Putnam recovered from his injury. Beardsley 
was later convicted of "assault in the first de- 
gree" and sentenced to the maximum penalty, 
which is "not more than nine years and six 
months." He was delivered to the prison offi- 
cials at Auburn, March 13, 1914. 



io8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Fire at three o'clock Sunday morning, Janu- 
ary 25, 1914, destroyed the Mayville House, a 
landmark of more than county-wide reputa- 
tion and the principal hotel of Mayville. 

Since so long ago as the first volume of 
"Four Girls at Chautauqua," by "Pansy," the 
Mayville House was a widely known hostelry, 
and in that book is described. It had been 
headquarters for judges, lawyers, witnesses 
and jurors for Chautauqua county's lawsuits 
since it was built, and for more than a quar- 
ter of a century had stood about as it was when 
the fire swept it away. 

The First Baptist Church of Jamestown was 
destroyed by fire, February 14, 1914, although 
the walls of the edifice were left standing. 

Ernest Cawcroft, the Progressive leader of 
Chautauqua county, was appointed Deputy 
State Treasurer, the announcement being made 
March 9, 1914. 

At the special election held April 7, 1914, to 
vote upon the calling of a Constitutional 
Convention, Chautauqua county voted : For, 
1,807 ; against, 3,284. In the State the proposi- 
tion carried. 

Charles H. Gifford, manufacturer and 
banker, died at his home in Jamestown, April 
29, 1914. 

Newton Crissey, farmer and banker, born in 
the town of Stockton, and a resident of Fre- 
donia until his removal to Jamestown, died 
May 1. 1914. having just passed his 86th birth- 
day. He was president of the Farmers' and 
Mechanics' Bank for a number of years, but 
was best known in the county as a farmer and 
cattle dealer, a business he followed many 
years. He was a devoted Baptist, and the Cal- 
vary Baptist Church, which he founded, re- 
mains a monument to his zeal and interest. 

At the centennial celebration of the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Jamestown, 
the following facts were established as his- 
torically correct : 

Methodism began its career in Chautauqua county in 
the winter of 1808-09, with the forming of a class of 
four members at Fredonia. In 1810 another class of 
ten members was organized at Villenova, and in 1814 
Rev. Burrows Westlake, preacher in charge of the 
Chautauqua circuit, formed another class of ten members 
at Worksburg, now Falconer. The last-named class, 
under the care of Edward Work, was recognized as a 
regular preaching station by the minister in charge of 
the circuit, with preaching every four weeks. This 
class, according to Griggs' "History of Methodism." was 
subsequently removed to Jamestown, as in 1823 it re- 
ceived a grant of twenty-five acres from the Holland 
Land Company and a great revival having occurred, 
many of the converts living in Jamestown. 

On the afternoon of June 5, 1914, the new 
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in the village 



park at Sherman was unveiled, Rev. Horace 
G. Ogden, D. D., of Jamestown, the orator of 
the occasion. 

Frost was reported from several valleys in 
the county during the week of June 13-20, 
1914, and considerable damage was done to 
corn and other crops, particularly beans, in the 
Frewsburg district. 

For the first time as a special event, Chau- 
tauqua County Day was observed in the Chau- 
tauqua Assembly program, July 11, 1914. The 
morning speakers were Myron T. Dana, prin- 
cipal of the State Normal School at Fredonia; 
Frank H. Mott, secretary of the Up-State Pub- 
lic Service Commission, and Samuel A. Carl- 
son, mayor of Jamestown. In the afternoon, 
Judge William L. Ransom, of New York City, 
a former Chautauqua county man, was the 
speaker, and in the evening the first of the sea- 
son's dramatic entertainments was given by 
the "Chautauqua Players." Director Arthur E. 
Bestor expressed the desire of the Chautauqua 
Institution for a closer relation with the county 
communities, and hoped that an annual Chau- 
tauqua County Day would attain that result. 

Arthur C. Wade, lawyer, business man, 
politician and farmer, died in Jamestown, Au- 
gust 21, 1914. He was a man of large busi- 
ness interests, and as a lawyer very successful. 
He was much in the public eye, but never held 
political office save two terms as Assembly- 
man from the First Chautauqua District. He 
was a native son of Chautauqua, born in the 
town of Charlotte, son of George L. and Jane 
E. (Parsons) Wade. 

Rev. Father Richard Coyle, rector of SS. 
Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, 
Jamestown, for forty years, died August 25, 
1914. He was the beloved priest, a good citizen, 
a man of high ideals, possessing the courage to 
do battle for them if necessary, and with the 
most intense appreciation of the responsibili- 
ties he was under as a priest of God. He was 
buried with most imposing ceremony, August 
31, in Holy Cross Cemetery, business being 
generally suspended in Jamestown, as re- 
quested by Mayor Carlson. 

The Board of Supervisors met in annual ses- 
sion at Mayville, September 29, 1914. Her- 
mes L. Ames was elected chairman ; Dr. L. P. 
McCray, chairman pro tern.; Joseph A. Mc- 
Ginnies, clerk; L. McKinstry, assistant clerk; 
James A. Clary, journal clerk : Edmund Dear- 
ing, page. The clerk presented a communica- 
tion from the executors of the will of Mrs. 
Elizabeth M. Newton announcing the gift of 
$150,000 for a tuberculosis hospital building 
and grounds. 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



109 



Chautauqua county reaffirmed her loyalty to 
the Republican party at the November elec- 
tions, 1914, by large majorities. The head of 
the ticket, Charles S. Whitman receiving a 
plurality of 7,791. His total vote in the county 
was 10,502. Egburt E. Woodbury, of James- 
town, for Attorney-General, received 10,811, 
the highest vote given any man on the State 
ticket. Charles M. Hamilton was elected Con- 
gressman ; George E. Spring, State Senator ; 
Charles M. Dow, James Spencer Whipple and 
Herman J. Westwood, district delegates to the 
Constitutional Convention ; Emmons J. Swift, 
county treasurer; Charles E. Dodge, overseer 
of the poor; Charles Blood and James E. Mar- 
tin, coroners; A. Morelle Cheney, Assembly- 
man, First District ; John Leo Sullivan, Assem- 
blyman, Second District. 

On January 1, 1915, Chautauqua county was 
honored by the induction into office of Egburt 
E. Woodbury as State's Attorney-General, a 
position of power and responsibility. Mr. 
Woodbury was the first Chautauquan elected 
to a State office since Reuben E. Fenton was 
inaugurated Governor just fifty years earlier. 
Attorney-General Woodbury appointed as one 
of his chief deputies, Frank Jenks, of James- 
town. 

Judge Abner Hazeltine, son of Abner and 
Matilda (Hay ward) Hazeltine, one of Chau- 
tauqua's eminent citizens, died May 3, 1915. 
A man of striking personality, with a kindly 
heart and active brain he was prominent in 
the affairs of his community, a pillar of 
strength to the church, the personification of 
kindness and hospitality in his home and most 
charitable. 

He was a man of high intellectual attain- 
ment, a student and a thinker, a ready writer 
upon local topics and an authority on the his- 
tory of the county in which his eighty years 
of life were spent. He married Olivia A. 
Brown, daughter of Samuel and Clarissa 
Brown, of Ashville, and left a son, Ray Thomas 
Hazeltine, of Jamestown, and a daughter, Miss 
Mary Emogene Hazeltine, who at the time of 
her father's death was officially connected with 
the library school of the University of Wis- 
consin. She was formerly librarian of the 
James Prendergast Library of Jamestown, the 
predecessor of Miss Lucia T. Henderson, the 
present librarian. 

William T. Falconer, son of Patrick Fal- 
coner, who laid out the village which bears his 
name, and born at the Falconer mansion in 
Falconer, died in Jamestown, May 6, 1915. He 
was a man of large affairs, prominent in pub- 
lic life, and a citizen of high repute. 



Augustus F. Allen, Assemblyman and ex- 
postmaster of Jamestown, was appointed first 
deputy superintendent of elections, June 23, 
I9I5- 

On Monday, July 19, 1915, the first term of 
Surrogate's Court, with a jury, ever held in 
Chautauqua county, was convened at the court 
house in Mayville with Surrogate Harley N. 
Crosby presiding, the court convening under a 
new State law. Under its provisions all con- 
tested will cases can be tried in Surrogate's 
Court instead of Supreme Court. 

Captain William Fitzhugh Endress, only 
son of Col. William F. Endress, died on ship- 
board, September 7, 1915, enroute to his sta- 
tion in the Panama Canal Zone. Capt. En- 
dress was a graduate of West Point, and for 
twelve years had been in active military serv- 
ice. For two years he had been on duty in the 
Canal Zone, and when the canal was opened 
was superintendent of the Gatun Lock. 

Capt. Fred H. Wilson, chief of the James- 
town Fire Department, was killed in an auto- 
mobile accident three miles from Butler, Penn- 
sylvania, September 26, 1915, while on his way 
home from Pittsburgh, where he had taken his 
daughter to school. Capt. Wilson had been a 
member of the fire department since 1888, and 
from 1898 had been chief. He was a member 
of the Fenton Guards (13th Separate Com- 
pany) for twenty-seven years, was elected cap- 
tain in 1903, and on October 3, 1914, was placed 
on the retired list. He served in the Spanish- 
American War, and was the veteran leader of 
his firemen at scores of fires. He was greatly 
beloved by his men, and held a place deep in 
the hearts of the people of his city. A gallant 
soldier and fireman, yet it was his sterling char- 
acter as a man, his integrity of purpose and 
honesty that endeared him to those who knew 
him best. The flags of the city floated at half- 
mast in his honor, and the day of his funeral 
the city offices and many business houses were 
closed. He was buried with the full military 
honors befitting his rank. 

At the November election in 191 5, William 
H. Marvin. Republican, was elected sheriff 
over J. William Sanbury, Democrat; Luther S. 
Lakin, Jr., Republican, was elected county 
clerk for the third time ; Bergen F. Illston was 
reelected coroner; Leon L. Fancher was 
elected member of Assembly from the First 
District, and Joseph A. McGinnies from the 
Second District. There were many changes in 
the Board of Supervisors, the new board stand- 
ing twenty-three Republicans, six Democrats, 
one Prohibitionist. The new constitution was 
defeated both in county and State, the county 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



voting 7,709 for, 8,792 against. The vote on 
woman suffrage was 9,763 for, 7,002 against. 
The vote for sheriff was: Marvin, 11,250; 
Sandbury, 4,224. 

The Board of Supervisors met in annual ses- 
sion, November 8, 1915. The officials of the 
board, elective and appointive, were continued 
in office for another year. The assessed value 
of real estate in the county increased over 
1914, $2,053,339. 

Charles S. Whitman, Governor of New York 
State, was the guest of the county, November 
17-18, spending the night in Dunkirk, thence 
to Jamestown the following morning. The 
visit was without political significance. 

Capt. Newel Cheney, son of Nelson E. 
Cheney, a pioneer of the county, died at his 
home in Poland Center, December 8, 1915, in 
his eightieth year. Captain Cheney was a 
veteran of the Ninth Regiment, New York 
Cavalry, enlisting September 10, 1861, in 
Jamestown, and serving three years. He was 
commissioned first lieutenant of Company C, 
September 10, 1862; captain of Company F, 
February 12, 1864; and was mustered out, 
October 25, 1864, with the brevet rank of 
major. He was prominent in Grand Army 
circles and in the Grange ; was supervisor and 
Assemblyman ; and a man both admired and 
respected. 

Luman W. Pierce, president of the Empire 
State Degree of Honor, a district deputy of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a 
leading Democrat of the town of Stockton, 
dropped dead in his home at Stockton, January 
3, 1916. He was a prosperous dairy farmer 
near the village of Stockton, and a man of the 
highest standing in the community. He was 
buried in Greenwood Cemetery, the funeral in 
charge of his brethren of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. 

S. Winsor Baker, general manager and treas- 
urer of the Gurney Ball Bearing Company, 
died at his home in Jamestown, January 4, 
1916. He aided greatly in the phenomenal 
growth of the company with which he was 
connected for about three years prior to his 
death. He was buried in Lake View Ceme- 
tery. Resolutions of highest appreciation and 
respect were passed by the directors of the 
Gurney Ball Bearing Company. 

John D. Johnson, president of the Swedish- 
American National Bank, died in Jamestown, 
January 20, 1916, aged seventy. He was born 
in Sweden, but was brought to Chautauqua 
county when seven years of age, and by his 
own efforts rose to high rank as business man 
and citizen. 



The New York State Grange, Patrons of 
Husbandry, met in forty-third annual session 
in Jamestown the week of January 31, 1916. The 
Grange is one of the largest fraternal orders 
and the annual session one of the largest dele- 
gate bodies in the State. During the session, 
Sherman J. Lowell, of Fredonia, was elected 
master of the order in New York State. 

At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, 
May 23, 1916, the county was redistricted in 
order to balance the population in the two 
Assembly districts. The First District was 
shorn of the towns of Arkwright, Stockton and 
Villenova, leaving a population of 53,608, those 
towns when added to the Second District in- 
creasing the population to 53,253. The dis- 
tricts as divided were thus constituted : First 
District — Jamestown, Busti, Carroll, Charlotte, 
Cherry Creek, Ellery, Ellicott, Ellington, 
Gerry, Harmony, Kiantone, Poland. Second 
District — Dunkirk, Arkwright, Chautauqua, 
Clymer, French Creek, Hanover, Mina, Pom- 
fret, Portland, Ripley, Sheridan, Sherman, 
Stockton, Villenova, Westfield. 

Charles Baker, a lifelong resident of Ripley, 
died at his home in the village, May 23, 1916. 
In 1914 Mr. Baker's vineyards, which he per- 
sonally tended, yielded more grapes by weight 
to the acre than any other farm in Chautauqua 
county. He was seventy-five years of age, and 
left a widow, Mrs. Margaret Hardinger Baker; 
a son, Frank J. Baker; and a daughter, Mrs. 
Clarence H. Holden. 

On June 1, 1916, about fifty assessors repre- 
senting practically every town in the county 
and the cities of Jamestown and Dunkirk, met 
at Mayville and formed an organization of the 
assessors of Chautauqua county. This was 
done under the authority of the Board of Su- 
pervisors, who acted upon the recommenda- 
tion of the State Board of Tax Commissioners. 
John I. Venness, of Lakewood, was elected 
president ; I. A. Wilcox, of Portland, vice- 
president; Judd A. Woodward, of Stockton, 
secretary. 

The Fenton Guards (Company E, 65th Regi- 
ment, New York National Guard) were called 
out under the order mobilizing the National 
Guard of the State, and began assembling at 
their armory June 19, 1916. They were later 
transferred to the 74th Regiment on July 1, 
1916, sworn into the United States service, and 
on Tuesday, July 4, left for Buffalo to join the 
74th Regiment under orders to entrain for 
Mission, Texas. Capt. Charles A. Sandburg 
was in command of Company E ; A. Bartholdi 
Peterson, first lieutenant; Donald S. Brown, 
second lieutenant. 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



This was the first of a series of military 
demonstrations that Chautauqua county wit- 
nessed during the four years of warfare cul- 
minating in the destruction of German power. 
The 74th was sent to the Mexican border as a 
part of the policy of dealing with Mexico. 

Mrs. Sarah L. (Jones) Hall, widow of Sam- 
uel J. Hall, who for more than half a century 
was a teacher in the public schools, died in 
Jamestown, July II, 1916. She was born in 
Jamestown in 1832, and while still in her teens 
began teaching. A few years later she mar- 
ried, and after her husband's death resumed 
work in the school room, only giving up teach- 
ing at the age of seventy-five. 

Charles E. Hughes, Republican candidate 
for President, visited Chautauqua county, Sat- 
urday, September 30, stops being made at 
Westfield, Fredonia, Jamestown, Dunkirk and 
Silver Creek. Mr. Hughes was enthusias- 
tically received and his remarks were listened 
to with marked attention. Ernest Cawcroft, of 
Chautauqua, and his former law partner, Wil- 
liam L. Ransom (not for years, however, a 
resident of the county) were announced as can- 
didates for presidential electors by the Repub- 
lican State Committee. 

Judge Samuel Seabury, in his campaign for 
Governor of the State, visited the county and 
delivered an address in Jamestown, Saturday 
night, October 29, at the Samuel's Opera 
House. Governor Charles S. Whitman also 
visited the county during the closing days of 
the campaign. 

Chautauqua county gave Hughes a total vote 
of 14,717; Wilson, 7,137; Whitman, 14,182; 
Seabury, 5,697; Charles M. Hamilton, Repub- 
lican, was elected Congressman ; George H. 
Spring, State Senator; Leon L. Fancher and 
Joseph A. McGinnies, Assemblymen ; William 
E. Stearns, district attorney ; Frank S. Wheel- 
er, special county judge ; Robert J. Cooper, 
special surrogate ; Edward Osgood, coroner. 
Egburt E. Woodbury, a Chautauqua county 
man, carried the county for attorney-general 
by a plurality of 9,456. 

The Board of Supervisors met in annual ses- 
sion November 13, and organized by the elec- 
tion of A. Morelle Cheney, of Ellery, chair- 
man; Dr. L. P. McCray, of Clymer, chairman 
pro tern. ; Joseph A. McGinnies, clerk ; Louis 
McKinstry, assistant clerk; J. A. Clary, jour- 
nal clerk ; Edmund Dearing, page. The clerk's 
report showed that the assessed value of real 
estate in the county was $66,363,491, an in- 
crease over 1915 of $3,124,968. 

Two heavy steel cars, moving rapidly, col- 
lided on a curve just northeast of Westfield 



station on the Jamestown, Westfield and 
Northwestern railway. They met with such 
force that they telescoped, crushing the life 
out of both motormen, and injuring about 
every passenger. Frank Wood and Herman 
Swanson, both of Jamestown, were the killed 
men, and Martin Colby, of Westfield, was so 
severely injured that he died the following 
morning, January 2, 1917. 

Judge Vernon E. Peckham, for several years 
special county judge of Chautauqua county 
and for more than a decade referee in bank- 
ruptcy for Chautauqua and Cattaraugus coun- 
ties, died in Jamestown, February 1, 1917. 

After seven months on the border in the 
United States service, the 74th Regiment re- 
turned to Buffalo, February 20, 1917, Com- 
pany E, which left Jamestown in July, 1916, 
with two officers and 135 men, reaching James- 
town on February 24 following, their roster 
showing three officers and m men. They 
were given a hearty demonstrative welcome. 
There had been no deaths in the company dur- 
ing their long period of border service. 

The county heard with regret of the death of 
Phin M. Miller, a native of the town of Stock- 
ton, and one of Chautauqua's ablest sons, in 
Buffalo, Sunday, March 25, 1917. He was in- 
terested in county journalism for some years, 
but later accepted prominent position with the 
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway, con- 
tinuing with it until reaching the age limit, 
when he was retired on a pension. He was a 
county school commissioner, and the author of 
the chapter on the schools of Chautauqua 
county, published in "Centennial History of 
Chautauqua County, 1902." He was president 
of the Chautauqua Historical Society several 
years, and as head of that organization did 
much to stimulate interest in historical re- 
search and the preservatioin of family records. 

Captain Charles A. Sandburg, commanding 
Company E, 74th Regiment, received orders 
on March 29 to immediately report with his 
company at Buffalo for muster into the United 
States service. The order was rescinded later, 
and the company was mustered in at James- 
town and placed as guards at railroad bridges 
and important points in the county. While 
engaged in guarding the Nickel Plate railroad 
bndge at Silver Creek on the night of May 6, 
or early morning of May 7, 1917, Private Sand- 
berg was instantly killed by a passing freight 
train, which struck his rifle barrel with such 
force that it was bent almost double around 
the young man's neck, killing him instantly. 
Private Sandberg joined the company in June, 
1916, and was the first and only man of Com- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



pany E, to give up his life for his country dur- 
ing his connection with the company. 

Rev. Elliot Chapin Hall, youngest child of 
William and Julia (Jones) Hall, died in James- 
town, April 27, 1917, just two days before his 
seventy-ninth birthday. After fourteen years 
in the ministry of the Congregational church, 
he was called home by the illness of his father, 
and thereafter resided at the homestead in 
Jamestown. He was identified with important 
interests and became prominent in the business 
life of his city. He married Tirzah Snell, 
daughter of Professor E. S. Snell, of Amherst, 
and they were the parents of Martha S., E. 
Snell and Tirzah H. Hall. 

At a special meeting of the Board of Super- 
visors, William J. Knauerwas reelected county 
superintendent of highways, and Luke H. Fay, 
of Portland, was chosen commissioner of elec- 
tions. 

The enrollment of men between the ages of 
twenty-one and thirty-one ordered by the 
United States Government, reached a total in 
Chautauqua of practically 10,000 names. 

Emmons J. Swift, for nineteen years treas- 
urer of Chautauqua county, made public on 
June 20, his determination not to again accept 
the office. 

James L. Weeks, an eminent member of the 
Chautauqua bar and a former mayor of James- 
town, died at his summer home on Chautauqua 
Lake, September 2, 191 7. 

Charles E. Dodge, county superintendent of 
the poor, died at the administration building, 
Dewittville, October 3, 1917. He was in his 
sixty-third year, and for fifteen years had held 
the office above mentioned. 

On October 27, 191 7, Charles M. Dow was 
named Federal fuel administrator for Chau- 
tauqua county. 

At the November elections, 1917, William J. 
Doty was elected county treasurer; Gerry W. 
Colgrove, county superintendent of the poor; 
Charles Blood, reelected coroner, an office he 
had held for forty years ; James Martin, coro- 
ner ; J. Samuel Fowler, State Senator from the 
Fifty-first District; Hermes L. Ames and 
Joseph A. McGinnies, Assemblymen from the 
First and Second Chautauqua districts. 

On November 12, 1917, the Board of Super- 
visors met in annual session in Mayville. The 
chairman, chairman pro tern, and clerk were 
continued in office. Louis McKinstry was 
elected assistant clerk ; James A. Cleary, jour- 
nal clerk ; Edmund Dearing, page. The clerk's 
report showed as one item that the assessed 
valuation of real estate in the county was $75,- 
624,209, an increase over 1916 of $9,260,864. 



A native son of Chautauqua, and in his sev- 
entieth year, Clement B. Jones, for a quarter of 
a century city clerk of Jamestown, died with 
the opening of the new year. Dr. Robert New- 
land Blanchard, a leading physician of James- 
town, where he had been in practice forty 
years, died January 18, 1918, in his sixtieth 
year. He was Jamestown's first health officer. 
The main building of the Strong Veneer 
Company plant at Gerry, the pioneer veneer 
factory in the county, was burned to the 
ground on February 16, 1918. John Strong, 
father of B. E. Strong, president of the com- 
pany, made the first veneer by machinery 
driven by horsepower, the son, B. E. Strong, 
driving the horse which furnished the power. 
George T. Armstrong, a lawyer of James- 
town at one time, associated with Benjamin 
S. Dean and Frank W. Mott in practice, died 
March 7, 1917. He was a leader of the Demo- 
cratic party in the city, and for six years a 
civil service commissioner. Mrs. Hannah G. 
Leslie ("Grandma"), probably the oldest resi- 
dent of Chautauqua county, died at the home 
of her daughter, Mrs. Elliot A. Fenton, in 
Jamestown, April 8, 1918, aged 100 years, three 
months, eight days. 

The "Jamestown Journal," under date of 
March 7, 1918, announced editorially that not 
only had Chautauqua county gone "over the 
top" in the matter of the Third Liberty Loan, 
but every city and town in the county had 
done its share, reached its allotment, and gone 
beyond it. 

Marion N. Fisher, son of Judge Jerome B. 
Fisher, was appointed assistant district attor- 
ney for Chautauqua county by District Attor- 
ney William S. Stearns, vice Warner S. Rex- 
ford, resigned. 

On May 12, Governor Whitman signed the 
bill establishing a county children's court for 
Chautauqua county. 

The will was drafted by the State Probation 
Commission, and embodied several new fea- 
tures. The new court was created as a sepa- 
rate part of the county court to be presided 
over by the county judge or special county 
judge. 

A special meeting of the Board of Super- 
visors was held May 15, 1918. The regular 
annual meeting of the board elected in Novem- 
ber, 1917, was not until the following Novem- 
ber, and the term of A. Morelle Cheney, chair- 
man of the 1917-18 board having expired the 
preceding January 1st. Dr. L. P. McCray, of 
Clymer, was elected temporary chairman to 
serve until the annual meeting. Every mem- 
ber of the board responded to his name except 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



"3 



Frank O. Olson, who had been away from the 
county for a year, but still held the office of 
supervisor from Jamestown. 

Emmet C. Nixon, granite and marble dealer 
of Westfield, was killed, and Dr. Stephen A. 
Brown shot through the jaw, on May 21, 1918, 
at Westfield, by Joseph J. Johnson. Gerald 
G. Gibbs, a lawyer of Westfield, who disarmed 
Johnson, would have lost his life had John- 
son's revolver not missed fire as Gibbs was 
advancing upon him. 

Alfred P. Hall died at Long Beach, Cali- 
fornia, July 15, 1917. He was identified with 
manufacturing in Jamestown from boyhood, 
and with the development of three of the im- 
portant industries of the city — The James- 
town Worsted Mills, the Art Metal Construc- 
tion Company, and the Gurney Ball Bearing 
Company. He served his city in public posi- 
tion, and was deeply interested in church work. 

James T. Fowler, aged eighty, died in James- 
town, October 21, 1918, having been a resi- 
dent of that city for over half a century. He 
was a prominent member of the Chautauqua 
bar, a lover of books, and extremely fond of 
children. Jarvis K. Wilson, aged eighty-two. 
died at his home in Gerry, October 23, 1918. 
He was a lifelong resident of Gerry, and for a 
number of years was superintendent of the 
Gerry Home and Orphanage. 

Chautauqua maintained her prestige among 
solid Republican counties by the usual plurali- 
ties for the county ticket. Judge Arthur B. 
Ottaway was reelected county judge, and Har- 
ley N. Crosby, surrogate, without opposition, 
each of them receiving over 18,000 votes. 
James S. McCallum was elected sheriff by a 
vote of 15,058, and Miss Ellen P. Yates, county 
clerk, by practically 12,000 votes over her near- 
est opponent. 

Daniel A. Reed, of Dunkirk, was elected to 
Congress from the Thirteenth District ; J. Sam- 
uel Fowler, State Senator from the Fifty-first 
District; Hermes L. Ames and Joseph A. Mc- 
Ginnies were reelected to the Assembly from 
the First and Second Chautauqua districts ; 
and David Lincoln was elected coroner to suc- 
ceed Dr. B. F. Illston. For Governor, the 
county went 17,659 for Whitman, 5,864 for 
Alfred A. Smith, the Democratic candidate, 
who was elected. 

The Board of Supervisors met in annual ses- 
sion in Mayville, November 11, 1918, there 
being eleven new members to answer roll call. 
Dr. L. P. McCray was elected chairman ; 
Joseph A. McGinnies, clerk; William L. Nut- 
tall, chairman pro tern. Louis McKinstry was 

Chau— 



elected assistant clerk ; Joseph A. Clary, jour- 
nal clerk; Edmund Dearing, page. During 
the first session of the board, F. J. McCarthy, 
of Hanover, was stricken and quickly passed 
away. 

With other newly-elected county officials, 
Miss Ellen P. Yates entered upon the duties of 
clerk of Chautauqua county, January 1, 1919, 
one of the first women in the State to assume 
the responsibilities of an important county 
office. 

Louis McKinstry, for many years owner and 
editor of the "Fredonia Censor," died at his 
home in Fredonia, March 5, 1919. Although 
not continuous, he gave fifty years of service 
to the county in clerical positions, and year 
after year was unanimously elected assistant 
clerk of the Board of Supervisors. He attended 
the session of the board late in December, 1918, 
but owing to infirmities could not climb the 
stairs to the board room. He did attend the 
annual banquet of the board, and made a char- 
acteristic address which he regarded as his 
farewell. He went to eternal rest and reward 
with the love and respect of the people of 
Chautauqua county. 

On April 1, 1919, more than one hundred 
veteran members of Company E and other 
units of the 108th Regiment, 27th Division, 
United States Army, returned from overseas, 
arrived in Jamestown and were warmly re- 
ceived. 

The death of Miss Minnie E. Fletcher, which 
occurred during the week of April 7, 1919, re- 
moved the last of a family prominent in Chau- 
tauqua county journalism for sixty years, Miss 
Fletcher being the last to retire from news- 
paper work. Her father, Adolphus Fletcher, 
established the Jamestown "Journal" in 1826, 
and until 1892, when the Chautauqua "Demo- 
crat" ceased to exist, Miss Fletcher, better 
known as "Minnie" Fletcher, was city editor of 
that paper. She then became a teacher in the 
Jamestown public schools, age and failing 
health compelling her resignation in 1916. 
"None knew her but to love her, none named 
her but to praise." 

Judge Jerome B. Fisher, for ten years judge 
of Chautauqua county and for fourteen years 
reporter of New York State Supreme Court, 
died June 18, 1919. He was eminent in the law, 
prominent in the fraternal orders and in the 
politics of the county and a most graceful elo- 
quent public speaker. 

William N. Gokey, who for forty years had 
been identified with Jamestown's business 
interests, died in Jamestown, October 6, 1919. 



ii4 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Ernest F. Rowley, at one time an extensive 
manufacturer of butter and cheese, with a 
chain of factories in Cattaraugus and Chau- 
tauqua counties, died in Kennedy, Chau- 
tauqua county, October 13, 1919. He served 
as supervisor from Ellington in 18S9 and 1890, 
and was a factor in county affairs for a score of 
years. 

The usual Republican majories prevailed at 
the November election in 1919. William S. 
Stearns was reelected district attorney ; Frank 
S. Wheeler, special county judge; Robert R. 
Cooper, special surrogate ; Edward B. Osgood, 
coroner; Hermes L. Ames, Assemblyman from 
the First Chautauqua District ; Joseph A. Mc- 
Ginnies, Assemblyman from the Second Dis- 
trict. Five supervisors were elected from Dun- 
kirk instead of two, six from Jamestown in- 
stead of three, and two from Harmony, owing 
to a change in the law and to a division of the 
town of Harmony, the new town being known 
as North Harmony. 

The annual meeting of the Board of Super- 
visors elected in 1918 was called to order No- 
vember 10, 1919, the roll-call disclosing every 
member present. Supervisor Pettit spoke feel- 
ingly of the departed Louis McKinstry, who for 
thirty-two years had been assistant clerk of the 
board, and asked the members to rise in re- 
spect to his memory. Dr. L. P. McCray was 
reelected chairman, W. L. Nuttall, chairman 
pro ton., and J. A. McGinnies, clerk. Gerald 
E. Frey was elected assistant clerk; James A. 
Clary, journal clerk ; Edmund Dearing, page. 
On Tuesday, November II, 1919, a great 
crowd witnessed an Armistice Day parade of 
service men of Chautauqua county, who were 
escorted through the streets with great pomp 
and pageantry. The first division of the parade, 
led by Colonel William F. Endress, was en- 
tirely military, Major Charles A. Sandburg in 
command of Company E, 74th Regiment, New 
York National Guard; Major A. Bartholdi 
Peterson in command of service men ; and staff 
of Ira Lou Spring Post, American Legion ; 
service men of Jamestown, Dunkirk, Fredonia, 
Westfield, Silver Creek, Ripley, Brocton, May- 
ville, Sherman, Bemus Point, Falconer, Ken- 
nedy, Ellington, Frewsburg, and other places; 
and allied service men, under the lead of Cap- 
tain George W. Cottis. Next came the serv- 
ice flags, overseas' workers. Red Cross work- 
ers under the direction of Mrs. Harry P. Shel- 
don ; Spanish War veterans and veterans of 
foreign wars ; Jamestown Battalion, State 
Cadets. The second division was historical ; 
the third, industrial ; the fourth, automobile. 



The entire city caught the spirit of enthusiasm 
and the national colors were seen everywhere. 
On Third street was an imposing arch of flags 
and banners which was illuminated at night 
by powerful electric lights. Thousands of vis- 
itors were in the city, and enthusiasm per- 
vaded the crowds which lined the route over 
which the parade passed. About two thousand 
service men of the county marched in the pro- 
cession, all parts being well represented. The 
outstanding feature of the parade, aside from 
its length and the excellence of the floats, was 
the enthusiasm with which the service men 
were received all along the line. 

George E. McLaury, a former supervisor of 
the town of Sheridan, 1897-1905, died Novem- 
ber 12, 1919, aged eighty-one. Henry M. 
Keith, supervisor of the town of Sherman, re- 
cently elected for a seventh term, died Novem- 
ber 17, 1919. The vacancy caused by his death 
was temporarily filled by the appointment of 
I. O. Ottaway, president of the State Bank of 
Sherman. 

At the annual meeting of the National 
Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, held at Grand 
Rapids, Michigan, week of November 16, Sher- 
man J. Lowell, of Fredonia, was elected master 
of the National Grange. 

During the night of Friday, November 21, 
1919, Obed Edson, "the grand old man" of 
Chautauqua county, died at the home of his 
son, Walter N. Edson, in Falconer, aged 
eighty-seven years, nine months, four days. A 
detailed account of. his wonderful life and work 
is given elsewhere in this work, but his spirit 
lives in every page of this history, one in which 
he took the deepest interest, and to whose early 
encouragement and loyal support it is largely 
due. Several chapters are entirely from his 
pen, and had not death intervened he would 
have carried out plans he had made for other 
chapters. Well trained in the law, an able ad- 
vocate, an honest man— he stood high among 
his professional brethren of the Chautauqua 
bar. and held the confidence of his clientele and 
of opposing counsel. He was the best informed 
man of his day concerning early Chautauqua 
county history and of the region long before 
the white man came. His historical research, 
early recollections and wonderful memory, 
made him a veritable encyclopedia of local in- 
formation, and he took perhaps greater interest 
in historical research than he did in his profes- 
sion. Living a life of activity and good works, 
quietly pursuing the path that lay before him, 
shirking no responsibility, nor seeking honors 
which did not belong to hirn, he lived and 




.RKWKIGIIT 




,SA l:ri:.\lt AM'S ciikksi: K\cn>i;\ \t \ i; u w i:h ;nT FIRST IN THE COUNTY 



OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 



"5 



labored long beyond man's allotted years and 

carried with him to the grave the love and 
respect of every Chautauquan who knew him 
or of his work. 

The population of Chautauqua county, its 
towns, villages and cities, has just been an- 
nounced by the Federal Census Bureau, Sep- 
tember i, 1920. The figures for the census of 
1920, as compared with those of 1910 and 1900 
follow : 

Incorporated place 1920 1910 1900 

Chautauqua county 1 15,348 105,126 88,314 

Arkwright town 757 843 918 

Busti town, including Lake- 
wood village 1,995 2.136 2,192 

Carroll town 1,761 1,564 1,684 

Charlotte town, including part 

of Sinclairville village 1,173 1.258 1,406 

Chautauqua town, including 

Mayville village .. ._ 3,533 3,515 3,590 

Cherry Creek town, including 

Cherry Creek village 1,204 1,380 1,745 

Clymer town 1,205 1,164 1,229 

Dunkirk city 19,336 17,221 11,616 

Dunkirk town 512 429 454 

Ellery town, including Bemus 

Point village 1,496 1,695 1,628 

Ellicott town, including Cel- 

oron and Falconer villages.. 5,463 4,371 3,1 18 

Ellington town IJ061 1,235 1,330 

French Creek town 806 882 1,014 

Gerry town, including part of 

Sinclairville village 993 1,155 1,198 

Hanover town, including For- 
estville and Silver Creek vil- 
lages and part of Cattarau- 
gus Indian Reservation .... 6,016 5,670 4,778 

Harmony town, including Pan- 
ama village 1,443 2,847 2,988 

Jamestown city 38,917 31,297 22,892 

Kiantone town 623 520 491 

Mina town 903 1,033 1,038 

North Harmony town* 1,235 

Poland town 1,308 1,447 1,613 

♦Included in Harmony until 1920. 



Pomfret town, including Fre- 

donia village 7,973 7,309 6,313 

Portland town, including Broc- 

ton village 3,140 3,058 2,690 

Ripley town 2,116 2,239 2,256 

Sluridan town 1,887 1,888 1,633 

Sherman town, including Sher- 
man village 1,467 1,568 1,560 

Stockton town 1,674 1,781 1,852 

Villenova town 961 1,140 1,208 

Westfield town, including West- 
field village 4,390 4,481 3,882 

Incorporated places : 1920 1910 1900 

Bemus Point village 227 

Brocton village 1,383 1,181 900 

Celoron village 757 619 506 

Cherry Creek village 527 606 701 

Dunkirk city 19,336 17,221 11,616 

Falconer village 2,742 2,141 1,136 

Forestville village 620 721 623 

Fredonia village* 6,051 5,285 4,127 

Jamestown city** 38,917 31,297 22,892 

Lakewood village 714 564 574 

Mayville village 1,442 1,122 943 

Panama village 298 337 359 

Sherman village 847 836 760 

Silver Creek village 3,260 2,512 1,944 

Sinclairville village 514 542 577 

Westfield village 3,413 2,985 2,430 

Dunkirk and Jamestown cities by Wards : 

1920 1915 

Dunkirk city 19,336 

Ward I 6,047 

Ward 2 4,005 

Ward 3 4,178 

Ward 4 5,io6 

Jamestown city 38,917 37,780 

Ward I 4,825 4,662 

Ward 2 5,606 4,536 

Ward 3 5,633 5,446 

Ward 4 6,909 8,034 

Ward 5 8,604 7,942 

Ward 6 7,340 7,160 

*No wards. 
♦♦Previously announced as 38,898. 



Towns : Arkwright 

Arkwright— The town of Arkwright, in the 
northern part of the county, surrounded north, 
east, south and west by Sheridan, Villenova, 
Charlotte and Pomfret, was formed from Pom- 
fret and Villenova, April 13, 1829. The high- 
est points in the town range from eleven hun- 
dred to twelve hundred feet above Lake Erie. 
Sheridan separates Arkwright from Lake Erie 
and Villenova from Cattaraugus county. While 
the original forests have all been felled and 
given way to the fields, and the soil is well 
adapted to the raising of crops, agriculture is 
not the leading industry of the town, the hilly 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Busti — Carroll — Charlotte — Chautauqua — Cherry Creek — Clymer. 



nature of the town making it more profitable 
for grazing. The chief source of wealth is the 
dairy product, which compares favorably with 
the other towns of Chautauqua county. 

Arkwright has the distinction of having ab- 
solutely no aliens among its inhabitants, the 
entire population in 191 5 — 843 — being all citi- 
zens, according to the New York State census. 

There are many points of comparison in 
which the town is surpassed by its neighbors, 
yet there is no scenery in the county so pic- 
turesque and beautiful as that at and near Ark- 
wright Falls. There banks of shale rise pre- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



cipitately from one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty feet, their tops covered with shrub- 
bery and delicious wintergreen to tempt the 
skill of the visitor in climbing. The student 
of geology, go where he may, will find much 
to interest him, as nature's work is plainly 
demonstrated. 

Original Purchases: 

1807 — November, Zattu Cushing, 63 (articled to 
Uriah L. Johnson). 

1809 — June, Benj. Sprague, 56; August, Aug. Burn- 
ham, 60; Ed. McGregor, 62; September, Oliver Taylor, 
55; October, Aaron Wilcox, 56; November, Nathan 
Eaton, 64; Benj. Perry, 64. 

1810 — January, Horace Clough, 42; May, Aug. Burn- 
ham, 56. 

1812 — March, Robt. Cowden, 54. 

1814 — October, Moses Tucker, 62; November, Dan- 
iel Harris, 53. 

181 5— October, Robt. W. Seaver, 37. 

1816 — February, Abiram Orton, 55; December, Tha- 
dius Barnard, 16. 

1817 — March, Robt. Cowden, 53; April, Jabez Har- 
rington, 39. 

1818— March, Silas Matteson, 8. 

1821— July, Isaiah Martin, 3; October, Bela Kings- 
ley, 13; Hiram Kingsley, 13. 

1822— March, Simeon Smith, Jr., 39; Caleb Weaver, 
Jr., 39; April, David Weaver, 31; John Weaver, 32; 
Bethnel Harvey, 12; October Ashbel Scott, 10; No- 
vember, Asahel Burnham, 26, 27; Moses and Aaron 
Luce, 18. 

1823 — July, Sylvester Gould, 42; August, Stephen 
Chase, 2; November, Orestes Thatcher, 18. 

1824 — September, Simeon Clinton, 21; October, 
Benj. White, 28; Arna Wood, 51. 

1825 — September, Stephen Chase (2d), 9; October, 
Ellsworth Griswold, 25. 

1826 — January, Andrus M. Huyck, 16; July, Wm. F. 
Peebles, Jr., 33; October, Zephania Briggs, 42; Abijah 
Mason, 8. 

1828— January, Benj. Perry, 47. 

Among the early settlers were : Byron T. 
Orton, Benjamin Perry and Augustus Burn- 
ham, who settled in the northwestern part of 
the town in 1807; Aaron Wilcox, 1809; Na- 
than Eaton, 1810; Uriah Johnson and John 
Sprague, 181 1 ; A. Z. Wilson and Robert Cow- 
den, 1812. On May 11, 181 1, the first white 
child, Horatio Nelson Johnson, was born in 
the town ; the first death was that of Augustus 
Burnham, in 1813 ; the first marriage, Chaun- 
cey Andrews to Louisa Wilson, was solemn- 
ized in 1814. Isaiah Martin built the first 
frame house in 1814, and kept the first tavern. 
Lucy Dewey taught the first school in 1813. 
Benjamin Orton built the first saw mill in 1818. 
The first religious services were held in the 
house of Aaron Wilcox in 1810 by Rev. John 
Spencer, and in 1820 Elder Thomas Grennel 
organized the first Baptist church. William 
Wilcox was elected the first supervisor of the 
town in 1830. 



One of the oldest and most influential citi- 
zens was Simeon Clinton, born in Ballston, 
Saratoga county, February 13, 1779. In early 
life he moved to Fly Creek, Otsego county, 
where he remained about fifteen years. In 
1813 he journeyed to Buffalo and thence along 
the shores of Lake Erie until he nearly reached 
the present site of Dunkirk, then leaving the 
lake he arrived at the present township of 
Gerry, near Canadaway or Mill Creek, where 
he sold his horse and invested the proceeds in 
a farm. He then returned home, sold all of his 
possessions except some cooking utensils and 
furniture, loading these into his wagon to- 
gether with his wife and three children, the 
youngest, one year old, and started with his 
ox-team for his newly purchased home. When 
he arrived at Buffalo he found it had been 
burned by the British, and only a single house 
standing. While passing from Buffalo to Dun- 
kirk he and his family had a narrow escape 
from being thrown from a rocky cliff into the 
lake. After many hardships they arrived at 
their Gerry home. He remained here only a 
short time, for the creek overflowed and came 
near carrying away his dwelling. Selling his 
place, he purchased a new farm at the center 
of the present site of Arkwright, 1813, on 
which he resided to the time of his death, April 
29, 1858. Mr. Clinton, an honest and educated 
man, took great interest in public affairs and 
was instrumental in forming the township of 
Arkwright. He was the first postmaster, and 
held his office for twenty years. The first town 
meeting was held at his house, May 2, 1830. 
At different times he held the office of justice 
of the peace, superintendent of schools, town 
clerk and commissioner of deeds. He made 
the first survey of the plot of Dunkirk. He 
also surveyed the present site of Sinclairville, 
and with the help of Mr. Peacock laid out the 
Chautauqua road. He understood weaving 
plain cloth and flowered and figured flannel. 
A short time before his death he was talking 
to a neighbor, when a fly lit on his hand, which 
he killed with the other. "There," said he, 
"when I pass from time to eternity, I wish to 
go just as quick as that." It seems that his 
request was granted, for while he was stand- 
ing in his barn door he was struck by lightning 
and instantly killed. 

Arkwright was the first town in the State to 
establish extensively the cooperative system in 
the manufacture of cheese. Asahel Burnham 
was the first to institute that industry on a 
large scale. He was the grandson of the pio- 
neer of that name, the first settler of Ark- 



TOWNS 



l W 



wright. He was born in Arkwright, about 
1826. He had poor opportunities for educa- 
tion and no business experience; he had, how- 
ever, energy and natural business ability. In 
early years he was a farmer. Prior to 1861, 
each farmer manufactured his own butter and 
cheese; that year Mr. Burnham built in Ark- 
wright the first cheese factory in the county 
upon the cooperative plan, at Burnham's Hol- 
low on Canadaway creek, and was called the 
Canadaway Cheese Factory. While still owner 
of this factory, in 1865 he built the second of 
the kind in the county at Sinclairville, which it 
is believed was at that time the largest in the 
State. That year in this factory he manufac- 
tured into cheese 4,349,364 pounds of milk from 
1,450 cows, belonging to 120 patrons and made 
7,200 cheese, each weighing 60 pounds, a por- 
tion of the time 60 cheese a day. He also built 
and owned factories in adjacent towns. He 
was called the "Cheese King," because he 
bought and handled a large portion of the 
cheese made in Western New York. 

The cooperative system in the manufacture 
of cheese thus established by Burnham grew 
into a great industry. In Arkwright in its three 
cheese factories were made 263,403 pounds of 
full-cream cheese in 1902. In the county the 
same year in thirty-five cheese factories 3,307,- 
93S pounds were made. Of the fifty-four but- 
ter and cheese counties in the State, Chau- 
tauqua county ranked eleventh. In 1902 in its 
thirty-four butter factories 3,243,940 pounds of 
butter were made, and the county stood fourth 
in rank in the State in quantity. The four 
counties that exceeded it were each much 
greater in extent, and Chautauqua ranked 
above them according to its territory in the 
quantity of butter made. 

Mr. Burnham was noted all over the United 
States as the owner of a famous stable of 
thoroughbreds, his most noted racer being 
"Brambaletta." He had for an emblem a pine- 
apple cheese, which he emblazoned on his 
jockey's colors. 

Supervisors — 1830-36, Wm. Wilcox; 1837-40, 
Levi Baldwin; 1841, Lewis E. Danforth; 1842, 
Levi Baldwin; 1843, Lewis E. Danforth; 1844- 
52, Wm. Wilcox; 1853-4, Levi Baldwin ; 1855-6, 
Chauncey Abbey; 1857, Levi Baldwin; 1858-9, 
Chauncey Abbey; 1 860-1, John C. Griswold; 
1862-5, Chauncey Abbey; 1866, John C. Gris- 
wold; 1867, Delos J. Rider; 1868, John C. Gris- 
wold; 1869, Oscar H. Houck; 1870, Levi C. 
Baldwin; 1871-2, Leander S. Phelps; 1873-5, 
Geo. W. Briggs; 1876, John C. Griswold; 
1877-8, Edson I. Wilcox; 1879-80, Ezra Scott; 



1881-2, Richmond Putnam; 1883, Eaton Burn- 
ham ; 1884, John C. Griswold ; 1885, Ezra Scott ; 
1886-7, Cassius M. Griswold; 1888, Richmond 
Putnam; 1889-91, Chas. E. Cole; 1892-5, Mar- 
vin Cardot; 1896-9, Frank W. Horton ; 1900-1, 
Marvin Cardot ; 1902-5, Marvin Horton ; 1906-9, 
Edes A. Tarbox; 1910-13, Chas. C. Cole; 1914- 
17, Rawson A. Matthewson ; 1918-19, John A. 
Griswold; 1920, Edgar M. Towns. 

There are 22,083 acres included within Ark- 
wright limits, of which the equalized assessed 
value in 1918 was $354,414; full value, $451,731. 
The villages of the town are Arkwright and 
Griswold. The schools are excellent, and sev- 
eral religious denominations are represented 
by _ congregations and church edifices. Ark- 
wright's farmers and public men have always 
been of a high class and influential in county 
affairs. 

Busti — Extending from Chautauqua Lake 
south to the Pennsylvania line and from the 
town of Kiantone on the east to the town of 
Harmony on the west, Busti contains an area 
of 29,152 acres, or about forty-five and one- 
half square miles. 

The town was organized from Ellicott and 
Harmony, April 16, 1823, and named for Paul 
Busti, general agent of the Holland Land Com- 
pany. 

Original Purchases: 

1810 — April, Saml. Griffith, 4; May, Theo. Bemus, 
12; December, Jonas Lamphear, 48. 

1811 — March, Wm. Matteson, Jr., 40 (Ellicott); May, 
Jedediah Chapin, 4; Palmer Phillips, 11; October, 
Nath. Fenner, 15. 

1812 — February, Jos. Phillips, II ; March, Anthony 
Fenner, 6; Thos. Fenner, Jr., 15; April, Theron Plumb, 
7; August, Barnabas Wellman, Jr., 38; Reuben Lan- 
don, 7. 

1814 — May, Arba Blodgett, 25; Elisha Devereaux, 1; 
July, Asa Smith, 2; October, Wm. Bullock, 17. 

1815 — April, Peter Frank, 5, 6; June, Josiah Thomp- 
son, 28; Cyrenus Blodgett, 33; Ford Wellman, 47; No- 
vember, Josiah Palmeter, 15. 

1816— April, Harris Terry, 63 ; October, Harris 
Terry, 47. 

1817 — September, Nicholas Sherman, 16; Lyman 
Crane, 8. 

1818 — September, Wm. Gifford; October, Samuel 
Hart, 8. 

1822 — September, Ransom Curtis, 39; November, 
Peleg Trask, 17; Jared Farnam, Jr., 34. 

1823— June, Jos. Taylor, 39; October, Ethan Allen, 
45; Silas C. Carpenter, Isaac Foster, 54. 

1824 — February, John Badgley, 43; March, Ford 
Wellman, 54 (Harmony); July, Elijah B. Burt, 37; 
October, Barnabas Wellman, 31; November, John 
Kent, 30; December, Saml. Darling, 35. 

1825 — January, John Buck, Jr., 20; February, Xavier 
Abbott, 10; March, Jarius Buck, 19; June, David 
Hatch, 7; August, Wm. Nichols, 38; Geo. Martin, 13. 

1826— November, Benj. A. Slayton, 43. 

1827 — September, Alex. Young, 24. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



A tannery was built by John Frank in 1812. 
The first vats were made of logs. It was 
burned, and rebuilt, and continued until about 
1865. No other tannery, it is believed, was 
ever in this town. The last factory established 
by Mr. Frank, was destroyed by fire and not 
rebuilt. A trip hammer built by Giles Chip- 
man and Lyman Fargo continued for several 
years. Uriah Hawks later built a chair and 
spinning wheel factory, which was discon- 
tinued on account of the difficulty of maintain- 
ing dams on the streams. 

The first blacksmith shop is said to have 
been Patrick Camel's, at the tannery. Next, 
Chipman and Fargo commenced business near 
Camel's, and removed sixty rods south and 
added the manufacture of edged tools with a 
trip hammer. The first store was kept by Van 
Velzer, about 1830. Stephen J. Brown was 
probably the first physician. He came about 
1837, and practiced about twenty years. Be- 
fore his death, Dr. Bennett came and practiced 
a few years. 

The first saw mill at Busti Corners was built 
by Heman Bush. A clock factory was built 
in 1830, by Samuel Chappel and James Sart- 
well, and continued several years. After its 
discontinuance, a grist mill was built on the 
same site by Heman Bush and another after- 
wards by Francis Soule. 

Busti's lake front is now almost a continu- 
ous village of summer resorts from one end to 
the other, beginning with Lakewood, with its 
large hotels, parks, drives, promenades, golf 
links, and many attractive homes. Lakewood 
is connected with Jamestown by a modern 
electric railway, and has an excellent steam- 
boat service. Above Lakewood are Clifford, 
Lowe and Sherman parks, which are each year 
presenting added attractions for summer vis- 
itors. Below Lakewood's Shady Side, a most 
beautiful spot, and still farther east at Clement 
Park and Squier's Park, are many costly sum- 
mer homes. In the western part of the town 
is the village of Boomertown, on the Erie rail- 
road ; and in the southern central part is the 
village of Busti, a quiet rural community made 
up largely of descendants of the early families 
of the town ; Stoddard, Broadhead, Gallup, 
Hazeltine, Jones, Martin, Curtis, Northrop, 
Matteson, Frank, Andrews and Babcock are 
all familiar names in Busti's past and present. 
Busti is without railroad connection, but is 
a thriving and prosperous village, with three 
churches, a union school, grist and saw mills, 
and modern stores. 

According to the State census of 1915 the 
town of Busti had a population of 2,279 citi- 



zens and 52 aliens. The assessed value of real 
estate in the town in 1918 was $1,894,651 ; full 
value, $2,460,585. The town is strictly a farm- 
ing, grazing and residence district, there being 
no factories of importance. 

Palmer Phillips came to Busti in 181 1. He 
became well known as a maker of the best 
grain cradles and hand rakes. Rev. John 
Broadhead, another well-known pioneer, was 
a Methodist minister, and in 1835 came to 
Busti from Green county, New York, the first 
Broadhead to settle in Chautauqua county. 
The Blodgett family left a deep impress upon 
the history of Busti. The founder, Arba 
Blodgett, a soldier of the War of 1812, settled 
in the town near the State line in the south- 
western part soon after his military service 
ended. In that day town meetings were held 
in private houses and the owner of the house 
was expected to and did furnish liquor for the 
voters. This rule was first broken in Busti by 
Arba Blodgett, who in the face of ridicule and 
criticism refused to furnish the customary 
bottle of whiskey. He was a strong Abolition- 
ist, and tradition says his home was a station 
on the Underground Railroad. Loren Blodgett, 
son of Arba, "was known throughout the 
United States as a statistician, economist and 
journalist ; and his works connected with the 
Smithsonian Institution and Treasury Depart- 
ment won for him a reputation as one of the 
world's greatest statistical compilers." He 
was in charge of the Department of Physical 
Research at the Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington City, and assisted in supervising 
the survey for the Union Pacific railroad. He 
was later placed in charge of the financial and 
statistical reports of the United States Treas- 
ury Department ; was general appraiser of cus- 
toms, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; chief of the 
customs division of the United States Treas- 
ury Department, and appraiser of customs, 
New York City. He died in Busti in 1837, 
meeting an accidental death. 

Near the Blodgetts lived the family of Wil- 
liam Storum, colored, whose daughter married 
Lewis Clark, a fugitive slave from whose life 
Harriet Beecher Stowe drew the character of 
George Harris for "Uncle Tom's Cabin." A 
granddaughter of William Storum married a 
son of Frederick Douglass. This Storum home 
was the scene of a cruel incident in 1851, when 
a runaway slave from the South was taken 
from there and returned to his old masters. 

The Gallup family came in 1828 from Otsego 
county, bringing their effects drawn by an ox- 
team. The Gallup farm, on the mail route be- 
tween Busti and Sugargrove, which long held 




- i* v ^!«t>r -*? * * » . fas* 




CASSADAGA LAKE 




LONG POINT 



TOWNS 



119 



the reputation of being tilled and most produc- 
tive in the town, was converted into a poultry 
farm, and under its owner, Miss Flora Gallup, 
a former high school teacher of Jamestown, 
gained enviable reputation. 

The first hotel in Busti was built by Heman 
Bush, and the first town meeting was held in 
"the long room" of this hotel, March 2, 1824. 
Daniel Sherman, father of Daniel Sherman, of 
Forestville, was the first supervisor. 

Rev. Ira Stoddard came to Busti in 1825, and 
was pastor of the Baptist church many years. 
His descendants ranked among the influential 
and respected citizens of the town. Oren Stod- 
dard (a relative), a well-known citizen from 
1840 until his death, was a man of considerable 
inventive genius. He erected a steam saw mill 
and a basket factory and much of the machin- 
ery was his own invention. In 1878 he built a 
large brick house, the second brick house in the 
town. 

George Stoneman, of Chenango county, was 
a neighbor of Daniel Sherman, the first super- 
visor. He was somewhat eccentric. He built 
a saw mill west of the residence of the late 
Abram Sherman, on a little bank within a few 
rods of the lake shore, with no visible water 
power. The question was often asked, where 
is the water to come from to run the thing 
when he gets it built? An old farmer asked 
Mr. Stoneman where he was going to get 
water, to which he replied, "You see, don't you, 
that I have built close to the lake, where is 
always plenty of water." "Yes, I see ; but how 
are you going to get the water above the null?" 
"Bring it in corn baskets," was the prompt 
reply. But soon a force of men and teams was 
constructing a race and for many years the 
"corn basket, or dry saw mill" was operated 
with more or less profit to the owner and as a 
great convenience to farmers and lumbermen. 

Later, when there were no steamers on Chau- 
tauqua Lake, Mr. Stoneman constructed a 
horse-boat, built upon two huge dug-out 
canoes. These canoes were placed several feet 
apart and decked over from one to the other, 
catamaran style. An immense horizontal 
wheel extended across the deck, upon which 
the horses traveled. The under surface of this 
wheel was geared to the shaft of a paddle 
wheel in the center of the boat — the motive 
power, a horse on each side of the boat. Upon 
assuming command of this quaint craft, his 
friends dubbed him Commodore Stoneman. 
The commodore's boat could make the round 
trip in from three to four days, and in those 
easy-going times this means of transportation 
was quite liberally patronized. George Stone- 



man was father of Gen. George Stoneman, of 
the United States army, who was elected Gov- 
ernor of California after the close of the war. 
John Stoneman, another son, became a lawyer, 
went West, and became a State Senator. One 
of the four daughters, Kate Stoneman, of Al- 
bany Normal School, was the first woman law- 
yer in the State of New York. 

Uriah Bentley settled in what is now the 
town of Busti in 1810. He was a brave and 
sturdy pioneer, a practical cooper and black- 
smith. He built in 1837 a large brick house, 
the first of its kind in Southern Chautauqua 
county. This house was the later summer resi- 
dence of Fred A. Bentley, then president of the 
Bank of Jamestown. 

Daniel Sherman, the first supervisor, and his 
two brothers, Isaac and Nicholas, were among 
the early settlers. They took up large tracts 
of land, and were men of thrift and influence. 
The Wellmans settled in the southwestern part 
of the town, and in 1812 Mr. Wellman was 
called to the defense of Buffalo. The Garfields 
settled in the southeastern part of the town, 
and for many years were famous as farmers 
and county fair exhibitors. 

Elias H. Jenner was a well-known school 
teacher, and for more than twenty years was 
clerk of the board of county supervisors. 

Gideon Gifford came from Cambridge, 
Washington county, in the spring of 1828, 
moving his family and household goods with 
a young span of horses and a covered wagon. 
He purchased over three hundred acres of land 
bordering on Chautauqua Lake, the southern 
portion of which he selected for the site of his 
future home, known as the Gifford homestead 
and later owned and occupied by one of the 
sons, Walter C. Gifford. The first house was a 
post and beam house, shingled outside with 
pine shaved shingles, some ten to twelve inches 
in width. The nails were cut by hand, even 
the shingle nails. The door trimmings and 
nails were brought with the family from Wash- 
ington county. In the early years he traveled 
on foot over a large section of the county in 
the employ of Mr. Peacock, agent of the Hol- 
land Land Company. For a long period and 
until his eyesight failed, he spent much time 
in surveying, especially in laying out roads 
and establishing disputed boundaries. The 
original farm is nearly all owned by his de- 
scendants. 

The Baptist church of Busti was organized 
August 30, 1819. by a council consisting of 
Elders Ebenezer Smith, Paul Davis and Jona- 
than Wilson. Members uniting at that time 
were: Daniel Startwell, Enoch Alden, Ebenezer 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Davis, Benjamin Covel, and, it is believed, 
Henry L., John L. and John Frank, Jr., and 
Elijah Devereux were also first members. A 
few days later William Frank and Anna Shep- 
pard were admitted. The first church edifice 
was erected in 1836, the present one in 1853. 
Rev. Paul Jones was the first pastor. The 
Methodist Episcopal church of Busti Corners 
was organized in 1819, by Rev. Alvin Burgess, 
with sixty members, and a church edifice was 
erected the same year. 

The value of real estate in the town of Busti 
in 1918 was $2,460,585; equalized assessed 
value, $1,930,504. 

Daniel Sherman, the first supervisor of the 
town, served in 1824-28, 1833; Emri Davis, Sr., 
1829-32-34-35-40-47-61-62; Pardon Hazeltine, 
1S36-39; Henry C. Sherman, 1841-45; Stephen 
J. Brown, 1843; Lorenzo Matthews, 1843-48- 
50-53; Theron Palmeter, 1851-52-54; John B. 
Babcock, 1855; Emri Davis, Jr., 1856-58; John 
A. Hall, 1859-60-71 ; William B. Martin, 1866- 
67; Harmon G. Mitchell, 1869-70; Alonzo C. 
Pickard, 1873-75 I Jerome Babcock, 1876-78-88- 
89; Barber Babcock, 1879-80; Jacob B. Foster, 
1881-82; Fred A. Bentley, 1883-85; Warren 
Frank, 1867-68; William Northrop, 1890-97; 
Dr. A. J. Bennett, 1898-1901 ; Fred A. Bentley, 
1902-03; Ellsworth J. Dougherty, 1904-07; J. 
William Sandbury, 1908-10; John I. Veness, 
191 1 ; Jesse A. Foster, 1912-13; Fred A. Sim- 
mons, 1914-17; Axel Levin, 1918-20. 

Carroll — The town of Carroll, in the extreme 
southeastern part of the county, was erected 
in 1825 from the town of Ellicott, and named 
in honor of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the 
immortal Signer, who in affixing his name to 
the Declaration of Independence added his 
residence, that there might be no doubt of his 
identity if misfortune overtook the cause for 
which he was risking his life and fortune. 

The town, broken and hilly in the northeast 
and east parts and rolling in the south and 
southwest, originally included the present 
town of Kiantone, which was set off from Car- 
roll in 1853. Conewango creek forms the 
greater part of the boundary line between the 
two towns, entering Carroll from the north and 
continuing to the Pennsylvania line. The town 
contains 20,658 acres, the highest summits, be- 
ing 1,400 feet above tidewater. Frewsburg, on 
the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh 
railroad, is a thriving village with important 
industrial establishments — The Carroll Furni- 
ture Company, the Frewsburg Canning Com- 
pany, and the Merrell-Soule Company, dairy 
products. There are in Frewsburg four small 
factories. 



Other villages of the town are Fentonville 
in the south, Dodge in the east, and Ivory in 
the north. The population of Carroll, accord- 
ing to the State census of that year, was 1,714, 
of whom seven only were aliens. 

'Original Purchases: 

1S0S— July, Joel Tyler, 51; Geo. Sloan, 59 (now 
Kiantone). 

iSop — March. Samuel Anderson, 57 (now Kiantone); 
June, Charles Boyles, 42; Isaac Walton, 41. 

1810 — March, G<jo. W. Fenton, 52. 

1811 — October, Matt. Turner, 53; November, Eben- 
ezer Cheney, 54; Matt. Turner, 54. 

1S12 — January, John Frew, 61. 

1813 — September, Robt. Russell. 57 (lot now in Kian- 
tone); December, Amasa Littlefield, 36. 

1814 — -March, Ebenezer Cheney, 36; May, Ebenezer 
Cheney, 46, 47, 54, 55; Ebenezer Davis, 2,7', Benj. Jones, 
23, 28; Levi Jones, 24, 2S; Elijah Braley, 43; Horatio 
Dix, 28; July, James Hall, 54; September, Aaron 
Forbes, 64; November, Robt. Russell, 57 (now in Kian- 
tone). 

1815 — March. Josiah H. Wheeler, 46; Wheeler and 
Hall, 32. 40; Wm. Sears, 31. 

181 5 — May, Jona. Covell, 43; Eli Eames, 38. 

1817 — May, Benj. Russell, 30. 

181S — May, Aaron Forbes, 64; November, Levi 
Jones, 23. 

1819 — January, Josiah H. Wheeler, 39. 

1820 — June, John Frew, 62. 

1S21 — November, John Myers (lot not given). 

1822 — September, Isaac Eames, 39. 

1823 — October, James Hall, 15. 

1S24 — January, John and James Frew, 20; February, 
John Myers, 20; April, John Frew, 27; September, 
Daniel Wheeler, 27; October, Truman Comstock, 31. 

1826 — May, Hiram Covey, 14; James Covey, 14; 
Jonah R. Covey, 14; June, Taylor Aldrich, 28. 

1827 — June, Wm. Haines, 26; John F. Bragg, 48; 
October, Robt. Russell, 49. 

The first settlers were John Frew on lot 61, 
and Thomas Russell on west half of lot 53 at 
the mouth of Frew Run. In the spring of 1809 
John Frew paid $2.25 an acre, built a log cabin, 
and put in crops in 1810. A few months later, 
George W. Fenton sold his farm on Chadakoin 
river and located on lot 52, south of and adjoin- 
ing the lands of Frew and Russell. Frew and 
Russell built a saw mill in 1810, and com- 
menced sawing the next spring. They ran the 
sawed boards to Pittsburgh. James Frew was 
connected with them in building the mill, and 
purchased Russell's interest in 1814. In 1817, 
with their father, Hugh Frew, they built an 
"overshot" gristmill, using the gearing and 
stones of their father's old mill in Pennsyl- 
vania. George W. Fenton developed a large 
farm, and opened the first store in Frews- 
burg. John Tyler was on lot 51 by June, 
1808; his son Hamilton, born 1810, was the 
first white child born in the present town. 
Isaac Walton was on lot 41 and Charles Boyles 
on lot 42 in trje summer of 1809. 



in the 



TOWNS 



The first marriage of the town was William 
Boyles to Jerusha Walton in 1811. Young 
says that Benjamin Covell, born in Harwich, 
Mass., in 1761, was at the taking of Burgoyne, 
at Sullivan's defeat, and the battle of Mon- 
mouth. He married Sybil Purkee, and re- 
moved in 1810 to Carroll, where he died, No- 
vember 27, 1822. At that time all of his sons 
and daughters, his brother Seth and nephew 
Simeon, were living near him, and the settle- 
ment was called "Covelltown." They "were 
active in getting the first bridge built across 
the Conewango at Covelltown." Benjamin 
Covell took up in December, 1810, lot 2, town 
1, range 11, in Kiantone. They went in canoes 
to Warren to trade and to Work's mill with 
"grists." Lumbering commenced early, and a 
transient population came to work in the 
woods, in the mills and in rafting, sometimes 
bringing a family. John Myers opened a tavern 
in 1814 on the Conewango about a mile from 
Frewsburg, and the same year William Sears 
established one on lot 11 (Kiantone). In 1816 
John Owen began a tavern at Fentonville, also 
a ferry. In the rafting season these taverns 
were centers of great mirth and enjoyment ; 
the raftsmen more than filled the houses and 
would quarrel for the privilege of lying on the 
bar-room floor in order to hear Owen tell his 
stories. 

Perhaps no other township in the county has 
had so many saw mills at the same time as Car- 
roll. John Frew assisted Edward Work to 
build his saw mill at Work's Mills in 1808, and 
the first lumber cut by Frew was plank for 
eight flatboats which he built and took to May- 
ville for salt which he ran to Pittsburgh. "The 
same John Frew brought on his back from 
Dunkirk a bushel-and-a-half bag of salt for the 
settlers, who were in perishing need of it. It 
was also John Frew who in 1813 killed the 
last deer killed at the great deer lick in the 
four corners of Main and Third streets of 
Jamestown." He was supervisor, 1816-22, and 
was selected for higher offices, but would not 
except. He had sound judgment, strict integ- 
rity, and was the active man of the commu- 
nity. He died in 1865, aged 76. His brother 
James was a quiet, unostentatious man of 
great worth, a good marksman, hunter and 
mechanic. In 1812 he served on Harrison's 
Indian campaign. He married Rebecca, daugh- 
ter of Josiah H. Wheeler, and was accidentally 
killed August 24, 1834, at the age of forty- 
three, at a "raising." His sons were : John H., 
Miles, Josiah, Jefferson; and David, who lived 
to a good old age and had the respect of all. 
John and James Frew were sons of Hugh and 



Mary (Russell) Frew, of County Down, Ire- 
land. Hugh was a miller and came to Frews- 
burg in 1817 to operate the new gristmill. He 
died in 1831, aged 73. 

George W. Fenton, son of Roswell Fenton, 
was born in Hanover, N. H., December 20, 
1783. In 1804 he went to Philadelphia, Pitts- 
burgh and Louisville. Returning to Pitts- 
burgh, Mr. Fenton made canoe trips for sev- 
eral years with goods and provisions up the 
Allegheny river and to French creek. In the 
winter of 1805-06 he taught the first school at 
Warren, became acquainted with John Owen 
and family, and married Elsie Owen. The next 
spring they settled near Levant, one of the first 
three families of Ellicott. Joseph Ellicott, who 
came in 1807 to survey the township into lots, 
engaged Mr. Fenton to help him survey Car- 
roll. While earning good wages he gained 
thorough knowledge of the town. Selling his 
Levant home to John Arthur, he purchased 
627 acres, made a permanent residence in 1809, 
and died March 3, i860. His children were: 
Roswell O., born September 6, 1807, the first 
white child born in Chautauqua south of the 
ridge ; George W., William H. H., John F., 
Reuben E., Governor of New York and United 
States Senator. 

John Owen was a native of Windsor, Conn., 
and a soldier of the old French War and the 
Revolution. He came from the Susquehanna 
Valley to Warren in 1806, and, in 1808 located 
on lot 57, town 2, range 10, in Poland. In 1816 
he sold his farm and located in Carroll on lot 
41, where he resided twenty-seven years. He 
kept a tavern on the road that crossed the 
Conewango at the State line, also a ferry. 
Many a man has laughed at the old man's 
stories and jokes till his sides were sore. He 
claimed that in his early days he never found 
but one man that got the better of him in a 
fair "stand-up" fight. Owen served with the 
English in the attack on Quebec in the old 
French War, and was under Ethan Allen, May 
10, 1775, at Ticonderoga. He died in Carroll, 
February 6, 1843, aged 107 years, ten months, 
eight days. Ira Owen came with his father 
John to the Conewango and settled east of 
him. He was with the Chautauqua militia at 
the battle of Buffalo, and was a brave soldier 
and excellent marksman. While in line, sev- 
eral of his company had been shot by some foe 
in their rear; presently the third man to his 
right was shot. Owen discovered an Indian 
lowering his rifle from the head of a flour bar- 
rel eighty yards distant. Drawing his rifle to 
his face, when the Indian's head appeared in 
view the dusky intruder fell back to trouble 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



them no more. On the retreat from Black 
Rock he killed a pursuing Indian. Seeing him 
fall, Owen ran to rescue his rifle, belt and pow- 
der horn, but the bullets whistled so close that 
he only succeeded in getting the rifle. Reuben 
Owen, second son of John, lived on the old 
homestead until his death ; he married Han- 
nah Clark. Alvin, youngest son of John, lived 
at Fentonville, married Miss Haley, had three 
children, and was drowned in the Conewango 
by the upsetting of his skiff. 

John Myers and his thirteen children became 
closely connected with Carroll. Six of his 
sons, John, Jacob, Robert, Lyman, William and 
James, and two of his daughters, became per- 
manent citizens. He enjoyed life, while hav- 
ing a shrewd eye to business, and transmitted 
his cheery temperament to his children. Hiram 
Dickinson, son of Gideon Dickinson, a soldier 
of the Revolution, was born in 1800, in Wil- 
liamstown, Vermont. In 1S18 he married Sally 
Pierce, of Hoosick, Rensselaer county. In 
February, 1819, they started for Chautauqua 
county, arriving here after traveling just one 
month with an ox-team over almost impassa- 
ble roads, there being only a sled track most of 
the way. They came with a wagon as far as 
Nunda, where they found the snow so deep 
they were forced to load their goods on a sled. 
Their load of three thousand pounds consisted 
mostly of household goods and farming uten- 
sils, also a box containing two very fine pigs, 
of a superior kind, and at that time sought 
after far and near; they were known as the 
"Dickinson breed" for many years. When the 
family arrived at Jamestown, they stayed all 
night in one of the first hotels of the place — 
a shell of rough boards, with loose partitions 
and floors. From there they started for their 
new home. There were but few families for 
miles around, and no store nearer than the 
"Prendergast store" at Jamestown. On arriv- 
ing at their destination, the place later owned 
and occupied by A. Hiller, in Carroll, they 
commenced housekeeping in the usual manner 
of those days. 

"About 1825 James Cowan settled on Case 
Run. He was a noted hunter and while in 
search of game he penetrated the dense wilder- 
ness of South Valley, in Cattaraugus county" 
There was then a well-worn Indian trail lead- 
ing from the Conewango along Case Run, 
through Covey Gap and down Bone Run to the 
Allegheny river near Onoville. On the north 
side of this trail, near the boundary line of Car- 
roll and South Valley, a fence had been made 
by the Indians, woven of brush and small poles, 
which ran northerly for a mile and a half over 



a high ridge to the north branch of Bone Run. 
It was sufficiently high to intercept the pas- 
sage of deer and elk. This fence was to be seen 
as late as 1840. 

Rev. Paul Davis, a Baptist, came from Ver- 
mont in 1816; his labors bore good fruit until 
his death ten years later. His son, Simeon C, 
locally prominent for years, came in 1814; he 
has many descendants. Consider Benson, a 
soldier of 1812, came from Vermont in 1816, 
and died in Falconer in 1855, aged 89, Hiram 
Thayer, from Massachusetts, came in 1816 and 
to Carroll in 1820. He bought part of lot 39, and 
lived here sixty years until his death ; he was 
an esteemed citizen, acquired wealth, and left 
numerous descendants. In 1816 Joseph Waite, 
father of Hon. Davis H. Waite, at one time 
Governor of Colorado, came from Vermont 
and engaged in lumbering until 1821, when he 
removed to Jamestown. Josiah H. Wheeler, 
from Vermont, brought a large family and pur- 
chased the Matthew Turner saw mill on Frew 
Run, lot 53 ; his sons worked harmoniously 
with him and they acquired wealth. Otis 
Moore settled early on lot 45, and owned and 
operated the saw mill one mile east of Frews- 
burg. Luther Howard, a native of Wards- 
borough, Vermont, came about 1830 and set- 
tled on the farm he bought of Charles Wolcott, 
who had made a small clearing, and where his 
son Jediah lived after his father's death. 

Case Run took its name from the first set- 
tler, James Case, who did not remain long. 
Moses Taft, from Vermont, was an early set- 
tler and part owner of a saw mill on Case Run. 
Dutee Harrington settled on lot 32, and was 
a mill owner for years. Orsino Comstock 
lived on lot 31 ; Richard Hiller on lot 30; Good- 
win Staples on lot 8. John Townsend bought 
the Thayer mill, which he and his sons owned 
and operated many years. Christopher Eaton 
came about 1823 from Vermont, and lived a 
long life in Carroll. Edmund White was early 
on lot 27. Pliny Cass was a resident here from 
about 1820. Luther Forbush came from New- 
ton, Mass., in 1829 and resided many years on 
lot 34 ; he had a large family. His brother-in- 
law, Jacob Adams, and Leonard Adams, came 
from Newton about 1847. Cyrus Adams, son 
of Jacob, died a soldier in the Civil War. In 
1827 Rufus Green, from Vermont, came, set- 
tling first in Kiantone and in 1830 on lot 51 ; 
he was a justice for many years. H. N. Thorn- 
ton came from Ripley in 1828, and subse- 
quently lived in Kiantone and Carroll. Otis 
Alvord was an early settler at Fentonville. 
Dorastus Johnson, about 1845, settled on lot 
45 ; Ira and Calvin, two of his six sons, lost 



TOWNS 



'^3 



their lives in the Civil War. George W. 
Brown came in 1828; he was a farmer and mill 
owner. His sons, George W., Amos and 
Lewis, were Union soldiers in the Civil War. 
Adam Vandewark in 1834, Albert Fox in 1835, 
J. D. Bain in 1838, Reuben Niles in 1839, were 
other settlers. 

The first town meeting was held at the house 
of William Sears, March 6, 1826, and these 
officers were elected : Supervisor, James Hall ; 
town clerk, John Frew; assessors, James 
Parker, Levi Davis, James Frew ; commission- 
ers of highways, E. Kidder, George W. Fenton, 
Simeon C. Davis ; overseers of poor, E. Kidder, 
George W. Jones; collector, Asa Moore; con- 
stables, Asa Moore, Hiram Dickinson ; com- 
missioners of schools, William Sears, Simeon 
Covell, Levi Davis ; poundkeepers, George W. 
Fenton, William Sears. 

For a small town, Carroll has done much 
manufacturing. Its saw mills have been numer- 
ous and active, steam supplanting water as a 
motive power as water failed. Jefferson Frew's 
mill cut from half to three-quarters of a million 
feet annually during many years. Edward 
Hayward, Edwin Moore, the Myerses, Edwin 
Eaton, E. W. Scowden, Wood & White, Moore, 
Spink & Company, and others, produced mil- 
lions of staves ; butter tubs, paint kegs, etc., 
laths, hand-sleds, baskets, soap and seed boxes, 
have been some of the products. The town 
received a valuable accession in the immigra- 
tion of a large number of Swedes, who are in- 
dustrious, frugal and law-abiding people. 

The Frewsburg Baptist church was formed 
January 1, 1838, of sixty members of the First 
Baptist Church, of Carroll, now extinct ; it took 
its present name Sept. 20, 1842. March 10, 
1838, John G. Curtis and Phineas Annis were 
chosen deacons. Until 1842 the church had no 
regular pastor. It was received into the Har- 
mony Baptist Association in 1838; and in 1842 
Rev. M. Colby was its first pastor. The first 
church clerk was Abida Dean. The Baptist 
Society was formed January 14, 1850. The 
first trustees were Phineas Annis, Elias How- 
ard, George W. Fenton, John Myers, Jr., and 
Jacob Persell. George W. Fenton and John 
Myers. Jr., defrayed the most of the expense of 
building the present church edifice. The Con- 
gregational church was organized with seven- 
teen members. Rev. R. Rouse was the first 
pastor. In 1863 they erected their house of 
worship. The Methodist Episcopal church 
was organized January 21, 1843, with Rev. 
Moses Hill, pastor. Alexander Ross, George 
Bartlit and A. J. Fuller were chosen trustees. 
The original members were Edmund White, 



Alexander Ross, A. J. Fuller and wives, George 
Bartlit, Mrs. Sibil French and Mrs. Elsie 
(Owen) Fenton, who retained membership 
until her death. George Bartlit was class 
leader many years. In 1844 a church was 
erected on a lot presented by James Hall. A 
Swedish mission church was organized at Oak 
Hill about 1889. The Lutheran church of 
Frewsburg was organized in 1878. The Swed- 
ish mission ch'urch was established at Frews- 
burg in 1878 with A. G. Nelson, pastor. 

Lumber is such an important factor in 
Carroll's progress and development that the 
following article on "Carroll — Early Lumber- 
ing," from the pen of Mrs. Effie W. Parker, in 
"The Centennial History of Chautauqua 
County," published in 1904, is largely drawn 
upon: 

It has been stated by historians that "no more mag- 
nificent forest existed in the United States than that 
which cast its mighty shadows over primitive Carroll" 
— a forest not only vast in extent, but the trees were 
larger than ever before known. Conewango pineries 
were the wonders of their day, and their fame had 
extended to other countries. Nature was provident in 
the streams that were to furnish power for the reduc- 
tion of this forest, which in time gave place to the now 
productive farms. 

In 1810 lohn Frew built a saw mill on lot 53. At a 
later date he with his brother James and Thomas Rus- 
sell built a mill at the mouth of Frew Run on the east 
side of the Conewango, on lot 61. Thomas Russell 
sold his interests in 1815. In 1817 the Frew brothers, 
with their father, Hugh Frew, built a gristmill, using 
the same power and flume for both mills. The saw 
mill passed into the hands of Jefferson Frew, who in 
1872 put in steam and operated it for a number of 
years. 

Matthew Turner is supposed to have built on lot 53 
the second mill in town; it was bought by Josiah H. 
Wheeler in 1816. James Wheeler, his son, built a mill 
on the same lot farther east, using one power and 
flume for both mills. On lot 45 Mr. Taylor built a 
mill; this was later owned by G. W. Fenton; the prop- 
erty passed into the hands of Otis Moore and on to his 
son, O. H. Moore. The plant was unusual in operating 
ability, the streams at this point being fed by numerous 
springs so that sawing could be done almost any day 
in the year. On the same lot east, Job Toby built a 
mill between 1816 and 1820. On lot 36 Amasa Little- 
field built a mill that was purchased and rebuilt by 
John Myers. Reuben and John Thayer built a mill on 
the same lot east, that was purchased by John Town- 
send in 1S41 and operated by himself to the time of his 
death in i860, and by his son Samuel to 1888. Cyrus 
Clough was another saw mill builder on lot 28. This 
mill was conducted later by Jacob Persell. John Bain, 
Sherman Jones, John Townsend, Jr., Henry Bennett 
and Stephen Bennett, successively. By this time John 
Frew built a third mill on lot 27. His son. James R. 
Frew, carried on the business in later years; was later 
a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1902 was the old- 
est person living who was born in the town of Carroll. 

Jediah Budlong as early as 1832 built a mill on lot 
19 with an overshot wheel, and had a usual annual 
product of 500.000 feet of lumber. In 1848 Emrich 
Evans, with Mr. Budlong, rebuilt the mill, and it passed 



I2 4 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



into the hands of L. L. Rawson, purchased later by 
John Hiller and burned in 1S72. At the head of Frew 
Run, John Myers put in a mill that Samuel Cowen 
purchased later. 

All these mills were on Frew Run, a stream not ex- 
ceeding five miles in length, and all were operated 
three or four months in the year. In early times, water 
was held back by the density of forest, so that even in 
a dry time, after a thunder shower, quite a stroke of 
business could be accomplished. None of these mills 
but sawed one hundred thousand feet of lumber a 
year — more sawed three or four times that. With two 
exceptions, all these mills were running up to 1S60. 
Steam superseded the water power on this stream, and 
one mill is in operation at the present time (1902), that 
of Lewis Brothers on lot 45. 

In the southwest portion of the town were five mills 
on the same stream for a distance not exceeding a mile, 
the first of which was built in 1 S33. The mills were 
built by Daniel Wheeler, Luther Forbush, Joseph 
Hook, Benjamin Price. The Wheeler mill passed into 
the hands of H. H. Fenton and son, Hook mill sold to 
J. Brokaw, and at a later date, Mr. Brokaw built far- 
ther up the stream. George Wiltsie purchased the 
Price mill, introduced steam, and operated as late as 
1885 with an annual product of 100,000 feet. In 1883 
Mr. Wiltsie cut fourteen thousand pine shingles from 
a single tree. On lot 32, on Case Run, the three Pope 
brothers, Jediah, Gersham, and Chester, who were 
known as the old company, built and operated a mill; 
they afterwards sold to Asa Comstock. These brothers 
later built two mills on lot 14. The Covey mill was 
bought by G. W. Fenton, Jr., on lot 23, in 1834. James 
Cowen between 1838 and 1840 built a mill on the same 
lot. Mr. Comstock sold his mill to D. Harrington and 
built another on lot 24, and which, was operated later 
by Holiday & Ames. Another mill owned by Pliny 
Cass was the lowest on Case Run, and passed into the 
hands of his son, J. Smith Cass. 

In 1848 G. W. Fenton, Jr., built a mill just below the 
one he purchased in 1834, and in 1851 still another, 
using the same power and flume for both. These mills 
had unusual capacity, the usual annual product being 
500,000 feet of lumber. In 1859 the product reached 
1,100.000 feet. Both these mills were operated for 
twenty years, when the lower mill was arranged for 
shingle sawing. The other mill is still (1902) in opera- 
tion by the Fenton brothers, who are using the original 
water power with a turbine wheel. The Harrington 
mill is also in operation with the original water power. 
Amasa Burt purchased one of the Pope mills on lot 14. 

In early times shingles were rived and shaved from 
the best pine timber, but as first-class pine diminished, 
shingle machines were introduced and timber that 
would not admit splitting and shaving was sawed into 
shingles. Twenty-five thousand pine shingles cut from 
a single tree was not an uncommon product in those 
times. The product of these several mills was hauled 
to the nearest point on the banks of the Conewango, 
usually during the winter season, as wagons were un- 
known in the earlier days. The boards were rafted 
and loaded with shingles ready to float out on the first 
spring freshet. Vast fleets of lumber were sent yearly 
down the Conewango to the Allegheny river to Pitts- 
burgh and farther south. For several years the best 
pine was worth only $2.50 per thousand feet. This was 
traded for supplies, as flour, pork, tea, coffee, sugar, 
cotton cloth, etc., flour at times being twenty dollars 
and pork forty dollars a barrel. A canoe was taken 
on the raft, and into this were loaded the supplies, then 
pushed back at the end of a setting pole against a 
strong current to the starting point. 



When the first bridge was built across the Allegheny 
river at Pittsburgh, the contractor came to the Cone- 
wango country. He found the timber wanted near the 
Pennsylvania line. Upon inquiring the price, the owner 
told him he could have all he wanted for nothing as 
the ground upon which the timber stood was worth 
more for agricultural purposes than the timber itself. 
Thousands of pine logs cut from the timber from this 
valley measured more than five feet at the stump and 
made from three to five thousand feet of lumber, while 
there were occasional logs that measured seven feet 
across. None of these majestic sentinels now remain. 
In 1878 A. M. Woodcock cut from lot 45 two trees 
measuring lour and a half feet at the stump that netted 
him $185.. While these did not compare with many of 
their predecessors in size, their commercial value was 
considerably greater. 

The last tract of land of any considerable size with 
a growth of primeval pine upon it was the Prendergast 
estate in Kiantone, formerly a part of Carroll. It was 
purchased in 1887 by William Townsend and Daniel 
Griswold, who erected a mill and manufactured it into 
lumber. The estate comprised more than eight hun- 
dred acres, of which six hundred were timbered. Many 
of them were magnificent trees fit for the mast of a 
stately ship. There were several millions of lumber 
cut from this tract. 

Supervisors — James Hall, 1826-33-39; James 
Parker, 1834-37-56-57; Esbai Kidder, 1838; 
Phineas Spencer, 1840; Jediah E. Budlong, 
1841 ; Gordon Swift, 1842-44 ; John Frew, 1845 ; 
Reuben E. Fenton, 1846-52; Edwin Eaton, 
1853-73; William H. H. Fenton, 1854-65-71; 
Charles L. Norton, 1855-58-64; Lucius M. 
Robertson, 1872; William Sheldon, 1874; Al- 
bert Fox, 1875; Temple A. Parker, 1876-77; 
Edward L. Hall, 1878; Lucius M. Robertson, 
1879; George G. Davis, 1880; Silas W. Parker, 
1881-87; Marcus T. Howard, 18S8-90; John 
Venman, 1891-93-98-1903 ; Charles E. Dodge, 
1894-97; Dana J. Hunt, 1904-07; Herbert R. 
Bennett, 1908-19; Loye T. Durrand, 1920. 

The full value of Busti real estate in 1918 
was $1,022,784; equalized, $802,446. 

Charlotte — For the centennial history of 
Chautauqua county published in 1904, Obed 
Edson, Chautauqua's foremost historian, now 
passed to eternal rest, prepared a history of 
Charlotte, his own "home town," the scene of 
the activities of his father, Judge John M. Ed- 
son, and of his father's step-father, Major Sam- 
uel Sinclear. That history is herein consider- 
ably drawn upon, as is a companion article 
from the pen of Mrs. Robert C. Seaver, entitled 
"The Founder of Sinclairville and Charlotte 
Center — 1762-1827." 

The first settlement of the town of Charlotte 
was made in the northwestern part, known as 
the Pickett neighborhood. John Pickett, April 
1, 1809, then unmarried, settled on lot 62, and 
built on the Pickett brook a log house, the first 
in the town. He was born in Spencertown, 







i'iif-"" — -*5b' . ' *""*-^^™ ^^^^ 



MAIN STIIICKT. SINi'T.AI 




V1KW i '!•' STXrl.ATHVILIiK 



TOWNS 



'-'5 



Columbia county, June 20, 1789. He after- 
wards removed to Chenango county, and Feb- 
ruary 23, 1809, came to Chautauqua county. 
His brother, Daniel Pickett, and his family 
settled upon lot 63, built a cabin and moved 
into it in the fall. His brother-in-law, Arva O. 
Austin and wife, the same year moved into a 
log house that he built upon lot 63. Abel Prior 
and Taylor Gregg took up land in the south 
part of lot 62, but did not remain during the 
winter. January 25, 1810, was born Phoebe, 
daughter of Arva O. Austin, the first white 
child, she married Adin Wait. John Cleland, 
Jr., in March, 1810, took up land on lot 54. In 
September, Mrs. Joseph Arnold, then residing 
in the Pickett settlement, died, the next day 
her sister, Jerusha Barris, died; they were 
buried in one grave on the farm once owned by 
Chauncey Pierpont on lot 62. These were the 
first deaths in the town. In March, 181 1, Na- 
than and Oliver Cleland, brothers of John 
Cleland, Jr., and in the fall Samuel, another 
brother, with their father, John Cleland, set- 
tled on lot 54. In 181 1 Moses Cleland was mar- 
ried to Sally Anderson by Rev. John Spencer; 
this was the first marriage. Joel Burnell in 
181 1 settled upon lot 46, where he resided until 
his death. He was the father of Madison and 
Ransom Burnell, eminent lawyers, both born 
in Charlotte. Among other settlers who left 
descendants here were Freeman Ellis, Edward 
Dalrymple, Eliakim Barnum, Jacob Hall, James 
Cross, David Ames and Caleb Clark. Orton, 
son of Caleb, was surrogate, 1848-52 inclusive. 
John B. Cardot, from France, settled in this 
part of the town. He was followed by other 
families from that country. 

Charlotte Center was first settled by Rob- 
ert W. Seaver, a soldier of the Revolution. His 
son, Randolph W., and grandson, Corydon, be- 
came supervisors. In the spring of 1809, Mr. 
Seaver and Barna Edson selected ninety acres 
of lot 37. The same spring William Devine 
settled upon the west part of lot 29, where he 
built the first building at the Center. Oliver 
Gilmour, Daniel Jackson and Aaron Seaver 
were early settlers. Stephen Lyman, brother- 
in-law of Major Sinclear, settled near the Cen- 
ter. In 181 1 Barney Cole was buried at the 
Center ; he was the first male person who died 
in the town. At an early day a shop was built 
on Mill creek by Edward Landas, for wool 
carding and cloth dressing, which was later 
used as a pail and wood mill factory, and turn- 
ing shop. About 1817 the first saw mill was 
built there. In 1869 a steam saw mill was 
erected by Addison Lake and Edwin Tuttle. 
About 1851 Joseph Landas built and opened 



the first store at the Center, although others 
had for brief periods sold limited amounts of 
merchandise. In 182 1 Nathan Lake and his 
brother Calvin, from New England, settled 
east of the Center. Their brothers, Daniel B. 
and Luther Lake, in 1826 settled in what be- 
came the "Lake Settlement." Freeman Lake 
came later. The Lake brothers were men of 
character and intelligence, and their descend- 
ants have been leading and influential citizens. 
Nathan Lake was the first supervisor, elected 
in 1830. Allen A. Stephens, son-in-law of Na- 
than Lake; Edwin F. Lake, son, and Horace 
E. Kimbel, son-in-law of Daniel B. Lake and 
Henry C. Lake, son of Calvin, have all been 
supervisors. Henry C. Lake during two terms 
was a member of Assembly from Chautauqua 
county, and his son, Clarence H. Lake, sheriff. 
Hon. John Woodward, his nephew, a grand- 
son of Calvin Lake, was born at Charlotte Cen- 
ter, and became a Justice of the Supreme 
Court. Arthur C. Wade, the distinguished 
lawyer, and Charles L. Webster, the distin- 
guished publisher (made a "Knight of the 
Order of Pius VII" by the Pope) were both 
born at Charlotte Center. Thomas J. Allen, 
while residing at Charlotte Center, was elected 
to the Assembly in 1837. Hugh Harper, of 
County Donegal, Ireland, in 1838 settled about 
a mile south of that place; he died at the age 
of 96, leaving many descendants. His brother 
William came from Ireland a few years later 
and settled in the town, where he has numer- 
ous descendants. The population of Charlotte 
Center in 1875 was 127. 

Sinclairville (originally Sinclearville) was 
next settled in June, 1809. John Pickett, of 
the Pickett settlement, piloted a party of pio- 
neers down Mill creek to Cassadaga; here he 
felled a tree to enable the party to cross the 
stream. After pointing out the way that led 
to the Smiley settlement in Ellery, he returned 
to his home. No white man of whom we have 
any account had visited the place now Sin- 
clairville prior to Mr. Pickett, except the sur- 
veyors of the Holland Company. Sinclairville 
derives its name from Major Samuel Sinclear, 
a soldier of the Revolution, and belonged to a 
celebrated family of New Hampshire. Among 
other distinguished relatives he had as a near 
kinsman Joseph Cilley, United States Senator 
from New Hampshire. He was also a kinsman 
of Governor B. F. Butler, of Massachusetts, 
and uncle of John G. Sinclear, a distinguished 
orator and lieutenant-governor of New Hamp- 
shire. Having purchased lot 41, embracing 
the land where the village is situated, in No- 
vember, 1809, he commenced settlement by 



121. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



causing a log house to be built at the intersec- 
tion of the roads now leading from Sinclair- 
ville, the one to Charlotte Center, the other to 
Cherry Creek. In March, 1810, he, his son 
John and William Berry and family and 
Chauncey Andrus arrived at this log house, 
the snow then lying deep. They occupied for 
two days and nights a wigwam made of poles 
and hemlock boughs, until their log house was 
completed. In the fall of 1810 Mr. Sinclear 
cut a road from Fredonia to Sinclearville, the 
first opened into the central part of the county. 
October 22, 1810, his family, which included 
his stepsons, Obed and John M. Edson, arrived. 
In 1S10 he erected a saw mill, and in the fall 
a frame dwelling which was for many years the 
village tavern. In 181 1 he built a grist mill. 
Each of these buildings was the first of its kind 
erected in the eastern and central part of the 
county. 

Nathaniel Johnson, a Revolutionary soldier, 
came to Sinclairville from Madison county in 
1814. His son Forbes, for many years a resi- 
dent here, was a member of the Legislature in 
1844. His daughter Hannah married Sylvanus 
L. Henderson, who settled in Sinclairville, No- 
vember 26, 1816. Dr. W. W. Henderson, born 
in Sinclairville, and formerly collector of 
United States revenue, was his son. Forbes 
Johnson and John M. Edson constructed the 
first tannery and built a grist mill at Sinclair- 
ville early. John M. Edson was often super- 
visor, and a judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas. Dr. Henry Sargent was the earliest 
postmaster. The mails were first carried 
through Sinclairville by Sampson Crooker, 
father of Hon. George A. S. Crooker ; he went 
through once a week on foot. William Hepp- 
ner settled in the village in 1853 ; he was the 
first German to come, and was followed by 
man}' of that nationality. Samuel Sinclear and 
Jonathan Hedges were the first innkeepers ; 
Elias Wheeler, John Love, Jarvis B. Rice, Levi 
F. Harrison, Henry Sylvester and William H. 
Rice were later ones. Stages were first run 
from Fredonia to Jamestown by Obed Edson, 
brother of John M. Edson, and Reuben Scott, 
about 1827. Subsequently the line was extend- 
ed to Warren, Pa., by Obed Edson. In 1832 
a school house was built, schools having been 
previously kept in the first log house built in 
the village, and in a school house built in 1816 
in Gerry but within the village corporation. 
Early in 1849 Sinclairville was made a station 
on the telegraph line between Fredonia and 
Pittsburgh, nearly the first telegraph station 
established in the county. In 1852 a plank road 
was constructed from Fredonia through Sin- 



clairville to Ellicott; it was built principally 
through the exertions of the people here. Perez 
Dewey was its largest stockholder, and first 
president. Obed Edson surveyed the road. 

The first merchant was Abraham Winsor. 
He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 
1778, married Sophia Bigelow, sister of Fanny, 
the wife of Major Samuel Sinclear. He came 
from Madison county, and in 1813 built an 
ashery not far from the town line on Railroad 
avenue, where the old mill pond was after- 
ward made, and in 1815 built and opened a 
store in nearly the same place. In early years 
he transported down the Cassadaga in canoes 
the pot ashes he received for his goods, and 
thence down the Allegheny to Pittsburgh, 
where he received in exchange, flour, tobacco, 
nails, glass and other merchandise. 

The settlement of the village and surround- 
ing country was slow until the completion of 
the Erie canal. There was but little sale for 
goods until 1824, when Walter Smith and 
George A. French, of Dunkirk, opened a store 
at Sinclairville. This and the opening of the 
Erie canal gave a new impetus to settlement. 
Their store was built upon the corner of Main 
and Park streets, on the site of the Grange 
buildings ; Joy Handy succeeded them. Levi 
Risley and Judge John M. Barbour were clerks 
in this store. In 1828 Walter Chester came ; 
Mr. Ten Eyck, of Cazenovia, his partner, fur- 
nished the capital. They occupied the build- 
ing that had been used by Smith and French. 
Mr. Chester in 1832 built a dwelling, then the 
finest in the town. This was owned by C. J. 
Allen at his decease, and later by Obed Edson. 
Mr. Chester sold out and removed to Dunkirk. 
He was succeeded by Thomas J. Allen and he 
by Bela Tracy. In 1843 Caleb J. Allen went 
into possession. The old yellow store on the 
corner was now divided into parts and moved 
to different places in the village and a new 
store built in its place by Mr. Allen. He con- 
tinued in trade until the fall of 1846, when he 
was succeeded by Alonzo Langworthy. Mr. 
Langworthy was a leading citizen, active in 
promoting the building of the railroad, the 
school, public library and improvement of the 
cemetery. He was long the president of the 
respective boards of trustees of these public 
institutions. He carried on an extensive and 
successful business until 1851, when Mr. Allen 
resumed trade here and Mr. Langworthy pur- 
chased the Methodist parsonage on the site of 
the drug store of Jay Bargar and traded ten 
years. In 1862 he purchased the store on the 
old corner of Mr. Allen and resumed trade 
there. The following merchants conducted 



TOWNS 



[27 



business there after Mr. Langworthy : Charles 
Danforth, Thompson & Chafee, Thompson & 
Lapham, Alonzo Putnam, Putnam & Cum- 
mings and John H. Cummings. 

The next store was erected by Perez Dewey, 
at the corner of Main street and Edson's Lane. 
Mr. Dewey was born in Westfield, Mass., De- 
cember iS, 1792. He was early a peddler of 
small notions, which he carried in a tin trunk. 
When his business sufficiently improved he 
carried his wares in two hand trunks, then he 
procured a horse and wagon, and added dry 
goods and tinware to his stock, and for many 
years made an annual circuit of the county. At 
length Mr. Dewey established a sort of head- 
quarters with Mr. Beebe near Cassadaga, 
where he shipped goods and replenished his 
stock. About 1830 he and Joseph Sinclear com- 
menced trade in a building on Main street. 
While thus engaged, he built a substantial 
store which he first occupied in January, 1834. 
Here he did an extensive business, selling 
largely on credit. Mr. Dewey was a bachelor, 
devoted to his own affairs and well known for 
his peculiarities. In the spring of 1851, hav- 
ing become the most wealthy man in the town, 
he retired from active business. He was suc- 
ceeded by his nephew, John Dewey. 

In 1845 Mn Brown erected at the corner of 
Main and Lester streets a store, the first brick 
building in Sinclairville; Nelson Mitchell laid 
the bricks and built the store. Near it later he 
erected a brick dwelling. The first firm to 
occupy the store was P. and J. Rathbone in 
1845, succeeded by E. T. Brown & Co. (Hen- 
derson); Nelson Mitchell purchased Hender- 
son's interest. This firm was followed by 
Mitchell, Brunson & Rathbone. John M. Brun- 
son came next, then Nelson Mitchell, followed 
by Mitchell, Sheldon (R. E.) and Danforth 
(C. L.) Nelson Mitchell was next again in 
trade, then the firm of Putnam & Thompson. 
This was succeeded by Alonzo Putnam, and he 
by Edwin Williams, when for about six months 
Fred Trusler and D. B. Dorsett were in trade 
as Trusler & Company, after which Edwin 
Williams resumed trade. Mr. Williams occu- 
pied the store in all about thirteen years. 

R. E. Sheldon was long the leading merchant 
and business man of later years. He built the 
brick store on Main street later occupied by 
his son B. T. Sheldon. Among other well- 
known traders of early days were Davis A. 
Havens, Job Smith, A. Z. Madison, David 
Forbes and A. G. Dow, dealers in tin and hard- 
ware, later a senator representing Chautauqua 
and Cattaraugus counties. Of the hardware 
dealers, Reed & Reynolds were for many years 



the leading firm. John T. and William Spear 
were also hardware dealers. Emory O. Bargar 
and Zardius Phillips were the first to estab- 
lish drug stores in the village. Charles Smith 
was the first shoemaker. Chester Wilson, 
father of W. Thomas Wilson (long a justice of 
the peace and lawyer of the village), was the 
first saddler and harnessmaker. A hat store 
was established in 1835 by S. and William 
Griffith. The first school was taught by Wil- 
liam Gilmour in the winter of 1811-12, in the 
log house erected in 1809 by Mr. Sinclear. 

Dr. Orange Y. Campbell and Henry Sargent 
were the first physicians. Drs. William Copp, 
Henry B. Hedges, J. E. Kimbell, Gilbert Rich- 
mond and George S. Harrison of a later period 
were for many years practicing physicians of 
Sinclairville. Dr. George S. Harrison was born 
in Madison county, New York, in 1810; came 
to Chautauqua county in 1825, where for forty- 
four years he practiced medicine. He was an 
excellent and popular physician, a man of abil- 
ity and force of character, a leading Democrat, 
and for three years a supervisor. Benjamin L. 
Harrison, his son, was a citizen of Dunkirk, 
many years in the service of the Dunkirk, Alle- 
gany Valley & Pittsburgh railroad, was for- 
merly an alderman, and later a justice of the 
peace of Dunkirk. He married Lucy, daugh- 
ter of Abner Putnam, an early citizen. They 
had one son, Louis P., assistant purchasing 
agent of the American Locomotive Company. 
George M., their eldest son, a physician, died 
in 1887. 

Drs. H. P. Hall and Allen A. Stevens were 
prominent physicians of a still later period. 
Drs. George F. Smith and Charles Cleland, 
both educated at the Sinclairville Union School 
were later well known physicians of the vil- 
lage. 

The first religious meeting in the town was 
held October 22, 181 1, by Rev. John Spencer, in 
the first log house built by Major Sinclear. 
Rev. Asa Turner, a Baptist, was an early mis- 
sionary here. The first religious society was 
the Methodist Episcopal in 1812. For many 
years commencing in 1820 meetings were regu- 
larly held by the Christians or Unitarians. 
Revs. Joseph Bailey and Oliver Barr are well 
remembered preachers of that denomination. 
June 2, 1826. the Baptist church was organized. 
In 1834 its house of worship was erected, the 
first church edifice built in the town. In 1845 
the Congregationalists built a house of wor- 
ship. In 185 1 the Methodists built a church, 
and the same year the Universalists also, which 
was afterwards owned by the Catholics, and 
finally by the Episcopalians. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Albert Richmond was the first lawyer of 
Sinclairville. He was born in Brattleboro, 
Vermont. He was admitted to the bar in the 
same class with Horatio Seymour, came to Sin- 
clairville in 1833, and was one term surrogate. 
He died in 1878. E. B. Forbush commenced 
the practice of law in Sinclairville about 1836. 
He removed to Buffalo, when he became a suc- 
cessful patent lawyer; he was killed in the rail- 
road accident at Angola in 1867. S. Mervin 
Smith and A. B. Fenner were early lawyers. 
E. M. Peck was a man of ability, practiced law 
in the village thirty years. E. H. Sears, after- 
ward judge of the Supreme Court of Iowa, was 
a lawyer of Sinclairville. Worthy Putnam, the 
well-known author of a book on elocution, and 
who as a county superintendent rendered 
greater service to the schools of the county 
than any other person previous to his day, read 
law with Obed Edson and commenced practice 
in Sinclairville. C. F. Chapman also read law 
with Obed Edson, and was his partner in the 
practice of law there. James A. Allen, of Buf- 
falo, Samuel T. Allen, of Holden, Missouri, 
Caleb J. Allen, Jr., of Iowa, and Stephen H. 
Allen, of Topeka, Kansas, born in Sinclairville 
and for six years a judge of the highest court 
in Kansas, were all brothers and sons of Caleb 
J. Allen, Sr., and all commenced the practice 
or study of law in Sinclairville. W. Thomas 
Wilson read law with Gen. Charles H. S. Wil- 
liams, at Fredonia, came to Sinclairville in 

1861, practiced law there for many years. He 
was twenty-eight years a justice of the peace, 
and five terms justice of sessions of the county 
court. Charles M. Reed, born in Sinclairville, 
educated at the Sinclairville Union School, 
read law with C. F. Chapman, graduated at the 
Albany Law University in 1885, for several 
years special surrogate, and Fred H. Sylvester, 
who was born in Sinclairville, educated at the 
Union School, read law with Obed Edson, won 
the Clinton scholarship and was graduated at 
the Buffalo Law School in May, 1890, were 
later practicing lawyers of the village. Obed 
Edson was for many years a practicing lawyer 
at Sinclairville. Walter H. Edson, born in Sin- 
clairville, and Harley N. Crosby, both of Fal- 
coner, commenced the study of law with Obed 
Edson and its practice at Sinclairville. 

Evergreen Cemetery was organized June 21, 

1862. Owing to its favorable situation, the 
taste and good management of those having it 
in charge, it far excells any other in the county, 
and is now one of the most beautiful in West- 
ern New York. Bernard W. Field was its first 
president and first superintendent. 

April 7, 1868. occurred the severest fire that 



ever visited Sinclairville — the Bennet block on 
Main street. Three stores composing the block, 
the Sinclairville House and one dwelling house, 
a barn, the meat market and a shoeshop burned, 
and a harness shop was torn down to prevent 
the spread of the flames. 

February 6, 1870, the Sinclairville Library 
was founded by Rev. E. P. McElroy. 

The people of Sinclairville were the first to 
move the construction of the Dunkirk, Alle- 
gany Valley & Pittsburgh railroad. The first 
train was run over it June 22, 1871. Timothy 
D. Copp was the first president of the road. 
Mr. Copp was often supervisor of the town. 
In 1868 he was elected presidential elector. 

November 5, 1874, the Sinclairville Fair 
Ground Association was incorporated. In 
1881 a Board of Trade was organized which 
has continued with great benefit to the busi- 
ness interests until the present time. William 
H. Scott, its first president, and Richard Reed, 
its secretary, were most efficient in its support. 
Later the Sinclairville stock farm of Holstein 
cattle and French coach and Percheron horses 
was established by Bela B. Lord, a native of 
the village, and the stock farms of Jersey cattle 
by Frank E. Shaw, a nephew of "Josh Billings" 
and also a native of the town, and have been 
a great benefit to the village and town and 
have added to their reputation. A Grange has 
long been established in Sinclairville. Its flour- 
ishing condition is largely due to the efforts of 
Mrs. Bela B. Lord. In 1880 a Union School 
District was formed and a fine brick school- 
house built which was opened in 1SS1. The vil- 
lage was incorporated in 1887. Its first presi- 
dent was William Reed. Waterworks were 
constructed in 1892 upon the gravity system, 
which were purchased by the village in 1899. 

The southeast part of the town was first set- 
tled by Leman Cleveland, on lot 10. In 1S14 
Samuel T. Booth settled on lot 26 ; John How- 
ard in 1817 on lot 1 ; Justus Torrey in 1819 set- 
tled on lot 18. He chopped and cleared with 
his own hands several hundred acres of land, 
and during many years manufactured large 
quantities of maple sugar. Widow Lemira W. 
Camp settled upon lot 17, on two hundred 
acres of land known as the Camp farm. She 
was the mother of Milo, Merlin, John Wilson, 
Herman and Samuel Camp, and of Mrs. Han- 
nah Waggoner and Mrs. Anna LaGrys. Among 
other early citizens in this part of the town 
were David Sheldon, John Luce and James 
Parsons and Robert, Peter and Allen Robert- 
son. 

Kent street and adjacent territory was first 
settled by families from England. Samuel 



TOWNS— SINCLAIRVILLE 



[29 



Hurley, the pioneer, came as early as 1817. 
Abraham Reynolds came in 1818, direct from 
London ; twice he walked from Charlotte to 
New York. His son Henry was a well-known 
citizen, three years its supervisor. Robert La- 
Grys came in 1819. Upon his farm on Kent 
street a pin or curled maple tree grew for which 
T. D. Copp paid him a sovereign, manufactured 
it into veneers, and took it to London to be 
used to decorate Queen Victoria's yacht. After 
it was completed, Mr. Copp, on invitation, vis- 
ited the yacht. He found it decorated with 
seventeen different kinds of wood. John 
Thorne came in 1834; he left three sons, John, 
Dr. William, and Thomas, who spent much of 
his time at sea. In 1836 from Devonshire came 
John Reed. His son William was supervisor, 
and Richard long a well-known hardware 
dealer of Sinclairville. His eldest son John 
emigrated to Australia. Richard Brock and 
Thomas D. Spiking came later. 

The street leading north from the Center to 
Arkwright was also largely settled by Eng- 
lishmen from Yorkshire. Thomas Pearson, 
William Wright and their families and Thomas 
Dickenson came over together in a ship from 
Hull, and settled on this street in 1828. Wil- 
liam Hilton came in 1830; his son John was a 
director on the Erie railway. These English- 
men, their descendants and others who came 
in later years from that country, constitute a 
very large and influential part of the popula- 
tion. 

Among the early settlers residing near Sin- 
clairville and in the southwestern part of the 
town were : Ezra Richmond, Chauncey Andrus, 
Peter Warren, father of Judge Emory F. War- 
ren, and William Brown ; upon the Owlsbor- 
ough road : Asa Dunbar, Phillip Link, Henry 
Cipperly, William H. Gleason, and Bela Tracy, 
once a member of Assembly from Chautauqua 
county, and brother of John Tracy, former 
Lieutenant-Governor of the State. James Wil- 
liams was a well known resident of this part 
of the town. Henry Sornberger was also an 
early settler in this part, and Richard G. Bur- 
lingame. a settler of a later date. 

The northeast part of the town was the last 
settled. Alanson Straight, the first to begin 
improvement, settled about 1832 upon lot 24. 
In T832 Nelson Chase located upon lot 16, and 
Nathan Penhollow on lot 15. Calvin Abbey, 
Elijah Lewis, William W. Wood, Neri Cramp- 
ton, Daniel Hoisington, Henry Smith, William 
Luce, G. R. Matthewson, Peter Odell and Nel- 
son Mansfield were early settlers there. John 
Wilkes, who came in 1851, built the first saw 



mill in 1865 Upon his farm the last bear was 
killed in the town. James Hopkins, Patrick 
Doran and Garret Wheeler, from the west of 
Ireland, came about 1840. Others from Ire- 
land settled a little later. 

The town was organized in April, 1829. The 
first town meeting was held March 2, 1830, and 
the following officers chosen : Supervisor, Na- 
than Lake; town clerk, Walter Chester; jus- 
tices of the peace, John M. Edson, Eldred 
Lampson, James S. Parkhurst ; collector, Bar- 
zillai Ellis; assessors, Peter Warren, Bela 
Tracy, Spencer Clark; overseers of the poor, 
Freeman Ellis, Abel Potter ; commissioners of 
highways, Bela B. Lord, R. W. Seaver, Charles 
Goodrich ; commissioners of schools, Bela B. 
Lord, Samuel T. Booth, Crocker Richardson; 
constables, Amasa Dalrymple, Barzillai Ellis, 
Benjamin Fisher; sealer of weights and meas- 
ures, Oshea Webber. 

Sinclairville and Charlotte Center — By Mrs. 
R. C. Seaver. Sinclairville is an incorporated 
village lying close to the southern boundary of 
Charlotte and laying grasping fingers on that 
part of Gerry between the township's border 
and the Dunkirk, Allegany Valley & Pitts- 
burgh railway station, and a corresponding 
section of the highway leading to Jamestown. 
It boasts four churches, a high school employ- 
ing six teachers, a hotel, and the usual quota 
of stores, public halls, mills, shops, factories 
and homes. South it is bounded by the open 
valley ; on the other three sides by hills, save 
where on the north, Mill Creek hurries through 
on its way to join the Cassadaga. 

Major Samuel Sinclear had never looked on 
this part of Chautauqua when in 1809 he 
stepped into the land office in Batavia and 
took articles for two lots in what was then the 
town of Pomfret. Of these, lot 63 lay in the 
town of Gerry as formed in 1812, and on lot 
41 was built the house that proved to be the 
nucleus of Sinclairville. It was from the scant 
descriptions of the surveyors' lines that he 
judged, and correctly, that here was a suitable 
site for a mill. He formed a partnership with 
William Berry, of Madison county, who came 
to Chautauqua the same fall and with assist- 
ance from four men from among those who 
had formed the Pickett Settlement, put up the 
body of a log house ; he then returned to Madi- 
son county. In the following March, Major 
Sinclear, his son John, two hired hands, Berry 
and his wife, reached this rude beginning of a 
home. Before it could be made habitable, they 
passed two days and nights in a wigwam of 



i 3 o 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



poles, thatched and furnished with hemlock 
boughs. 

Major Sinclear's father, Colonel Richard, 
was of Scotch descent, and Mary Cilley Sin- 
clear's ancestors were from Austria-Hungary. 
In the history of the Sinclear family, by Leon- 
ard Allison Morrison, published in Boston in 
1896, the Sinclear lineage is traced back to 890, 
when Norsemen besieged and took the castle 
of St. Clair in Normandy. Here the name had 
its origin. That they were nearly related to, 
and that at least nine of the name were with 
William the Conqueror at Hastings, is asserted 
on the authority of undisputed history. The 
name has a different orthography among dif- 
ferent branches and generations of the family. 
St. Clair, Sinclear and Sinckler are among 
them. 

Samuel, born May 10, 1762, at Nottingham, 
N. H., had four predecessors and four suc- 
cessors in the family cradle. "Gen. Joseph Cil- 
ley, conspicuous for his bravery as colonel of 
the First New Hampshire Regiment at the 
battles of Bemis Heights and Monmouth," was 
his uncle, and that Cilley, Congressman from 
Maine, who was killed in the historic duel near 
Washington by Graves of Kentucky, was also 
a near kinsman. 

Samuel's childhood was of the briefest, for 
at fourteen years he was in the army as attend- 
ant to his uncle, Col. Cilley, and when barely 
fifteen he enlisted in Captain Amos Morrill's 
company of the same uncle's regiment and 
served three years. He rendered distinguished 
service in the first battle of Bemis Heights ; was 
one of the twelve thousand, under Washing- 
ton, who sent Clinton's defeated forces creep- 
ing off in the darkness at Monmouth, and he 
shared the privations and sufferings of those 
darkest davs of the great patriot's life at Val- 
ley Forge. There were other battles in which 
he took part while in Gen. Enoch Poor's 
brigade ; and in 1779 he was with General Sulli- 
van fighting the Indians on the frontiers of 
New York and Pennsylvania. Two of his 
brothers died in the service, and another was 
discharged with him. His father was also a 
Revolutionary officer. It was while a resident 
of Eaton, Madison county, in 1776, that Gov- 
ernor Jay bestowed on him his commission of 
major of militia. 

Honorably discharged at eighteen years of 
age, having served the full term of his enlist- 
ment, Major Sinclear went to Maine and estab- 
lished a ship-timber business on the Kennebec. 
Eight years later he came to this State and 
after a residence of the same length of time in 
Utica and Cherry Valley, he joined those who 



were making the first settlement at Eaton, 
Madison county. At forty-eight he was again 
battling with the "forest primeval," this time 
in Chautauqua county. That lonely and lowly 
home to which he came in 1810 soon received 
such additions as partitions, a ladder to the 
second floor, and a chimney of clay-plastered 
sticks and stones. It stood where now (1902) 
stands the home of Mrs. Mahala Dibble, at 
the intersection of the Charlotte Center and 
Cherry Creek roads, and served as church and 
schoolhouse, and as a refuge to new-comers 
until they could convert the living trees into 
sheltering homes. In this labor they had ever 
the benefit of Major Sinclear's advice, valuable 
from his experience and judgment; and many 
times his financial aid also. 

In the summer of 1810, in addition to clear- 
ing land, Major Sinclear built the first saw mill 
in the central or eastern part of the county. 
The same fall, he employed help and worked 
with them to construct a wagon road, the first 
over the ridge, from Fredonia (then called 
Canadaway) to his wilderness home. He had 
previously brought his family to Canadaway, 
and October 22nd he arrived with his children, 
Samuel, David, Joseph, Nancy and Sally, his 
second wife, Fanny, and her children, Obed, 
John M. and Fanny Edson, and five wagon- 
loads of goods. His first wife was Sally Perk- 
ins, whom he married in 1785, in Vassalboro, 
Maine, and whose death occurred at Eaton in 
1804. 

A few scattering families had located from 
three-fourths of a mile to three miles distant, 
but the nearest settlements were, that on the 
Pickett Brook four miles northwest, and that 
at Charlotte Center, three miles northeast. The 
last named was begun by R. W. Seaver, Bar- 
ney Edson and William Devine. They came 
from Oneida county in the spring of 1809, De- 
vine and wife at Seaver's request. Edson went 
to Batavia in May and booked the land but 
did not return. The initial building of Char- 
lotte Center soon put up by those remaining 
was sixteen by eighteen feet, with bark roof 
and a single door and window. It stood on or 
near the site of the present school house, their 
first clearing having been a few rods to the 
west. Here in the fall they stored the small 
crop of corn they had raised, and went back 
to Oneida county, returning the following 
spring. 

Robert W. Seaver was born in Worcester 
county, Massachusetts, July 3, 1762, enlisted at 
fourteen, and served six years and eight 
months in the War of the Revolution. Among 
the battles in which he took part was that of 



TOWNS— SINCLAIRVILLE 



King's Bridge, near New York and Yorktown. 
He was under Lafayette, and the face of the 
revered Washington was also familiar to him. 
During the War of 1812, when the "Queen 
Charlotte" chased the American salt boats into 
the Canadaway and was repulsed, Widow Cole 
run the bullets and Mr. Seaver made the car- 
tridges, no one in the hastily gathered forces 
knowing how to do it but him. 

On the farm south of Charlotte Center, Mr. 
Seaver planted an orchard from seeds brought 
from Oneida county. The farm has remained 
in the possession of his descendants. Mr. Sea- 
ver was a man of prominence and held several 
positions of trust. Until 1816 his wife, Anna 
Edson Seaver, was the only doctor in the vicin- 
ity. The stone that marks his grave in Char- 
lotte Center Cemetery bears the simple record : 
"Robert W. Seaver for seven years a soldier 
of the Revolution, died July 31, 1836, aged sev- 
enty-five years." 

When in 1812 the town of Gerry was formed, 
embracing the present towns of Gerry, Char- 
lotte, Cherry Creek and Ellington, a meeting 
was called at Cassadaga for the purpose of 
selecting a name. It was decided to call it 
Gerry, for the Vice-President elected that fall, 
but Sinclear was the choice of many. The first 
town meeting was held in his house in 1813. He 
was chosen supervisor, an office which he filled 
six terms. For several succeeding years, being 
the only freeholder in the town, he frequently 
executed a deed of some small piece of land 
gratuitously to such as, elected to office, were 
required to own land in order to hold the posi- 
tion, even when as in the case of Judge Joel 
Burnell, the successful candidate, his own op- 
ponent. 

Not alone in their struggle for a material 
existence was his help ready. His copy of the 
"Albany Gazette," for many years the only 
newspaper penetrating the wilderness as far as 
Fredonia, was regarded as community posses- 
sion. On its arrival, all gathered to listen to its 
contents as read aloud, usually by J. M. Edson, 
then a boy, afterward Judge Edson, and the 
father of Hon. Obed Edson and Mrs. Ursula 
Sylvester of Sinclairville. 

With other soldiers of the Revolution, Major 
Sinclear was a conspicuous participant in ex- 
tending greeting and honors to Lafayette at 
Fredonia in 1825. 

It was not until the death of its founder that 
Sinclairville assumed its present name, being 
known previously as "The Major's" or "Major 
Sinclear's," and the post office awkwardly re- 
tained the name Gerry post office till 1869. 

On the well-preserved gray stone that marks 



his resting place are engraved many Masonic 
emblems, and below, the lines typical rather of 
the times than of the subject : 

"How lov'd, how valu'd once avail thee not, 
To whom related, or by whom begot; 
A heap of dust alone remains of thee, 
Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be." 

Prior to the organization of any religious 
society in Charlotte, it was visited by early 
missionaries. The first meeting was held by 
Rev. John Spencer, October 22, 181 1, in the 
first log house built by Major Sinclear. He 
and Elder Turner, a Baptist, often delivered a 
regular sermon to a single family. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church was the 
first religious society in the town, its begin- 
ning, a class organized at Charlotte Center, 
composed of Judge Joel Burnell and seven 
others. William Brown was the first minis- 
ter. In 1851 a church edifice was built at Sin- 
clairville, and the same year one at Charlotte 
Center. 

The First Baptist Church of Sinclairville was 
organized June 2, 1826, Rev. Jonathan Wilson, 
its first pastor, John McAlister and eleven 
others the original members. In 1834 a church 
edifice, the first in the town, was built at a cost 
of $2,000. 

The First Congregational church was formed 
July 22, 1831, by Rev. Isaac Jones, of Mayville, 
Rev. Timothy Stillman, of Dunkirk, and Rev. 
Obadiah C. Beardsley, of Charlotte, the society 
at first consisting of twenty-three persons, 
mostly Presbyterians. April 30, 1842, the 
Presbyterian form was surrendered and a re- 
organization effected as a Congregational 
church, thirteen members subscribing to that 
faith. On September 25, 1845, a house of wor- 
ship was built and dedicated, Rev. Charles W. 
Carpenter the first pastor. The First Uni- 
versalist Society of Charlotte was organized 
August 26, 1850, and a church edifice erected at 
Charlotte Center in 1851, Rev. William W. 
King the first pastor. 

The First Universalist Society of Sinclair- 
ville was organized February 13, 1859, and a 
house of worship there erected, Rev. Isaac 
George its first pastor. 

St. Paul's Church of the Cross, Roman Cath- 
olic, was organized in 1871, the parish purchas- 
ing for a house of worship the Sinclairville 
Universalist Church. 

Sylvan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, 
of Sinclairville, was chartered about the year 
1824, Major Samuel Sinclear its first worship- 
ful master. Its first charter was surrendered 
during the anti-Masonic excitement, but a new 



f32 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



charter was granted June n, 1853, John M. 
Edson the first worshipful master under the 
new charter. 

The supervisors of the town have been : Na- 
than Lake, 1830-35-37-42-45; Bela Tracy, 1831- 
33-34; Samuel F. Forbush, 1832; John Chan- 
dler, 1836; Orton Clark, 1838-41-43-44-59-60; 
Randolph W. Seaver, 1846-48; Joseph E. Kim- 
ball, 1849; Orsamus A. White, 1850-51; John 
M. Edson, 1852-54; Daniel Arnold, 1855; Wil- 
liam M. Waggoner, 1856; Allen A. Stevens, 
1857-68; Henry C. Lake, 1858-61 ; Timothy D. 
Copp, 1862-63; Henry Reynolds, 1864-66; Obed 
Edson, 1867; George S. Harrison, 1869-71; 
Horace E. Kimball, 1872-74; Albert Rich- 
mond, 1875; Edwin F. Lake, 1905-07; John G. 
Rose, 1908-09; George E. Montague, 1910-11; 
John G. Rose, 1912-13; Edwin H. Edson, 
1914-20. 

The value of real estate in the town of Char- 
lotte in 1918 was $696,284; the equalized as- 
sessed value, $546,283. There are 22,964 acres 
in the town, and according to the State census 
of 1915. a population of 1,304 citizens and four 
aliens. Sinclairville, an incorporated village, 
returned a population of 582. The Gerry 
Veneer and Lumber Company and eight small 
factories were reported in the same year to be 
in operation in the village. The schools are 
excellent, and in keeping with the spirit of the 
town. 

Chautauqua — The town of Chautauqua ante- 
dates the county, and may be called the 
"Mother Town," as it originally included all of 
now Chautauqua county except that part com- 
prised within the limits of the eastern range of 
townships. The town was set off from Batavia, 
April 11, 1S04, and when the county was organ- 
ized, March 11, 1808, the town was enlarged 
by the addition of the eastern or tenth row of 
townships. All the other towns of the county 
have been formed from the original town, re- 
ducing it to its present irregular dimensions on 
both sides of the northern part of Chautauqua 
Lake. Pomfret was taken off in 1808; Port- 
land in 1813; Harmony in 1816; Clymer, Ellery 
and Stockton in 1821. Notwithstanding its 
losses, Chautauqua is one of the largest towns 
in the county, containing 41,318 acres. The 
surface is hilly, and forms the watershed be- 
tween Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake. Chau- 
tauqua creek forms part of the western bound- 
ary, and other streams are within its borders. 

Although the town is hilly and broken, and 
by reason of its elevated situation is exposed 
to deep snows and severe storms in winter, it 
has fine and striking scenery. From the high 
hill" in its northern and western parts a mag- 



nificent view is presented to the grape belt, and 
the wide and blue expanse of Lake Erie bear- 
ing upon its bosom the commerce of the west, 
and, in the distance one may see the shores 
and hills of Canada. The upper portion of 
Chautauqua Lake extends into the eastern part 
of the town, and from Mayville a fine view may 
be had of the shores of the lake, with its beau- 
tiful bays. Within the town limits is the vil- 
lage of Mayville, the capital of the county, with 
which is associated so much of historical inter- 
est ; the far-famed Chautauqua Assembly 
grounds ; picturesque Point Chautauqua ; the 
villages of Hartfield, Summerdale and Dewitt- 
ville, and the county alms house and asylum. 
The first settlement was made by Dr. Alex- 
ander Mclntyre, of Meadville, in 1804. He 
built a log dwelling at Mayville near the steam- 
boat landing. Around it he erected a stockade 
"to protect it from the Indians," as he said. 
He had been captured by and resided with In- 
dians many years, acquiring their habits, and 
claimed to have learned the healing art of 
them. Dr. Mclntyre's stockade had been built 
when in the fall of 1804 the Holland Land Com- 
pany sent William Peacock to survey and map 
out a town at the head of the lake. In the fall 
of 1804 Paul Busti, an agent of the company, 
was with his family at what is now Mayville, 
and at a meeting of Holland Land Company 
representatives held there a name for the new 
settlement was considered. William Peacock 
thus related the story of the naming of the 
village: 

A great many names had been suggested, but none 
upon which all could unite, when Mrs. Paul Busti. wife 
01 one of the agents and attorney for the company, 
came into the room where we were gathered with a 
baby in her arms. One of the gentleman present asked 
the name of the baby and she replied, "May." Then 
some one suggested that we name the settlement after 
the baby and call it Mayville, which was quickly agreed 
to and the new settlement was at once named in honor 
of May Busti. 

William Peacock completed his survey and 
mapped a territory two miles wide from Chau- 
tauqua lake to the two Chautauqua creeks, and 
"the work was done with wonderful accuracy," 
as many subsequent surveys have fully proven. 

In 1807 Captain John Scott, who had located 
at Canada way in 1804 and had married Bril- 
liant, daughter of Deacon Orsamus Holmes, of 
Sheridan, came and opened on the present site 
of Mayville a public inn, the first made of logs, 
and upon the east side of Main street, between 
the Episcopal church and the Mayville House. 
Mr. Scott was supervisor in 1813. He removed 
from Mayville about 1826, and died in Illinois 



TOWNS— CHAUTAUQUA 



in 1845. In 1808 George Lowry settled in May- 
ville, and also opened a primitive inn. He was 
one of the celebrated family of ten brothers 
who with their mother Margaret emigrated 
from Ireland. Their names were Samuel, 
Hugh, John, Robert, James, Andrew, William, 
George, Alexander and Morrow. Most of them 
became early settlers of Erie county, Pennsyl- 
vania. In George Lowry 's old bar-room 
occurred a desperate fight between some set- 
tlers and Pennsylvania boatmen, which fur- 
nished business for several of the earliest terms 
of court. His son, James B. Lowry, was county 
clerk in 1828. 

In 1808 the county of Chautauqua was organ- 
ized, and that year Jonas Williams, Isaac Suth- 
erland and Asa Ransom, commissioners ap- 
pointed to decide upon the county seat, "erect- 
ed a large hemlock post" at Mayville to desig- 
nate the spot fixed by them. Darius Dexter 
had come from Herkimer county that spring. 
To him the contract was given by Joseph Elli- 
cott to cut and clear a road commencing at the 
head of Chautauqua Lake, extending one and 
one-half miles toward Westfield. He cut this 
road, now Main street, six rods wide, and 
cleared it to the width of three rods. He also 
cleared the land of the public square. Dr. John 
E. Marshall, a well educated physician, now 
moved into the woods that covered the site of 
Mayville. He married Ruth, daughter of Dea- 
con Orsamus Holmes, of Sheridan, in 1810. 
In 1809, Artemas Hearick, a native of Massa- 
chusetts, came from Chenango to Mayville. 
He was early appointed one of the associate 
judges. 

The anticipation of a complete organization 
of the county with Mayville as its county seat, 
now influenced people to take up residence 
there. As courts were soon to be held, attor- 
neys were the first to be attracted. Anselm 
Potter, the first, and Dennis Brackett, the sec- 
ond lawyer of the county, both came in 1810, 
and Casper Rouse a little later. Brackett built 
an office, which was crushed soon after by a 
falling tree. The same year the Holland Land 
Company erected an office for the sale of its 
lands, and William Peacock, its agent, took up 
his residence here. Jonathan Thompson, one 
of the first associate judges of the county, came 
from Saratoga county to Mayville in 1810; four 
years later he removed to Pennsylvania. 

Waterman Tinkcom, from Saratoga county, 
for many years an innkeeper in Mayville, be- 
came a resident here that year. In 181 1, the 
county having become fully organized, Captain 
Scott enlarged his log tavern by a plank frame 
addition for a court house. In it, the June be- 



133 

fore it was completed, the first court of record 
was held, and in October the Board of Super- 
visors here met. There were but two members 
—Matthew Prendergast, of Chautauqua, and 
Philo Orton, of Pomfret. This year Morrow 
Lowry settled in Mayville. His son, Morrow 
B., born in Mayville in 1813, afterwards was a 
distinguished citizen of Western Pennsylvania. 
Nathaniel A. Lowry, son of Alexander, settled 
in Jamestown, and Hugh W. Lowry, a mer- 
chant of Westfield, was the son of another of 
the brothers. Jediah Prendergast came to 
Mayville in 181 1; he was the first physician. 
William Prendergast. his nephew, the second 
physician, soon followed. William Prender- 
gast, son of Martin and Phebe (Holmes) Pren- 
dergast, grandson of William, the physician, 
and great-grandson of Matthew, was born in 
Chautauqua in 1854. He was educated at May- 
ville Academy and was graduated from Jeffer- 
son Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1883, and located at Mayville. In 
181 1 the first store was established in Mayville 
by Jediah and Martin Prendergast. William 
Smith was one of the early settlers of Mayville. 
He was born in Massachusetts in 1808, emi- 
grated to Oneida county, and a few years later 
to Mayville, where he opened a law office. He 
was appointed surrogate in 1821, which office 
he held for nineteen years ; was one of the 
founders of the "Mayville Sentinel," and died 
in i860. 

Other parts of the town of Chautauqua were 
also being settled. In 1805 Peter Barnhart, a 
soldier of the Revolution, located a short dis- 
tance north of Point Chautauqua. His sons, 
Jonathan, Peter and Henry, also settled in the 
town. Jonathan Smith the same year made 
the first settlement on the west side, near the 
grounds of the Chautauqua Assembly. The 
Prendergasts in March, 1806, contracted for a 
large tract of land near the Chautauqua Assem- 
bly Grounds, and the same month James and 
William Prendergast, Jr., erected a log house 
there. In June the family arrived. Filer 
Sackett in June, 1805, bought land at Dewitt- 
ville, where John Mason early settled. He 
married Maria, daughter of Captain Anson 
Leet. Darius Scofield settled early at Dewitt- 
ville. Nathan and Daniel Cheney early settled 
a mile north of Dewittville. John Miles with 
a large family settled on lot 9 near the east line 
of the town. Dr. Lawton Richmond, the third 
physician, settled near Dewittville in 181 1. 

Philo Hopson, from Herkimer county, set- 
tled a mile north of Hartfield upon land 
bought in 1809. At an early day he and Wil- 
liam Bateman built a sawmill at Hartfield. 



134 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Zaccheus Hanchett settled on lot number 23. 
Dexter Barns, a noted axe-maker, first settled 
in Stockton, where he built its first blacksmith 
sin ip. He removed to Hartfield, where he died. 
Darius Dexter, after cutting out Main street 
and clearing the public square in Mayville in 
1808, returned east and came back the next 
spring with his wife and purchased land on 
lot 20, northeast of Hartfield. John, William, 
Daniel, Winsor, Otis, Samuel, George and Ste- 
phen, brothers of Darius, it is believed came 
with him in 1809. His brother William and 
John W. Winsor took up other parts of the lot. 
Samuel in 1809 took land on lot number 17. 
John was county clerk thirteen years. He and 
Darius had a store and ashery at Dewittville. 
In 1830 they removed to East Jamestown and 
built mills, and the place took the name of Dex- 
terville. Captain Anson Leet, of Connecticut, 
who came to Stockton in 1810, and in 1814 
purchased the land at Point Chautauqua, for- 
merly known as Leet's Point, was the first to 
settle at Point Chautauqua. He had eleven 
children. The next year William Hunt settled 
on lot 29, township 3, his land including the 
Chautauqua Assembly Grounds. In the south- 
eastern part of the town Samuel Porter, Jared 
Irwin, Ichabod Wing, Ephraim Hammond 
and Robert Lawson were early settlers. Rich- 
ard Whitney settled upon lot 21, David Morris 
upon lot 38. In the south part of the town 
the early settlers were : Alfred Paddock, David 
Adams, Robert Donaldson, Palta Sweatland, 
Dennis Hart, Ava Hart, Samuel Hustis and 
William Fowler. In the southwest Jacob Put- 
nam and in the north Joseph Davis found 
homes. William T. Howe settled a mile north- 
east of Mayville in 1816. Samuel B. Porter 
bought 200 acres four miles south of Mayville, 
cleared one acre, built a log cabin, and brought 
his second wife, Mary Justina Johnson, and his 
two youngest children to their new home in 
the wilderness. Mrs. Porter died in Novem- 
ber, 1848, Mr. Porter in October, 1863. 

Mayville, as the place for holding the courts, 
the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the 
keeping of the public records and the transac- 
tion of the general business of the county, 
naturally attracted influential citizens to be- 
come residents. Samuel S. Whallon, when a 
boy, came with his parents to Mayville about 
1812 and resided there until his death in 1858. 
He was a prominent merchant, a member of 
Assembly, and in 1856 was elected canal com- 
missioner and held that office until he died. 
About 1815 Jedidiah Tracy moved to Mayville 
from Erie county, Pennsylvania, and kept for 
many years one of the best inns in the county. 



Robertson Whiteside settled in Chautauqua 
about 1820; he was subsequently county treas- 
urer and a member of Assembly. Jesse Brooks 
came to Mayville and became a merchant ; he 
was postmaster for twenty years, succeeding 
Jedidiah Tracy. William Green, long a well- 
known lawyer, came to Mayville in 1824. His 
brother, Richard O., once a county clerk, and 
George A., surrogate, came later. In 1828 in- 
creased communication with Jamestown was 
given to Mayville by the sidewheel steamboat 
"Chautauque ;" she made her first trip July 
4. 1828. This year Omar Farwell came and 
engaged in the tanning business and estab- 
lished a store. John Birdsall about this time 
became a resident and one of its most distin- 
guished citizens. Daniel Tennant, from Scot- 
land, about 1748 settled in Connecticut, where 
his son Daniel was born about 1761 and when 
eighteen entered the Revolutionary army, was 
at West Point at the time of the treason of 
Arnold, saw the American cannon spiked pre- 
paratory to a surrender to the British and saw 
Major Andre, after his capture. He married 
Miss Hale, of Irish birth, who had two brothers 
in the American army. After the war he set- 
tled at Waterville, Oneida county. Daniel 
Tennant, his son, born in 1802, came to this 
county in 1827 and bought wild timber land 
about three miles northeast of Hartfield. He 
married Hephzibah M. Leech, who was born 
in Connecticut in 1807, moved to Buffalo with 
her parents, whose home was burned by the 
British in 1812. Mrs. Tennant died in 1874; 
Mr. Tennant died in 1890. 

Between 1830 and 1835 many public im- 
provements were made in the town and many 
citizens of worth came to Mayville. In 1830 
it was incorporated as a village. In 183 1 Mat- 
thew P. Bemus, son of Charles Bemus, came 
to reside. He was born in Ellery, January 4, 
1831. He was one of the most public-spirited 
citizens, took an active part in the building of 
the Cross Cut railroad, and held many impor- 
tant public positions. In 1832 the county poor- 
house was erected and the jail was built. An 
act was passed that year to incorporate the 
Mayville & Portland Railroad Company, capi- 
tal $150,000, to construct a railroad from Port- 
land Harbor to Chautauqua Lake; the design 
was not carried into execution. In 1833 Don- 
ald McKinzie came to Mayville. He was one 
of the most distinguished citizens in the county. 
August 18, 1825, he married Adelgonda Hum- 
bert Droz, daughter of Alphonzo Humbert 
Droz, of Berne, Switzerland. He resided here 
until his death, January 20, 185 1, after a life 
of much adventure. He was a man of ability, 






TOWNS— CHAUTAUQUA 



135 



of enterprise and of honor, and left a large re- 
spected family. In April, 1834, Mayville Acad- 
emy was incorporated, and a substantial build- 
ing of brick erected. In the fall the "Mayville 
Sentinel" was established by William Kibbe. 
About a year afterward, Beman Brockway be- 
came proprietor and conducted it successfully 
for ten years, when he removed to Osw r ego. It 
was then conducted by John F. Phelps until 
his decease in 1878. 

In 1835 the new court house was built, and 
the public execution of Damon occurred in 
Mayville on the sidehill not far from the Acad- 
emy. February 6, 1836, the land office was de- 
stroyed by a mob, and was thereafter opened 
and kept at Westfield. 

William A. Mayborne came to Mayville to re- 
side about 1836, and William Gifford about 1841. 
In 1854 Milton Smith was elected sheriff, and 
became a lifelong resident of Mayville. Amos 
K. Warren, afterwards sheriff, came in 1862. 
One of the most important events favorably 
affecting the interests of Mayville was the 
building of the Buffalo & Oil Creek Cross Cut 
railroad, now the Western New York & Penn- 
sylvania railroad, chartered in 1865. 

A county farm of one hundred acres having 
been purchased near Dewittville, a substantial 
brick building was erected in 1832, which was 
used until the present one was erected in 1870. 
Buildings for the unfortunate have been suc- 
cessively erected there in 1839, 1851, 1858, 
1868, 1903 and 1904. The present main build- 
ing is four stories high, with frontage of 104 
feet and depth of 68 feet. From the rear there 
is a center wing twenty-two feet wide, fifty- 
seven feet six inches long, two stories high. 
The cost of the building was $36,226, and its 
furnishings $1,500. When it was built it was 
the most beautiful building in the county, and 
was declared by official visitors to be the finest 
and best managed county house in the State. 
The farm now has 338 5/10 acres, and the 
whole property is valued over $100,000. 

As a result of the Chautauqua movement 
begun in 1873, Fair Point has been transformed 
into a permanent village of importance, while 
the lands bordering the upper part of the lake 
within the town have wonderfully increased in 
value. On September 30, 1875, Point Chau- 
tauqua Association was incorporated, that be- 
ing the beginning of the improvement of Leet's 
Point, many fine homes now adding to the 
beauty of that most sightly point on the lake- 
shore. These enterprises assured Mayville's 
permanent prosperity, and water works, pav- 
ing, electricity and railways followed in a tri- 
ur^ohal march of modern progress. The Chau- 



tauqua Institution will be made the subject of 
a special chapter. 

The First Baptist Church of Mayville was 
organized with thirty-eight members, by Elder 
Jonathan Wilson, a pioneer missionary from 
Vermont, February 7, 1820. Mr. Wilson was 
the first pastor of the church. The church edi- 
fice was built in 1834. 

The Chautauqua Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal church at Mayville was formed 
about 1820. A house of worship was erected 
in 1851. 

St. Paul's Church of Mayville was organized 
with about twenty members in April, 1823, by 
Rev. David Brown, the first pastor. The first 
church edifice was completed in January, 1828, 
and consecrated by Bishop Habart, September 
4, 1828. The present house was built in 1859, 
and consecrated by Bishop Coxe, May 18, 1865. 
Rev. G. W. Sinclair Ayres entered upon the 
rectorship of this church, November 1, 1893. 

The First Methodist Episcopal Church of 
Dewittville was formed with ten members in 
I 83S- by William Gifford. This house of wor- 
ship was purchased of the Baptists the same 
vear. The first pastor was Rev. Mr. Burgess. 

The First Free-Will Baptist Church of Chau- 
tauqua Hill, four miles north from Hartfield, 
was organized with five members in 1840, by 
Rev. T. V. Main, the first pastor, and a Mr. 
Neely. A house of worship was built about 
1842.' 

Summit Church, Methodist Episcopal, near 
Summit Station, where a class had been 
formed, built a house of worship through the 
instrumentality, it is said, of John H. Flagler 
in 1849. The first pastor after the completion 
of the church building was Rev. John K. Hal- 
lock. 

The Christian Church at Dewittville was 
organized December 25, 1852, by Rev. E. H. 
Mosher, the first pastor, and E. H. Halladay. 
Their church edifice was erected in 1856. 

Mount Pleasant Church, United Brethren, 
three and a half miles southeast from Mayville, 
was organized with eight members in 1858 by 
Rev. Z. Sullivan, the first pastor. A church 
edifice was built in 1865. 

The United Brethren in Christ, of Elm Flats, 
was organized with eight members, February 
1, 1863, by Rev. N. R. Luce, the first pastor. 
A house of worship was erected in 1861 ; the 
present one in 1870. 

St. Peter's Church, German United Evan- 
gelical Protestant, at Mayville, was organized 
with twenty members in 1871 by Rev. O. Schro- 
der. Their church edifice was erected in 1871. 
The first pastor was Rev. Jacob Weber. 



t36 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The Swedish Lutherans organized a church 
at Mayville in 1870, built in 1872. Church and 
parsonage are worth $4,000. 

Summit Lodge, No. 312, Free and Accepted 
Masons, was instituted at Mayville, in 1818, 
and derived its name from its location on the 
summit of the watershed between the Missis- 
sippi and the St. Lawrence river systems. The 
first meeting was held in Asahel Lyon's rooms ; 
the first officers were John Dexter, worthy 
master ; James M. Cochrane, senior warden ; 
Asahel Lyon, junior warden ; David Eason, 
treasurer ; Calvin Macomber, secretary. The 
lodge was discontinued in 1824, and was re- 
vived on November 4, 1850, as No. 219. Its 
last meeting at Mayville was held February 14, 
185 1, and it was moved to Westfield. 

Peacock Lodge, No. 696, Free and Accepted 
Masons, held its first meeting U. D., February 
28, 1869, and received its charter June 9, 1869. 
The lodge perpetuates the name of a distin- 
guished and worthy brother, William Peacock, 
who was ever governed by true Masonic prin- 
ciples. The first officers elected were N. G. 
Luke, worshipful master ; George Wood, senior 
warden ; John F. Young, junior warden ; Amos 
K. Warren, treasurer; O. E. Tiffany, secre- 
tary ; William S. Gleason, senior deacon ; Peter 
M. Pickard, junior deacon. 

Supervisors — John McMahan, 1805-07; Ar- 
thur Bell, 1808; Thos. Prendergast, 1809; Matt. 
Prendergast, 1810-11; Samuel Ayres, 1812; 
John Scott, 1813; John E. Marshall, 1814; Mar- 
tin Prendergast, 1815-16-18, and 1819-33; John 
Dexter, 1817; Jabez B. Burrows, 1834-36; Wm. 
Prendergast, 1837-39; Alva Cottrell, 1840-41- 
46; Dexter Barnes, 1842; Cyrus Underwood, 
1843-44 ; Wm. Green, 1845 ; Williard W. Crafts, 
1847-48-53; Martin Prendergast, 1849-61-64; 
Stephen W. Hunt, 1850-51 ; Hiram A. Pratt, 
1852; David Woods, 1854-55; John Birdsall, 
1856-57; Wm. Gifford, 1858-59; Milton G. Free- 
man, i860; Daniel H. Hewes, 1865; Wm. P. 
Whiteside. 1866: Matt. P. Bemus, 1867-72; 
John Birdsall, 1873-74; Sidney R. Lawson, 
"1875-76; James M. Hunt, 1877; Lewis T. Har- 
rington, 1878-79; Ezra J. Scofield, 1880-8^; 
Eldred Lott, 1884; J. Franklin Hunt. 1885-87; 
Herman Sixbey, 1888-89; Geo. W. Hewes, 
1890-93; Thos. Hutson, 1894-96; Willis H. 
Tennant, 1897-99; August Anderson, 1900-03; 
Thos. Hutson, 1904-07; Marion W. Scofield, 
1908-13 ; Martin P. Whallon, 1914-20. 

The population of Chautauqua, according to 
the New York State census of 1915 was: Citi- 
zens, 3,854; aliens, 79; Mayville reporting 
1,201. 

The Chautauqua Print Shop at Chautauqua 



and the Chautauqua Cabinet Company at May- 
ville are the principal industries, although 
Mayville has four small plants and Summer- 
vale two. The assessed value of real estate in 
the town in 1918 was $3,371,384; full value, 
$4,297,105. Good schools abound in all parts 
of the town. 

Cherry Creek — The town of Cherry Creek, 
situated in the northern and eastern part of the 
county, was set off from the town of Ellington 
on May 4, 1829. When Surveyor Joshua Bent- 
ley, Jr., found the center of the new town to be 
on an island in a stream, he cut down a small 
cherry tree, made it into a sharpened stake, 
drove it down, and named the stream Cherry 
creek. The town took its name from the creek, 
settlement was made, and a village started in 
the locality once famous for its cherry trees, to 
which was given the name Cherry Creek. 

Original purchases in township 4, Range 10: 

1815 — March, Joshua Bentley, 15; April, Joshua 
Bentley, 9 (settled on by Joshua M. Kent) ; May, Gard- 
ner Crantiall. 

1816— May, Barber Babcock, 19; June, Ely D. Pen- 
dleton, 20; October, Reuben Cheney, 18. 

1817 — June, Elam Edson, 18; November, Rufus 
Hitchcock, 49. 

1818 — April, John Smith, 17; August, Hiram Hill, 49. 

1821 — October, John P. Hadley, 41; Henry Bab- 
cock, 20; Alvah Hadley, 41; Julius Gibbs, 41; Robert 
James, 36; Nathaniel Gibbs, Jr., 11; Eliphalet Wilcox, 
17, Robert Page, 13. 

1823 — March, James Carr, 14; December, Enos A. 
Bronson, 56. 

1824 — February, Eason Matteson, 10; March, Ira 
B. Tanner, 46; May, Amos Abbey, 64; Nathan Worden, 
16; June, Jared Ingalls, 22; Ira Bassett, 25; July, Ward 
King, 17; October, William G. Carr, 24; Dudley 
Waters, 48. 

1825 — April, John Luce, 58; William Lathrop, 24; 
May, Ira Bassett and Samuel W. Wilcox, Jr., 25; Sep- 
tember, George Burdeck, 38 ; October, Aury Cronk- 
hite, 21; Arahel H. Mallory, 21: Eddy Wetherly, 28; 
November, Robert James, Jr., 35. 

1826 — April, Putnam Farrington, 63; October, Lyman 
Town and Thomas King, 56; December, Henry Luce, 

1827 — April, Ebenezer Still, Jr., 39; June, Stephen 
Blaisdell, 18; September, Nehemiah Osborne, 31; 
Israel Seeley, 31: Issachar Hammond, 30. 

1829 — June, William A. Bowen, 13; July, Thomas 
King, 18; December, Sylvester Osborne, 14. 

The statement is now unhesitatingly made 
that the first settlement in the town of Cherry 
Creek was made by Joseph M. Kent, on lot 9, 
in the spring of 181 5. He was born in Royal- 
ton, Vermont, and after having lived in Herki- 
mer and Onondaga counties, New York, re- 
moved to Chautauqua county, settling in what 
is now Cherry Creek with his wife and seven 
children. Mr. Kent, his son George, Nancy, 
his eldest daughter, and John P. Kent, a 
nephew, cleared the first land and raised the 



TOWNS— CHERRY CREEK 



'37 



first crop of potatoes. The next spring, desti- 
tute of provisions and money, he felled a pine 
tree and made a canoe sixty feet in length, 
launched it in Conewango creek, put into it 
fifteen hundred pounds of maple sugar and 
some black salts, and ran it down to Pittsburgh. 
He there exchanged his cargo for flour, pork, 
salt, and with the help of his son George pushed 
his vessel with pikepoles back to Cherry Creek, 
having been absent about three weeks. 

Joshua Bentley, Jr., the second settler, set- 
tled on lot 15, now known as the Decker farm, 
September 1, 1815. He had located in Ellery 
about 1808, and was one of the surveyors that 
ran the lines in this part of the county prior to 
its settlement. Cherry Creek's first road was 
cut out by John Kent, brother of Joseph M., 
one of the first purchasers of land in Villenova. 
In the spring of 1810 he built his house on the 
old Indian camping grounds at the headwaters 
of the Conewango, also the first sawmill and 
gristmill in the eastern part of the county. 
Where the Indian trail from the Cattaraugus 
Reservation to the Allegheny crossed the farm 
later owned by Alfred H. Blaisdell, there were 
two large springs where the Indians had a 
camp with a stone fireplace. This camp was 
almost constantly occupied by parties of In- 
dians, who stopped to fish and hunt as they 
passed either north or south. 

John P. Kent, a son, and John Dighton, in 
the summer of 1812, cut out the first road 
through from Kent's Mill in Villenova, sixteen 
miles through Cherry Creek to Kennedyville, 
for which they received from the Holland Land 
Company ten dollars per mile. This road fol- 
lowed the line of the Conewango Valley on the 
Indian trail running on the west side of the 
village. Three years later they cut out another 
road to Sinclairville, branching off from the old 
road on lot 16 in Cherry Creek, taking a south- 
westerly line, passing the homes of Gardiner 
Crandall and Isaac Curtis on lot 23. At that 
time they were the only residents in town on 
this road. This has been known as the old 
Kent road, and is now called Kent street. Gar- 
diner Crandall and Isaac Curtis had each pur- 
chased one hundred acres on lot 23. Mr. Cran- 
dall built a log house twenty-six by twenty, 
and in the spring of 1816 both families moved 
into it and lived there until Mr. Curtis could 
build. Mr. Crandall lived many years in 
Cherry Creek, and became the father of twenty- 
two children by two wives. Stephen Curtis, a 
brother of Isaac, settled on adjoining land, and 
left two sons, Henry L. and John H. Curtis. 
James Marks the next purchaser of land (his 
deed calling for one hundred sixty acres in the 



south part of lot 20, bearing date October 20, 
1815), built his log house, covered with bark 
and without any floor, and moved in his furni- 
ture, consisting of an ax, a gun and a "baking 
kittle." This was the first house built in the 
now incorporated village of Cherry Creek. His 
house soon after became unoccupied and re- 
mained so until about 1824; it was then fitted 
up for a schoolhouse for the first school taught 
in the village. Its teacher, Angeline Picker- 
ing, became the wife of John Babcock and set- 
tled in Busti. In May, 1816, Barber Babcock 
on lot 19, Ely D. Pendleton on lot 20 and Reu- 
ben Cheeney on lot 18, became settlers of 
Cherry Creek, lived here many years, raised 
families, cleared up farms and made homes. 
In June, 1817, Elam Edson, William Weaver, 
on lot 18, Rufus Hitchcock and Hiram Hill 
on lot 49, John Smith, lot 17, Henry Bab- 
cock, lot 20, Nathaniel Gibbs, Jr., lot 11, Eli- 
phalet W. Wilcox, lot 17, Robert Page, lot 
28, were settlers. Daniel Hadley from Ver- 
mont came with his family, November 9, 1817. 
Three of his sons settled in Cherry Creek, Niles 
and Alvah on parts of lot 41, John P. on lot 27, 
near the village. He married the daughter of 
Robert James, also an early settler. He took 
an active part in laying out and cutting out 
early roads in Cherry Creek and in getting the 
town set off from Ellington in 1829. He also 
frequently served in town offices and was town 
clerk at the time of his death. He held militia 
offices from corporal to major. 

In the southwest part of the town lived Al- 
vah Hadley, whose son, Ozro A., was for a 
time acting Governor of Arkansas, and Niles 
Hadley, who lived and died on his early pur- 
chased home. Also settled here Mr. Ward and 
his sons, William, On and Ai ; Hudson Smith, 
John Howard, Nathaniel Dunham, Arthur 
Hines, Addison Phillips, John Luce, Reuben 
A. Bullock, Myron Field, Horatio Hill. Joseph 
Price on lot 42 had three sons : John, Lawrence 
and David. Abraham T. Andrus settled where 
the late John D. Mount lived. In the north- 
west part were : John Bartlett, Ira B. Tan- 
ner, Alvah Bannister, Elkanah Steward, Oliver 
Carpenter, Anson Newton, Wilbur Burdick, 
John Essex, J. Richardson, Eben Abbey, Put- 
nam Farrington, a general of the War of 1812. 
Ora Parks, who settled in 1824 on lot 37, three 
miles in the woods from neighbors, cleared his 
farm and raised a large family. Enos A. Bron- 
son came from Connecticut and settled on lot 
56, near the north line, in 1825, where he died 
in 1858. His sons were William, Horace, 
Allen L., and Monson M. 

In a little settlement at Shattuck's school- 



138 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



house was made the first attempt at a village in 
the town in the spring of 1820, on lot 34. Here 
settled Robert James, Montgomery Evans, 
Norton Still, David Myers, Horatio Hill, 
Demas Stone, Robert James, Jr., and Randall 
Spencer, who held the first Methodist class 
meetings in his house for a number of years. 
A burying ground was soon laid out. Pliny 
Shattuck opened a blacksmith shop here in 
1831. The hopes of having a village at this 
point were soon blasted. 

George H. Frost, from Renssalaer county, 
came in 1823, and built the second house in 
what is now the village of Cherry Creek, on the 
south part of lot 20, where C." D. Leonard's 
cheese factory once stood (land taken up by 
James Marks in 1815). Mr. Frost became the 
first settler with a family in the village, kept 
the first tavern, and was the first postmaster; 
he afterward kept a store, later lived on a 
farm, but returned to the village, where he died 
in 1873. He had been for several years super- 
visor. 

William Green. Almeron Bly, Elam Edson, 
Ira Bassett, John Bovee, Rollins Kilburn, 
Harry James, Aaron Bartlett, John P. Hadley, 
Thomas Berry, Cyrus Thatcher and Alfred 
Goodrich were early settlers in the village. In 
the vicinity were Michael Page, Eddy Weather- 
ly, Jotham Godfrey, Stephen Blaisdell, Julius 
Gibbs, Henry Babcock, William Kilbourn and 
Thomas Carter, who established a tannery with 
a shoe shop. In the central part, Robert James 
settled in 1820, on lot 36, where he died. Of 
his sons, Robert J. was supervisor in 1831-32; 
Jonathan was a physician. Thomas Mount 
brought his wife and fourteen children from 
New Jersey. His sons were Ezekiel, John, 
Hezekiah, Furman and Samuel. Anthony 
Morian settled on lot 44 in 1835 and raised a 
family of ten children. 

In the southeast part, Wanton King settled 
on lot 9 in 1820; his sons were Thomas Ward 
and Obediah. On lot 12, Josiah Crumb settled. 
Eason Matteson located on lot 18 in 1820. In 
the south part the early settlers were : Daniel 
Waggoner, Isaac C. Brown, William S. Bul- 
lock. Moses Ells, Clark Losee, George W. 
Hitchcock. Job Eddy settled on lot 23, in the 
northeast part in 1820. Thomas Wilcox, from 
Hanover, was an early settler, first on lot 17, 
in 1819, on lot 21 in 1824, and on lot 24 in 1829, 
where he died. He was noted for his industry 
and for clearing much land. His sons were 
Daniel, Erastus, Alfred and Harlow. James 
Carr settled in 1823 on lot 15, land bought of 
Joshua Bentley, Jr., and afterwards kept store 
in the village. He was supervisor of Elling- 



ton in 1828-29 and the first supervisor of 
Cherry Creek. He had one son, Andrew J. 
William G. Carr came in October, 1829, with 
wife and two children and settled on lot 15, 
Jarius Nash from Stephentown, an early school 
teacher, settled on lot 23. Jared Ingalls located 
on all of lot 22 in 1825 and built a sawmill. 
Daniel B. Parsons, from Madison county, set- 
tled in 1850 on lot 27,, where he died. Both he 
and his son, Reuben W., were supervisors. 
William Weaver, in 1817, settled on lot 18; a 
few years after on lot 14, where he died. On 
Powers Hill, George Sheffield settled on lot 
29; his sons were Aaron, Hiram, Alanson and 
Judson. Daniel Powers, a son-in-law, from 
whom the hill takes its name, settled on the 
same lot. 

The first birth in town was that of Lydia, 
daughter of Joseph M. and Patty Kent, in 
1816 ; she married Charles B. Green, of Elling- 
ton. The first marriage was James Battles to 
Rachael, daughter of Daniel Hadley, June 6, 
1819. The first death was that of Rufus Hitch- 
cock in 1820; he fell from the roof of his house 
just as he had completed it, and fractured his 
skull. The first school was taught by Reuben 
Cheeney, in the south part of the town. The 
first merchant was Seth Grover, who started in 
trade in 1831. He had in connection with his 
store an ashery and a pearling oven. Later 
Cyrus Thatcher and George H. Frost were in 
trade. The first resident physician, Horace 
Morgan, came in 1829. He was followed bv 
Oliver B. Main, Edwin G. Bly, T. G. Walker 
and others. Among the early tailors were 
Jonathan Greenman and Russell Bartlett. The 
first sawmill was built by William Kilburn in 
1824 on Cherry Creek, near the village; he 
attached, the next year, a shop for making 
spinning wheels, chairs, etc., to his mill. The 
second sawmill was built by Robert James and 
William Green in 1833. The first grist mill 
was built by Hull Nickerson in 1828, near the 
site of Price's sawmill. It had one run of 
stones and was used only for corn. It was 
known for years as the old "pepper" mill. In 
1S48 Joseph Kent built a grist mill with all 
modern appliances with three runs of stones. 
This mill was burned in 1869 and rebuilt in 
1870 by Silas Vinton. Immediately under the 
grocery store of C. L. Frost a large spring bub- 
bled up. In the early days of settlement this 
was much larger than now and overflowed 
quite an area of land. The deer found some 
attractive quality in the water not present in 
any other spring and resorted there often in 
numbers. This gave it the name of "the deer 
lick," by which it was long known. 



TOWNS— CLYMER 



The first town meeting in Cherry Creek after 
its formation was at the hotel of George H. 
Frost in March, 1830. At that meeting James 
Carr was elected the first supervisor, Robert 
James the first town clerk. 

Supervisors — James Carr, 1830-33-36-40-46- 
52. Robt. James, Jr., 1S31-32; Geo. H. Frost, 
1834-35; Oliver Carpenter, 1837; Horace Bron- 
son, 1838; Wm. G. Carr, 1839; Wm. Kilbourn, 
1841-43 ; Arch. F. Robins, 1844 ; Oliver B. Main, 
1845-49-50; Chas. A. Spencer, 1847-48; Jos. 
Kent. 1851-56; Daniel B. Parsons, 1853-54; 
Silas Vinton, 1855-59-60-68-71 ; Horatio Hill, 
1857-58-64; R. W. Parsons, 1861-63-65; An- 
thony Morian, 1862-67; Geo. N. Frost, 1866-69- 
7 2 v3-75v7 "> W. C. Carpenter, 1870; Harrv Bil- 
ings, 1874; Wm. S. Blaisdell, 1878-79; Jas. Rich- 
ardson, 1880; S. A. Ferrin, 1881-92; W. F. Stet- 
son, 1889; Wm. I. Phillips, 1890; R. A. Hall, 
1893-95 ; C. L. Wheeler, 1896-1903 ; C. A. Mount, 
1904-05; Edgar YV. Curtis, 1906-10; Ellis W. 
Storms. 191 1 ; Edgar W. Curtis, 1912-13; C. 
Leroy Edwards, 1914-20. 

The population of Cherry Creek in 191 5, 
according to the State census, was 1630, of 
whom 91 were aliens. Number of acres in the 
town, 22,957, valued at $763,625; assessed 
value (1918), $599,117. 

Cherry Creek is an incorporated village, 
beautiful in location, with broad, smooth 
streets adorned with good residences and busi- 
ness houses, and in addition to good stores in 
every department of trade has a bank, news- 
paper, canning factory, good hotels, churches, 
high school, fire department, a very popular 
form of government. The village is a station 
on the Buffalo & Southwestern railroad, 48 
miles from Buffalo and 22 miles from James- 
town. 

The principal industries of the village are 
the Cherry Creek Canning Company (canned 
fruits), and the W. F. Stetson Company, but- 
ter firkins. There are also three small factories. 
Cherry Creek village was incorporated, May 
20, 1893, the present government being vested 
in a president and two trustees, with clerk, 
treasurer and collector. The first election was 
held June 17, 1893, C. A. Mount being chosen 
the first president. The first trustees were I. 
S. Benton, W. E. Shepardson. H. Clinton 
Mount. The high school building was erected 
in 1896, and is a modernly equipped school 
with a competent corps of teachers. The post 
office was established in 1832. George H. Frost, 
postmaster. Rural free delivery was estab- 
lished September 15, 1902, with three routes. 
The Cherry Creek Fire Department was organ- 
ized July 15, 1890, Charles J. Shults being 



elected the first chief, C. A. Mount, the first 
president. 

The Methodist Episcopal church was organ- 
ized in 1857 with seven members. Rev. O. S. 
Meade the first pastor. The present church 
edifice was erected in 1881 at a cost of $5,000. 

The First Baptist Church was organized 
October 26, 1832, with twelve members, Elder 
Bennet the first pastor. In 1896 the church 
was rebuilt. 

The Free Baptist Church was organized in 
1826 by Rev. Thomas Grinnell, and was the 
first religious organization in Cherry Creek. 
A house of worship was built in 1846 at a cost 
of $2,500. 

A Christian Church was organized March 
23. 1839. The church had no meeting house, 
but maintained its organization up to about 
1861. 

Cherry Creek Lodge, No. 384, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, was instituted in 1853 with 
nine charter members, and received the present 
warrant in June, 1855. William S. Blaisdell 
was the first master. 

Cherry Creek Lodge, No. 463, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted April 6, 
1852, with six charter members, J. L. Clark 
the first noble grand. 

Bullock Post, No. 304, Grand Army Repub- 
lic, was organized November 2, 1882, with 
twenty charter members. 

Cherry Creek Grange, No. 527, Patrons of 
Husbandry, was organized August 18, 1887, 
with twenty-eight charter members. M. A. 
Phillips was its first master. 

Cherry Creek Lodge, No. 42, Ancient Order 
United Workmen, was organized November 
15, 1876, with twenty charter members. S. V. 
Q. Sherman was the first master workman. 

Pocahontas Hive, No. 21, Ladies of the Mac- 
cabees, was instituted in September, 1891, with 
thirteen charter members. Mrs. A. Bronson 
was the first lady commander. 

Ensign Circle, No. 281, was instituted No- 
vember 18, 1896, with sixteen charter members. 
Dr. Thomas E. Soules was the first president. 

Pocahontas Tent, No. 101, Knights of the 
Maccabees, was instituted in October, 1888, 
with eighteen charter members. 

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
was organized July 3, 1888, with a membership 
of twentv. 

Golden Chapter, No. 252, Order of the East- 
ern Star, was organized October 16, 1902. Mrs. 
Charles J. Shults was the first worthy matron 
and Isaac S. Benton, worthy patron. 

Clymer — Among the new towns taken 
directly from the "mother town," Chautauqua, 



140 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



was Clymer, organized February 9, 1821, and 
given the name of the patriotic Pennsylvanian, 
George Clymer, a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. The town of Mina was set off 
from Clymer in 1824; and French Creek in 
1829, leaving Clymer an area of 21,985 acres, 
bounded on the north by Sherman, east by 
Harmony, west by French Creek, south by 
Pennsylvania. The surface is a hilly upland, 
well adapted to grazing and dairying, being 
well watered. The soil responds well to culti- 
vation and the Western New York & Penn- 
sylvania railroad traverses the town from north 
to south, with stations in Clymer, North Cly- 
mer, Clymer Center and Joquins. Clymer Hill 
is in the western part of the town. 

At Clymer, tanning leather was once an im- 
portant business, and about i860 Leonard 
Kooman established there one of the largest 
tanneries in the county. The first tannery was 
built on lot 35 by Ebenezer Brownell shortly 
after 1830. Walter L. and Loren B. Sessions 
conducted extensive tanning operations on the 
Brownell site in later years. 

Original Purchases: 

1820 — May, Wm. Rice, 59: Julv, Gardner Cleveland, 
Sr., 58. 

1821 — October, Horace and Anson Starkweather, 
43; Jos. Wing, 51; November, John Cleveland, 58. 

1822 — March, Thos. Russell, 50. 

1823 — January, Leonard Amidon, 52; October, Wm. 
Rice, 60. 

^24 — June, Eben. Brownell, ^5: Harry E. Brownell, 
28; Jos. Brownell, 50. 

1825— May, Amon Beebe, Jr., 30; August, Elisha 
Alvord, 21; October, Jos. W. Ross, 56, 55. 

1826— April, Chas. Ross. 56; May, Moses Randall, 
23; July, David Phinney; October, Jere. Glidden, 3, 8. 

1827— March, Darius and Walter Freeman, 47; Ralph 
Petit, 47; April, Jere. Doolittle, 37; May, David Glid- 
den, 16; June. Samuel Bligh, 32: August, Andrew 
Glidden, 16; September, Oscar F. and Daniel C. Glid- 
den, 8; October, Francis F. Allen, 2. 

1828 — Mav, Alvah Marsh. 40; Archaelaus Chadwick. 
1; John Petit, 47: Julv, Beni. Sullivan, 63; Samuel 
Ross, 27. 

1825) — July, Lyman Brown, 26: September, Jere. 
Chamberlain, 53; October, Urbane Hitchcock, 15. 

1830 — August, Harry E. Brownell, 28; September, 
Jackson Johnson, ^y. Thos. Russell, 50. 

Settlement was commenced in 1820 by Gard- 
ner and John Cleveland, who located on lot 58, 
in the southwest corner. The next year Wil- 
liam Rice settled on lot 59, and in 1822 came 
Horace and Anson Starkweather and Joseph 
Wing. Eighteen families had located in the 
territory embracing the original town of Cly- 
mer in 1822. Nathaniel and William Thomp- 
son, Thomas Russell and Harry E. Brownell 
came in 1823. The first town meeting was 
held April 3, 1821, at the house of Gardner 
Cleveland, where were elected: Ande Nobles, 



supervisor; William Rice, Roger Haskell, John 
M. Fitch, assessors; David Waldo, clerk; Ros- 
well Coe, John Cleveland, Alexander Findley, 
commissioners of highways ; Ephraim Dean, 
Ande Nobles, John Lynde, school inspectors; 
John Heath, Roger Haskell, school commis- 
sioners ; Alexander Findley, Roswell Coe, poor 
masters ; Ande Nobles, Alexander Findley, 
overseers of highways ; William Thompson, 
Amon Beebe, Roger Haskell, fence viewers, 
etc.; Ande Nobles, sealer; Eli Belknap, con- 
stable and collector. Before 1830 quite a set- 
tlement was made. Here had come and located 
Leonard Amidon in 1824; Charles Ross in 1824, 
on Clymer Hill; Ebenezer Brownell and Joseph 
Brownell in 1824 on lots 35, 28, 50 ; Peter Ja- 
quins in 1825; David Phinney in 1826; Silas 
Freeman with thirteen children came to Cly- 
mer Hill in 1828. His son, Leonard B., resided 
in this and adjoining towns for many years. 

Other early settlers were : Alexander Max- 
well, Elisha Alvord, Joseph Ross, Samuel 
Ross, Moses Randall, Jeremiah Glidden, Jere- 
miah R. Doolittle, David and Andrew Glidden, 
Samuel Bly, Oscar F. and Daniel C. Glidden, 
Francis F. Allen, Alvah Marsh, Archelaus 
Chadwick, Ralph and John Petitt, Benjamin 
Sullivan, Lyman Brown, Jeremiah Chamber- 
lain, Urbane Hitchcock, Samuel Wickwire, 
Charles Brighton, John S. Sessions. 

The Cleveland and Rice families had many 
representatives. Gardner Cleveland, a Revo- 
lutionary soldier, had three children and thirty- 
four grandchildren. William Rice had twelve 
children of whom three became prominent: 
Victor M., born in Mayville in 1818, was edu- 
cated at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., 
and from 1848 to 1854 was connected with the 
city schools of Buffalo, and in 1854 city super- 
intendent. From 1854 to 1S67 he was State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction ; William 
S., for twenty-one years teacher in Buffalo 
city schools, and several years city superin- 
tendent of Buffalo schools ; Emily A., long 
principal of Yonkers Female Seminary. Wil- 
liam Rice was many years a justice, and in 1840 
was one of the three representatives of the 
county in the State Assembly. 

Ira F. Gleason (whose father Ira settled early 
in French Creek, coming from Connecticut), 
came from Madison county in 183 1 to French 
Creek, thence in 1837 to Clymer Village and 
engaged in trade, which he conducted continu- 
ously for twenty years. He held many impor- 
tant offices — justice, supervisor, etc. Young 
gives the early merchants thus : "The first 
store is said to have been kept by John Stow 
in 1823. John Heath and Joseph H. Williams 



TOWNS— CLYMER 



succeeded him. Alvin Williams succeeded 
them, and also kept an inn, the first in town in 
[826. Later were Gardner Cleveland, Jr., and 
Howard Blodgett; Ira F. Gleason and John 
Williams; Gleason and Stephen W. Steward; 
Stephen W. Steward ; Avers & Blood. In 1875 
William B. Blodgett and Arthur Beach were 
general merchants ; Avers & Coffin, druggists ; 
Willis D. Gallup & Son, hardware and stoves." 

One of the early and industrious pioneers of 
Clymer was Peter Jaquins, a soldier in the War 
of 18 1 2. He reomved from Guilford, Chenango 
county, to Cattaraugus county in 1820, in 1824 
bought lot 42 in Clymer. and in 1825 made his 
home here and erected the first saw and grist 
mills in the town. He was an excellent hunter, 
and it is said "that he captured nearly one hun- 
dred wolves previous to 1812, for which he re- 
ceived an average bounty of twelve dollars per 
head." His children were : Bruce, who located 
near his father ; Edward, who went to Kansas ; 
Wallace; Art, a farmer and cattle dealer, who 
married Frances Vrooman : Elizabeth. The 
name of this enterprising pioneer is perpetu- 
ated in the post office called Jaquins. 

James, John and David Petitt,, brothers, emi- 
grants, arrived at New York about 1789 to be- 
come citizens of the New World. One of them 
settled on Long Island, one located in New 
Jersey and James made his home on the west 
shore of Lake Champlain. Here his son Ralph 
was born at Willsborough, Essex county. 
Ralph when a young man went to Genesee 
county, where he married Julia Lyons, March 
25, 1827, and the next month the young couple 
came to Clymer and commenced housekeeping 
in the primitive house erected on Mr. Petitt's 
location on lot 47. on Clymer Hill. Mr. Petitt 
was thereafter a lifelong resident of the town 
and held numerous local offices. Ten of his 
children attained maturity. 

Lyman Brown, a native of Kingston, Pa., 
born May 30, 1801, subsequently was a resident 
of Hamburg, Erie county. In 1820 he bought 
land on lot 26 in Clymer, and in 1831 became 
a settler of the town, where he resided until 
his death in 1873; his wife died the same year. 
Mr. Brown was extensively engaged in cattle 
dealing, was supervisor in 1848, and held other 
town offices. His sons were Jesse, Martin, 
Homer. Jesse was born May 9, 1825, in Erie 
county, married Louisa Bligh, of North Cly- 
mer in 1851 ; he followed the vocation of his 
father, served as town superintendent, super- 
visor several years, inspector of elections many 
years, and loan commissioner several terms. 

In 1832 Gideon Brockway, with his wife and 
four children, removed from Southampton, 



Mass., to Clymer, purchased a farm and resided 
here until his death. His youngest son, Rich- 
ard B., accompanied his father and made Cly- 
mer his home. Beman, oldest son, came a year 
later to visit his parents, and as he says, "in 
the winter of 1833 I taught a district school in 
Clymer, for which I was about as well qualified 
as the average citizen is to edit a newspaper. 
However, I made out to stand the occupation 
three months, which were the longest ones I 
remember to have passed in my whole life." 
Mr. Brockway proved his ability to "edit a 
newspaper" not many years after, by making 
a success of the "Mayville Sentinel," which he 
edited and published for ten years. He was on 
the editorial staff of the "New York Tribune" 
with such men as Horace Greeley and Charles 
A. Dana as companions. At the time of his 
death, December, 1892, he was the oldest news- 
paper editor and publisher of the State, and the 
owner of the "Watertown Daily and Weekly 
Times." In him all elements of a strong char- 
acter were so united as to cause one to say, 
"He was a man." 

Williard McKinstry writes in the "Fredonia 
Censor" in 1885 this of the town : 

The dwellings fiftv years ago were mostly of logs. 
Some noted characters have lived in this vicinity, 
Horace Greeley's parents about two miles from the 
village, and this was their post office address. J. G. 
Cleveland, since connected with the New York "Tribune, ' 
spent his boyhood days here. William Rice, a member 
of the Legislature in 1840, was the village blacksmith, 
and his son, Hon. Victor M. Rice, has since occupied 
a prominent position as State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction and was the founder of the free school 
system of this State. He struggled to get an educa- 
tion. His first school books were bought by his going 
to the woods and cutting wood for the ashery and 
drawing it there with a pair of steers which he had 
broken, made the exchange with my uncle who then 
carried it on. Hon. Silas Terry, a most worthy citi- 
zen, held a seat in the Legislature of 1840, and his son, 
L. S. Terry, who has been Supervisor several times, is 
one of the progressive farmers of the town. When 
Senator Lorenzo Morris first commenced practicing 
law he opened an office over Ira F. Gleason's store in 
Clymer, and Stephen W. Steward did mercantile busi- 
ness here before founding the First National Bank of 
Corry It is a prosperous agricultural town, and the 
railroad and the building up of the City of Corry, eight 
miles distant, have given it a good market and pros- 
perity It has an excellent soil and contains many 
splendid farms. Hon. Walter L. and Loren B Ses- 
sions passed their youthful days with their father, 
John S Sessions, an early settler on a farm in this 
town and have always had a strong support here in 
their political aspirations. Although a small town 
Clvmer has exerted an important influence at times in 
politics of the State through the men who have lived 
here. 

Garrett Slotbootrij a Hollander, came to Cly- 
mer in 1850, and died here in 1885. He had 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



served his time in the Dutch army, married a 
daughter of John Nuytinck. His son, John A., 
was born in Holland, educated in the Clymer 
schools, and assisted his father in farming. He 
enlisted in August, 1862, in Company D, 112th 
Regiment, New York Volunteers, and served 
until the close of the war. He was wounded 
at Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 1, 1864. In 
1866 he commenced merchandising at Clymer 
Hill, continued twenty-five years, then located 
at Clymer Village. He served as justice of the 
peace and supervisor. He married Magde- 
lene, a daughter of Peter Kooman (who settled 
in Clymer about 1858. He was born near Ant- 
werp, Holland, emigrated to Buffalo in 1847. 
He died January 6, 1879). The Hollanders, 
many of whom have made their homes in the 
town, are useful and worthy citizens. Hon. G. 
W. Patterson, the land agent, it is said, was so 
impressed with the value of obtaining such 
frugal, honest and industrious people as resi- 
dents, that he made extra inducements to 
secure their coming. About 1846 the first 
nucleus was formed here and now a large per- 
centage of the town's best citizens are of this 
stock. 

John Steward, Jr., settled in Harmony in 
1 82 1 and had a large family; his sons were, 
John, Stephen W., Eliphalet, and Alfred W. 
Stephen W. was for some years a merchant in 
Clymer and was later one of the most promi- 
nent in founding the First National Bank in 
Corry, Pennsylvania. Alfred W., a farmer 
and cattle dealer, resided in the village. Sar- 
dius located in Harmony and was prominent. 

Otis D. Hinckley was a resident of Clymer 
since 1850 and one of the town's most active 
and useful residents. He was for a time a 
merchant, but long and extensively employed 
as a surveyor. He was almost continually in 
office as justice of the peace, was justice of 
sessions of the county court, represented the 
First Assembly District in the State Legisla- 
ture of 1875 and served as clerk of the Board 
of Supervisors for twenty years with marked 
ability. 

William Emery, son of Gilbert Emery, an 
early settler of Harmony, born in Harmony, 
April 19, 1840, was a farmer and lawyer, and 
long held the office of justice of the peace and 
other positions of trust. Byron King, son of 
James King, another son of Clymer, was one 
of its most substantial citizens. Maurice Smith, 
son of Walker Smith, was also born in the 
town, and a farmer. J. B. Johnson was also a 
farmer and a lumberman. Other residents who 
have been of local importance were Hon. Silas 
Terry, Artemas Ross, Esq., James Wiltsie, 



Daniel Hurlbut, John B. Knowlton, H. E. 
Brownell, Jesse Brown, W. D. Gallup, Otis D. 
Hinckley, Ira E., William B. and Charles S. 
Gleason, Stephen W. Steward, Charles Bright- 
man, Hartson S. Ayer, and John Bidwell, who 
headed the national ticket of the Prohibition 
Party, was a native of the town. 

The religious denominations are : Metho- 
dist Episcopal, Baptist, United Brethren and 
Dutch Reformed. A good interest has beei 
manifested in education, and, besides the dis- 
trict schools, a union school of three depart- 
ments is conducted at Clymer Village. 

Young carefully gathered facts concerning 
the early mills. He says in 1875 : 

The first sawmill was built by Peter Jaquins in 1825; 
he added a gristmill the next year. Eight years after 
both were burned. A new sawmill was built and eight 
years thereafter that was burned and Mr. Jaquins 
again built one, which he subsequently sold to Porter 
Damon and John Williams, who also built a gristmill. 
Williams sold his interest to Damon. The mill passed 
to his sons, Loren and Andrew. The latter sold to 
Hartson S. Ayer & Brother and the sawmill was sold 
to Hall & Shepard. Hall sold to Welch and Shepard 
& Welch erected a large three-story planing and shin- 
gle mill. William Rice built a gristmill below the vil- 
lage on the west branch of the Broken-Straw and sold 
it to Judson Hurlbut, who built a sawmill. Daniel 
Hurlbut built a sawmill on Big Broken-Straw, on lot 
50, a mile below the Shepard & Welch mill. John B. 
Knowlton now owns the mill, with machinery for plan- 
ing, turning and the manufacture of agricultural im- 
plements. Thomas Card built a sawmill on lot 20, 
where he still owns a mill. James Upton built a saw- 
mill on lot 45: the dam is built of stone from a large 
quarry near the mill. B. Parker early built a mill on 
lot Q. A stream sawmill was built by Shepard & 
Havens at Clymer Station, and is now owned by Wil- 
liam Havens. A stream mill has also been recently 
built near the center of the town by Charles Maxwell 
and Joshua Hatton. 

Clymer Village and station are practically 
one place, which is a thriving place of trade. 

The first physician was Dr. Roswell F. Van 
Buren, who was in practice from 1826 to 1836, 
when he moved to Carroll. Dr. S. G Peck 
settled early on lot 6, and practiced many years. 
Dr. Harvey A. Phinney succeeded to Dr. Van 
Buren's practice and continued a physician 
until his death in the fifties. Later were Drs. 
George R. Spratt, J. M. McWharf. Artemas 
Ross, L. P. McCray and others. 

Supervisors — 1821, Ande Nobles; 1822-23, 
John Heath; 1824-27, Gardner Cleveland; 1828, 
A. S. Underwood ; 1829, Alex. Wilson, Jr. ; 
1830, John Heath; 1831-34, Wm. Rice; 1835, 
Harvey A. Phinney; 1836-39, Wm. Rice; 1840, 
Ira F. Gleason; 1841-42, Wm. Rice; 1843- 
44, Moses Randall; 1845, Wm. Rice; 1846-47, 
Samuel Bly ; 1848, Lyman Brown ; 1849-50. 




I ".lie inks MKMi >I;TAI. Ill i.SI'ITAI- AXU I.IIIKARV Kl'ILDING, DUNKIRK, N. T. 



143 



Chas. Brightman; 1851-55, Stephen W. Stew- 
ard; 1856, Jesse Brown; 1857, Stephen W. 
Steward; 1858-59, Chas. Brightman; i860, Her- 
ules Rice; 1861, L. S. Terry; 1862-63, Hartson 
S. Ayer; 1864-67, Joshua Hatton ; 1868-70, 
Hartson S. Ayer; 1871-72, Jesse Brown; 1873- 
74, Otis J. Green; 1875, Jesse Brown; 1876-78, 
O. D. Hinckley; 1879-82, Lawyer S. Terry; 
1883-89, John A. Slotboom; 1890-96, James D. 
Gallup ; 1 897-03-04-05-06-07-08-09- 10- 1 1-12-13- 
14-15-16-17-18-19-20, Lorenzo P. McCray, who 
in 1914-15-16-17, was chairman pro tern, of the 



board and in 1918-19 was its capable chairman. 
He is now serving his twenty-fourth term on 
the board, only one other member Joseph A. 
McGinnies having served a longer term. 

Clymer reported to the State census bureau 
in 1915 a population of 1,316 citizens and 25 
aliens. The Mohawk Condensed Milk Company 
of Clymer was reported as employing 31 hands, 
and four small factories employing eleven 
hands were operated within the town limits. 
The full value of real estate in the town in 1918 
was $970,726; assessed value, $761,603. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The City of Dunkirk. 



Town and City of Dunkirk — The first white 
men whom it can be definitely stated came into 
the corporate limits of the city of Dunkirk 
were a party of surveyors under Andrew E'li- 
cott, Surveyor-General of the United States, 
who in August, 1790, traversed the Lake Erie 
shore of Chautauqua county while engaged in 
establishing the western boundary of New 
York State. Seth Pease and his party of Hol- 
land Land Company surveyors came in 1798 
and traversed the same shore, making a minute 
survey of the shore line of Dunkirk harbor. 
To Zattu Cushing, who became familiar with 
the section in 1799, when building the "Good 
Intent" at the mouth of Mill creek in Erie 
county, Pennsylvania, is due the credit of caus- 
ing the first settlement to be made in both the 
town and city of Dunkirk. The first step taken 
by Mr. Cushing was in 1804, by the purchase 
from the Holland Land Company lot 29, which 
included the west part of Point Gratiot, now 
a public park within the corporate limits of 
Dunkirk. He also in the same year bought 
lots 28 and 33, these including the lands on 
both sides of Canadaway creek and within the 
present city limits. 

The first actual settler in the town of Dun- 
kirk was Seth Cole, who came from Paris, 
Oneida county, with Zattu Cushing in Febru- 
ary, 1805, bought land at the mouth of Canada- 
way creek from Cushing the following June 
and settled thereon the same year. Zattu Cush- 
ing settled on his land in now the town of Pom- 
fret, where descendants yet reside. The land, 
for which he paid three and a third dollars per 
acre, was cultivated by Seth Cole, who took 
his first crop to Buffalo over the frozen waters 
of Lake Erie. In 1808 Timothy Goulding 
bought land one mile west of the harbor and 
settled thereon, his purchase including a part 
of Point Gratiot. He built his house within 



the now corporate limits, and has the distinc- 
tion of being the first actual settler of the city, 
as Seth Cole was of the town of Dunkirk. The 
first settler at the Harbor was Solomon Chad- 
wick, born at Warren, Mass., October 16, 1776. 
In Madison county, New York, he married 
Persis, sister of Timothy and Luther Goulding, 
and in 1809 moved to Dunkirk with his family, 
making the journey overland with sled and 
oxen. By a contract dated February 21, 1810, 
he bought seventy-three acres at the Harbor, 
all lying within the present limits of Ward 
Two of Dunkirk. His log cabin, the first at 
the Harbor, was on the shore near the foot of 
present Dove street, a little East of the water 
works, where he lived five or six years, then 
moved to the town of Sheridan, thence to 
Perrysburg, in Cattaraugus county, where he 
died, aged 87. From him Dunkirk derived the 
name of "Chadwick's Bay." A rivalry existed 
for several years between Fredonians, who 
spoke of "the lonely fishermen of Chadwick's 
Bay," the fishermen in turn talking of "picking 
blackberries on the common at Pomfret Four 
Corners." 

Luther Goulding came from Madison county 
in June, 1809, and settled west of Chadwick 
and built a log house near the bay and east of 
his brother Timothy. Luther Goulding built 
a barn near Point Gratiot, the first frame build- 
ing erected in the city. That barn was repre- 
sented in a painting of Dunkirk made by Pro- 
fessor D'Almane in 1835, and was standing as 
late as 1846. 

But a little later than the Chadwicks and 
Gouldings came the Brighams, who were 
longer and more closely identified with the for- 
tunes of Dunkirk. John Brigham came in 
1808, bought lot 23, within present city limits, 
and there died in August, 1828. He laid out 



144 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Brigham road in Dunkirk, the second road 
opened from Fredonia to the lake. 

John Brigham, Jr., with his wife and child, 
came with his father, and Walter E. Brigham 
was the first white child born in Dunkirk. 
Amon Gaylord, born in Connecticut, came 
about 1811 and built upon land on Lake street, 
a little west of Central avenue, his son Ahiram 
coming at the same time. Daniel Pier came 
in January, 1814, and built at the corner of 
now Second and Lake streets. 

The first vessel of which there is record 
came to Chadwick's Bay in 1810, commanded 
by Samuel Perry, but Dunkirk Harbor and 
the mouth of the Canadaway became better 
known during the second war with Great 
Britain. 

June 18, 1 81 2, war was declared against Eng- 
land, of which official information reached Fort 
Niagara on the 26th. The British learned of 
this twelve hours earlier through a dispatch 
sent to Queenstown by John Jacob Astor in the 
interest of the Fur Company. They promptly 
captured a small vessel loaded with salt which 
had just set out from Black Rock to coast 
along the shore of Chautauqua to Barcelona 
or Erie. This was the first notice the citizens 
of Buffalo had of the existence of war. It cre- 
ated consternation upon the border. Chautau- 
qua was thinly settled. Its people were poor and 
illy prepared. Having forty miles of lake coast, 
it was more exposed to invasion than most of 
the other parts of the Holland Purchase. Until 
Perry's victory in the fall of 1813, the British 
had complete command of Lake Erie, and 
could land forces at Dunkirk, Barcelona, Silver 
Creek, and at the mouth of the Cattaraugus. 
The poverty of the people undoubtedly shielded 
the county from invasion. Soon after news of 
war reached the county, a detachment of forty- 
five men tinder Captain James McMahan was 
posted at Barcelona, where he built a defensive 
work to protect salt boats on their arrival at 
the northern terminus of the Portage road. A 
similar detachment was stationed at the mouth 
of the Canadaway to guard those salt boats on 
their way up the lake. Salt from the Onondaga 
salt springs for Pittsburgh was at this time the 
principal article of transportation along the 
southeastern shore of the lake. 

With the exception of an affair at the mouth 
of the Cattaraugus, the town of Dunkirk has 
the distinction of being the only town in the 
county in which actual hostilities occurred be- 
tween opposing forces in war, subsequent to 
its settlement. It was an attempt by the 
enemy to capture a salt boat on its way from 
Buffalo to Erie. About forty men of Captain 



Tubbs's company, Col. John McMahan's regi- 
ment, had been posted at the Widow Cole's 
house at the mouth of the Canadaway. The 
salt boat had put into Eighteen Mile Creek to 
escape a British cruiser. It stole out in the 
darkness, and after a hard night's row ran up 
on the west shore of Canadaway creek. As 
morning broke and the fog cleared away, they 
saw off the mouth of the creek, not a quarter 
of a mile away, a large armed schooner, proba- 
bly the "Lady Provost." A boat with a dozen 
or more armed men set out from the vessel to 
attack the salt boat, which fired upon them 
from a swivel. Captain Tubbs and his men lay 
concealed behind the east bank of the creek; 
when the British small boat arrived within 
musket shot they opened fire. The boat imme- 
diately put back to the vessel, with what, if 
any, loss has not been certainly ascertained. 
It is related that the crew of the "Lady Pro- 
vost," afterwards captured by Perry, stated it 
to have been three wounded and none killed. 

Mrs. Cole was the heroine of the occasion ; 
when hostilities commenced she mounted her 
horse and rode to the Canadaway for reinforce- 
ments ; after her return she was actively en- 
gaged in carrying food and drink to the men. 
The war waged by the British upon salt boats 
finally destroyed all commerce in salt, and its 
transportation over the Portage Road came to 
an end. 

During the summer of 1813, British vessels 
were cruising the lake, chasing and capturing 
such small craft as ventured from port, occa- 
sionally looking into Erie Harbor, where Perry 
was building his fleet, and now and then com- 
mitting depredations along the American shore. 
The "Queen Charlotte," mounting seventeen 
guns, afterwards captured by Perry at the 
battle of Put-in Bay, was the most dreaded of 
these vessels. She was a scourge to the in- 
habitants all along the eastern border of the 
lake, often hovered off Dunkirk, and made fre- 
quent descents to plunder the inhabitants, par- 
ticularly at or near Eighteen Mile Creek in 
Erie county. 

After the war the commerce of the bay in- 
creased a little. Haven Brigham, second son of 
Jonathan, before mentioned, settled in Sheri- 
dan in 1S10. He and his younger brother Win- 
sor built a sawmill and had it in operation in 
181 1, but soon after Winsor sold out his inter- 
est to Haven and commenced the erection of 
the county court house at Mayville. Haven, 
about 1815, built a schooner of forty tons' 
burden, the "Kingbird." She was commanded 
1>v Capt. Zephnniah Perkins, who ran her be- 
tween Dunkirk and Buffalo, freighted with 





WASHINGTON- L'AKK— DUNKIRK 



THE CITY OF DUNKIRK 



MS 



lumber from Haven's mill. She brought back 
merchandise for the people of Dunkirk and 
Fredonia. 

In 1816 a stock of goods consigned to Ralph 
and Joseph Plumb, merchants of Fredonia, 
was landed at Chadwick's Bay. As this was 
the first cargo of such a nature, a temporary 
wharf was made by placing wooden horses in 
the water upon which planks were laid until 
the vessel was reached from the shore. 

In 1817, with the passage of the act author- 
izing the construction of the Erie canal, a new 
and hopeful era dawned for Dunkirk. The act 
was passed April 15, 1817, and the same year 
DeWitt Clinton was elected Governor of New 
York. Chadwick's Bay was then undoubtedly 
the best harbor on Lake Erie within New York 
State limits, and was for a time a dangerous 
rival of both Buffalo and Black Rock. Gov- 
ernor Clinton thought most favorably of Chad- 
wick's Bay, and invested in Dunkirk real estate. 
Dunkirk was spoken of as the most suitable 
western terminus for the Erie canal, and hopes 
ran high, likewise speculation. 

Daniel Garnsey in 1816 or 181 7 purchased 
for Elisha Jenkins, of Albany, as trustee for a 
company composed of Isaiah and John Town- 
send, DeWitt Clinton and Mr. Thorn, 1,008 
acres of land, including the farms of Solomon 
Chadwick, Timothy and Luther Goulding, 
Daniel Pier and others. Assignments were 
taken of their contracts and deeds obtained of 
the Holland Land Company. Chadwick re- 
ceived $2,000 for his farm, for which he paid 
less than two hundred. Daniel Pier, who was 
a hatter when he came to Dunkirk two years 
before, brought with him a box of wet and 
damaged hats, which he repaired and sold for 
seventy dollars. This sum was all that he 
paid towards his land, which he now sold for 
$2,400. Such advances in real estate were 
then without precedent in the county, and have 
scarcely been paralleled since. Like vicissi- 
tudes of fortune have followed Dunkirk from 
the beginning. Mr. Garnsey was probably a 
stockholder in this Land Company, became its 
agent, and actively promoted its interests. For 
several years he was the leading citizen of 
Dunkirk, and the first member of Congress 
from Chautauqua county. This was the begin- 
ning of the Dunkirk Land Company, and as 
soon as their purchases were completed, the 
village site was surveyed and improvements 
begun. 

About the beginning of 1817, the harbor was 
called for a short time Garnsey's Bay. The 
name Dunkirk was given by Elisha Jenkins, 



the trustee of the Land Company, and one of 
the proprietors of the village. Mr. Jenkins 
was a citizen of Albany, and had been a ship- 
ping merchant of Hudson, with his brothers 
and father. They had also a business house 
in New York, where some of the firm resided. 
Elisha was for a time engaged for the firm at 
Dunkirk, France. The bay at that place re- 
•sembled Chadwick's Bay on Lake Erie, hence 
the name Dunkirk. Dunkirk in France is a 
city in the department of Le Nord, situated on 
the Straits of Dover, a place famous in French 
history and the scene of many battles and 
sieges. 

In 1817 Sampson Alton erected a two-story 
brick house on the south side of Front street, 
near Buffalo street, which stood until torn 
down in 1891. That was the first brick house 
built in Chautauqua county, the brick being 
made on Front street, the lime burned in 
his own kiln and the bricks were laid by the 
owner. 

Adam Fink, postmaster of Dunkirk under 
President Jackson, the first man to be married 
in Dunkirk, was an expert axe-maker, and 
made the first cast steel edged tool in the 
county. 

Daniel Garnsey, supported by the Albany 
group of gentlemen known as the "Dunkirk 
Association," then principal proprietors, was 
diligent in his endeavors to build up Dunkirk 
and invite commerce. A road was made to 
Fredonia, a wharf and warehouse were built at 
the foot of Center street, a hotel on Front and 
Center streets, and other buildings at an ex- 
pense of $20,000. The earliest and only num- 
ber of the "Chautauqua Gazette" in existence, 
which was published at Fredonia, bearing date 
May 19, 1818, contains this "Marine News" 
underneath the woodcut of a ship: "Garnsey's 
Bay, Dunkirk, May 17th, 1818. — Cleared: 
Sloop Independence for Sandusky, passengers, 
lumber and potatoes. Arrived : Schooner 
Firefly from Detroit, with passengers. Schooner 
Blacksnake from Erie with passengers and fish. 
Schooner Buffalo Packet with passengers and 
furniture. Schooner Eliza of Sandusky with 
passengers, Sloop Livona from Buffalo with 
passengers. Cleared : Firefly from Buffalo, 
Blacksnake for Buffalo, Buffalo Packet for 
Buffalo, President Monroe for Buffalo, Livona 
for the River Raisin with passengers." 

Later in the same year the "Walk-in-the- 
Water," the first steamboat to navigate the 
lake, was added to the list of boats that regu- 
larly entered the harbor of Dunkirk. She 
was of two hundred forty tons burden. Job 



146 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Fish was her first captain. The following 
notice of a trip of the "Walk-in-the-Water" to 
Mackinaw to carry goods for the American 
Fur Company, is given in a New York City 
paper of May 20, 1819: "The swift steam- 
boat, Walk-in-the-Water, is intended to make 
a voyage early in the summer from Buffalo on 
Lake Erie, to Mackinaw on Lake Huron, for 
the conveyance of a company. The ship has so 
near a resemblance to the famous Argonautic 
expedition in the heroic ages of Greece, that 
expectation is quite alive on the subject. Many 
of our most distinguished citizens are said to 
have already engaged their passage for this 
splendid adventure." 

The "Walk-in-the-Water" made weekly trips 
from Black Rock to Detroit and back, stopping 
at Dunkirk and other principal towns on the 
American shore. Her rates of fare from Black 
Rock were $3.00 to Dunkirk, $6.00 to Erie, 
$12 to Cleveland, $15 to Sandusky, $18 to De- 
troit. Her speed was from eight to nine miles 
an hour. She made seven trips to Detroit the 
first season. The facilities for travel afforded 
by this boat brought Chautauqua county a 
little nearer the east, lessening the time and 
increasing the comfort of passengers from and 
to Buffalo. The "Walk-in-the-Water" was 
ruined in a squall near Buffalo, in November, 
1821. It was succeeded by the "Superior," the 
second steamboat on the lake, in May, 1822. 

The "Chautauqua Gazette" of May 19, 1818, 
contains an advertisement dated February 17, 
1818, in which under "New Store" N. N. Ca- 
pron advertises that he has "groceries, dry 
goods, hardware and crockery, also cotton and 
woolen goods, cotton yarn and thread, glass, 
mill irons, nails, iron and steel, broad and nar- 
row axes, long draft and trace chains and that 
such goods will be exchanged for lumber and 
gain or sold very low for cash." That he will 
"pay cash for one thousand pounds of deer 
hair." This early merchant, Newton N. 
Capron, was the brother to Horace Capron, 
once a Commissioner of Agriculture to Japan. 

By the "Chautauqua Gazette" of August 10 
of that year, it appears that the place had fully 
assumed the name "Dunkirk," and that prac- 
tical and substantial steps had been taken to 
prepare the harbor for the entry of vessels. 

John Beggs, of the merchandising firm of 
Beggs & Lynde, came from Scotland and set- 
tled in Dunkirk in 1819, and was prominently 
connected with its early history. He built 
Central avenue dock and the Buffalo street 
dock. He died in 1837. His brother Charles 
came later and was a druggist and deputy post- 
master 



Dr. Ezra Williams settled in Dunkirk in 
1820, and in his prime had a very large prac- 
tice. He was postmaster of Dunkirk under 
President John Quincy Adams, one of the 
founders of Dunkirk Academy and father of 
the eminent Dr. Julien T. Williams. 

There were no good roads between Dun- 
kirk and Buffalo, no bridges across the streams. 
An artificial harbor had been completed at 
Buffalo in 1821 ; the western termination of 
the Erie Canal had been decided in favor of 
Buffalo in 1823 ; these things all tending to 
hinder Dunkirk's expected prosperity. In 1825 
the population had dwindled to fifty inhabit- 
ants, and the dull years prior to 1818 had again 
returned. 

Fortunately for the future of Dunkirk, its 
possibilities attracted the attention of Walter 
Smith, a young merchant of Fredonia, remark- 
able for energy and business capacity. Besides 
the superior advantages of Dunkirk as a lake 
port, with its fine harbor open to navigation 
two weeks earlier than Buffalo, there still lin- 
gered a belief that it might be necessary to 
extend the Erie canal to this point to gain the 
benefits of its harbor. Moreover, a bill had 
been passed by the Legislature upon the per- 
sonal application of the inhabitants of the 
southern tier of counties for the appointment 
of three commissioners to explore and survey 
a State road from the Hudson river to some 
point upon Lake Erie, which it was nearly cer- 
tain would be Dunkirk. In fact, the surveyors 
employed by the State arrived at Dunkirk on 
December 24, 1825, and stuck their last flag at 
the foot of the wharf, completing their survey. 
This line was pronounced by them to be the 
best to the lake. These considerations un- 
doubtedly influenced Walter Smith to unite his 
destiny with that of the village. In that year 
he bought the undivided half of the property 
of the Dunkirk Company for the sum of $10,000 
and immediately turned his energy and busi- 
ness ability to building up the place and de- 
veloping the resources of the surrounding 
country. Although he was scarcely twenty- 
five years of age, his business capacity and 
judgment was that of one of mature years and 
long experience. He had broad views of busi- 
ness and was fitted mentally for large under- 
takings. He became at once the controlling 
power in Dunkirk, and soon the most influen- 
tial and public-spirited business man in the 
county. 

Walter Smith was born in Wethersfield, 
Conn., March 21, 1800. When fifteen, he was 
clerk in the store of Jacob Ten Eyck, in Caze- 
novia. New York. When nineteen, he made a 



THE CITY OF DUNKIRK 



14? 



horseback tour through the western counties 
of the State in search of a suitable place to 
engage in business. He arrived at Fredonia 
in March, 1S19, and resolved to settle there. 
He returned to Cazenovia, where, although 
still a minor, he formed a partnership with Mr. 
Ten Evck, as Walter Smith & Co. Mr. Ten 
Eyck furnished the capital, and Mr. Smith re- 
turned to Fredonia in May with a stock of 
goods. Todd & Douglass engaged in business 
in Fredonia that year. Joseph and Ralph 
Plumb, then in business there, failed in June 
of the same year, and Mr. Smith bought their 
store and ashery. His first year's sale of goods 
exceeded $20,000 and at the end of twelve 
months he repaid Mr. Ten Eyck and owned the 
business. This increased so that in the sixth 
year it amounted to $75,000. In the earlier 
years of his business he furnished supplies for 
all the forts and garrisons of the United States 
on the Great Lakes under a contract with the 
general government. Every article of produce 
so furnished was raised in Chautauqua county 
except white beans, which were bought in 
Ohio. 

In 1826 Walter Smith moved to Dunkirk and 
thereafter devoted his talent and energy to 
building up that place. He "transferred to this 
theater of action his capital, his prestige, his 
remarkable talent for business and adventure. 
Daily stages for passengers and a wagon line 
for transportation were soon established be- 
tween Dunkirk and Warren, Pennsylvania. 
Communication with Buffalo was opened by 
means of the 'Pioneer.' The few steamboats 
that then made infrequent voyages to west- 
ern points, where great cities have since grown 
up like exhalations, were induced to call at 
Dunkirk for the convenience of those who were 
westward bound, and a new impulse was given 
to the general trade, travel and improvement 
of the country. Mr. Smith's life was a masterly 
and persistent struggle, always against natural 
obstacles, often under adverse fortunes, to 
build up a commercial town at Dunkirk which 
would vie in importance with neighboring 
cities on the lake." Such was his attention to 
the public interest that his influence became 
potential in the north part of the county, par- 
ticularly in his own village, so that it used to 
be facetiously said that Dunkirk had no other 
God than Walter Smith. 

In 1827 the expenditure of $4,000 appro- 
priated by Congress to improve navigation of 
the harbor and the building of a lighthouse 
was commenced. The stake for its site had 
been stuck on the 10th of July the year before 
bv Garnsev and Dox. The steamboat "Pio- 



neer,"' Captain Miles, was now making daily 
trips between Buffalo and Dunkirk, carrying 
passengers. It would leave Buffalo at 9 o'clock 
in the evening and arrive at Dunkirk the next 
morning at 8 o'clock. Returning it would 
leave Dunkirk at 9 o'clock a. m. and arrive at 
Buffalo at 2 o'clock p. m. A line of stages be- 
tween Dunkirk and Erie, via Fredonia and 
Westfield, connected with the "Pioneer." At 
Erie, this line of stages connected with a line 
to Pittsburgh and another to Cleveland. By 
the "Pioneer" and these routes, passengers 
from Buffalo could reach Cleveland in two 
days and Pittsburgh in three. 

Walter Smith so stimulated the settlement 
of Dunkirk that by 1830 its population is be- 
lieved to have increased from fifty to over three 
hundred people. The defeat of the State Road 
by the Legislature of 1826 was the beginning 
of the agitation of the subject of a railroad. 
Mr. Smith was one of the first projectors of 
the New York & Erie railroad, and in its in- 
cipient stages the leading and most efficient 
man in the State to promote it. He spent the 
greater part of the winters of 1831-32 in Al- 
bany, bringing the importance of the road to 
the attention of the Legislature. It was largely 
through his efforts that the road was char- 
tered, April 24, 1832. Through his influence a 
clause was incorporated in the charter requir- 
ing the running of a certain number of trains 
into Dunkirk daily, thus securing to it perma- 
nently and beyond contingency the benefit of 
the road. The wisdom of this provision is now 
apparent. There were then but five thousand 
miles of railroad in the whole world, yet Mr. 
Smith saw with a remarkable clearness of 
vision the revolution in business that railroads 
were to make. At a meeting of the projectors 
he said that "the day would come when cattle 
fattened in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio would 
be brought to the New York Market." His 
prediction was derided at the time as vision- 
ary. 

Judge Richard P. Marvin, of Jamestown, 
was also one of the first citizens of the county 
to appreciate the importance of a railroad. He 
addressed a meeting at Jamestown, September 
20, 1 83 1, of which Judge Elial T. Foote was 
chairman, at which it was resolved that appli- 
cation should be made to the Legislature for 
a charter. This was the first public movement 
made in reference to the New York & Erie rail- 
road. It was through his efforts that the im- 
portant provision was incorporated in its char- 
ter that the termination of the road at Lake 
Erie should be at some point between the Cat- 
taraugus creek and the Pennsylvania line. 



148 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The preliminary survey was made in 1832 by 
Dewitt Clinton, Jr. One million dollars of 
stock was required to be subscribed before the 
company could be organized. The subscrip- 
tion of William G. Buckner completed the re- 
quired amount, and the company was organ- 
ized in July, 1833. Eleazer Lord of New York 
was chosen the first president, and William G. 
Buckner, treasurer. Benjamin Wright was 
appointed to survey the route. He was assist- 
ed by James Seymour and Charles Ellet. The 
survey was completed in 1834. In 1835 the 
company was organized, and forty miles put 
under contract. 

By the census of 1835, Dunkirk had a popu- 
lation of 628, an increase of nearly one hun- 
dred per cent, since the census of 1830. This 
increase resulted in the incorporation of the 
village of Dunkirk in 1837. 

The "Chautauqua Gazette" was the first 
newspaper published in the county. In 1826 
it was united with the "People's Gazette." It 
was moved by Mr. Hull to Dunkirk in 1826 
and was the first newspaper published there. 
In a few months, however, it was removed to 
Westfield. The "Chautauqua Whig" was the 
first permanent newspaper published in Dun- 
kirk. Its publication was commenced in Au- 
gust, 1834, by Thompson & Carpenter. After- 
wards its name was changed to the the "Dun- 
kirk Beacon," the name probably suggested by 
the beacon at the entrance of the harbor. 

It was while Dunkirk was part of district 
9 of town of Pomfret, that its first school house 
was built. This building, which stood near 
the rear of the later Lake Shore Bank, was in 
after years filled up as a dwelling house. A 
brick school house was built about 1827. In 
May, 1837, Dunkirk Academy was incor- 
porated, the brick school house being used for 
the Academy building. Twelve years later the 
property was conveyed to the Union School 
district, and the academy became the academic 
department of the Union School. 

On May 5, 1830, a Baptist church was organ- 
ized, the first in the town. The Revs. Joy 
Handy and Elisha Tucker were among its first 
preachers. The society worshipped in the new 
brick schoolhouse on Third street for many 
years. Later, this church and others held serv- 
ices over Parson's wagon shop. In 1856 it 
built a brick church. 

In 1830, ten persons, Congregationalists 
and Presbyterians, petitioned the Buffalo Pres- 
bytery to organize them into a church, and 
a church was formally constituted May 22, 
£030. About September 1st that year, Rev. 
Timothy Stillman, a graduate of Yale and 



Auburn Theological Seminary, began his 
labor as pastor on a salary of four hundred 
dollars a year. The congregation also wor- 
shipped in the brick schoolhouse on Third 
street. As a result of a revival in 1833, thirty 
were added to the church and measures taken 
to erect a meeting house on the corner of Cen- 
ter and Third streets. It was a wooden struc- 
ture, and was completed in 1835. Rev. Timo- 
thy Stillman closed his labors as pastor in 1838. 
He was one of Dunkirk's best known and most 
respected citizens of old times. He had a 
large influence in religious circles. He was 
small in stature, a strict theologian, and a firm 
adherent to his denominational faith. It has 
been said of him that it was seldom that so 
much Presbyterianism was enclosed in so small 
and compact a package. He married Mary 
Ann, a daughter of Mosely W. Abell. 

October 23rd, 1894, the Rev. J. T. Badgley 
was called to the pastorate. He came direct 
from Auburn Theological Seminary, where he 
had just graduated, and his pastorate con- 
tinued for just a quarter of a century, his resig- 
nation having been presented October 23rd, 
1920, upon his stated conviction that no pas- 
torate with rare exception should extend over 
a period of more than twenty-five years. Dur- 
ing this pastorate the church grew and pros- 
pered. A chime of ten bells ranging in weight 
from half a ton to one hundred pounds each 
were installed in the spire as the gift of Mr. R. 
J. Gross. A very commodious and beautiful 
building was erected adjacent to the church 
designed as a community house, and named 
Westminster Hall. This building, 80 by 40 
feet, consists of four stories, has an auditorium 
provided with a stage equipped with scenery 
and electric light effects, making it possible to 
stage plays of any kind ; beautifully furnished 
club rooms and parlors; a billiard room, with 
three tables ; dining room accommodations for 
250 guests, and is one of the most complete and 
elaborate in the State erected by any church 
for community service. 

Rev. Jay Tryon Badgley, born in Blenheim, 
N. Y., December 30, 1863, removed in 1871 
with his parents to California, where he was 
educated in the public schools of San Jose until 
prepared for college. He entered Hamilton 
College in 1884, graduating in 1889, serving as 
principal of Madison Academy, 1889-91 ; he 
entered Auburn Theological Seminary in 1891, 
and graduated in 1894. The same year he was 
called to the pastorate of the First Presby- 
terian Church of Dunkirk, N. Y., continuing 
in this office for twenty-five years, resigning 
in 1919, when he enlarged his field of activity by 






THE CITY OF DUNKIRK 



149 



accepting the position of executive manager 
of the Chamber of Commerce of the city of 
Dunkirk. Mr. Badgley was married, in 1889, 
to Nellie Allen, of Clinton, N. Y. Children: 
Ralph A. Badgley, New York City representa- 
tive of Sherwin-Williams Company ; Mrs. Ben- 
jamin L. Jenks, New York City ; Mrs. Clyde R. 
Elms, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Dr. Carl E. Badgley, 
instructor in surgery and anatpmy, Michigan 
University, Ann Arbor, Mich. ; J. Willard 
Badgley, with Atlas Crucible Steel Co., Dun- 
kirk, N. Y. 

A Methodist Episcopal class was formed 
about 1833. The service was first held in the 
school house, later, over Parson's wagonshop. 
Before the Civil War the ministers were Revs. 
Wright, Johnson, Osborne, Warren and Tib- 
bitts. Under the latter a church was built in 
1858. This was the forerunner of the present 
First Methodist Episcopal Church, now located 
at East Sixth and Washington streets. 

Dunkirk now had reached the highest degree 
of prosperity that it was to enjoy for many a 
year, chiefly due to one able, self-reliant and 
unassuming citizen who never held a public 
office higher than pathmaster. Walter Smith 
did more in his day to build up his town and 
promote the prosperity of the county than any 
other citizen. Of him it has been said that 
"no man in the State was his superior in plan- 
ning, forecasting and executing grand busi- 
ness operations." He died September 21, 1874. 

Jamestown at this time depended upon its 
lumber and other manufactories for its impor- 
tance ; Fredonia upon its trade and mercantile 
advantages ; while the expectations of Dunkirk 
were based upon its harbor, the commerce it 
was to bring, and the great railroad soon to 
terminate there. 

In 1836 an act was passed authorizing a loan 
to the Erie Railroad Company of $3,000,000. 
The comptroller was directed to issue State 
stock to that amount. Judge R. P. Marvin, a 
member of the Legislature, took an active part 
in securing the assistance of the State. This 
large sum was expended, yet the road was not 
completed and work had to be suspended. 
Fourteen miles were graded from Dunkirk 
easterly, extending south of the present line 
into Arkwright. Relics of these wasted efforts 
may still be seen in the remains of cuts and 
fills that mark the heavy grades of the old 
route up the ridge to reach the headwaters of 
the Conewango. Walnut creek still flows 
through an old and substantial culvert at a 
place in Arkwright called the Abbey, built 
nearly seventy years ago. Six or eight miles 
•of rails were actually laid on this track from 



Dunkirk along Railroad avenue. Long before 
the whistle of a locomotive was heard in the 
county, this piece of road was made use of by 
Dunkirk excursion parties. Flat-cars provided 
with extemporized brakes, hauled up by horses 
to its termination, would run back to Dunkirk 
of their own weight. Two cars provided with 
temporary seats were filled with Dunkirk peo- 
ple on the Fourth of July, 1845, an d the day 
enjoyed in this unique way. The ties at length 
went to decay and the track was abandoned. 

The long delay in the completion of the Erie 
road of itself would have most disastrously 
affected the prosperity of Dunkirk, even had 
not a still greater calamity befallen it. The 
period immediately previous to 1837 had been 
one of apparent prosperity, and business men 
of the country had traded extensively upon 
credit. People of all classes had embarked in 
wild speculations, particularly in real estate. 
There was a great demand for corner lots and 
favorable sites. Cities were laid out along the 
lake wherever there was a harbor. Almost 
every village was affected. As Dunkirk was 
to be the termination of the Erie railroad it be- 
came an unusually promising field for specu- 
lation. The crisis came in the spring of 1837. 
All the banks in New York and in the whole 
country suspended specie payment. Upon 
Dunkirk the calamity fell heaviest. The town 
seemed prostrated beyond all hope of recov- 
ery. The credit of almost every business man 
was blasted. Walter Smith, upon whom the 
fortunes of Dunkirk rested, was overwhelmed 
in the common fate. Fifteen notices of mort- 
gage foreclosures appeared in the "Fredonia 
Censor" of November 8, 1837, and twenty-nine 
filled the columns of the "Dunkirk Beacon" of 
March 30, 1841, evidences of the reckoning 
that followed the speculations of 1836. From 
this period forward until the Erie railroad ap- 
proached completion, but little effort was made 
in Dunkirk to recover its prestige. Its com- 
merce nearly left it. Steamboats only stopped 
there to wood up. The docks and warehouses 
went out of repair, their planks and timbers 
rotted. Dwelling houses became dilapidated ; 
the doors and windows of the vacant ones 
broken. For thirteen years the great unfin- 
ished Loder House was the home of bats and 
owls. Long piles of steamboat wood lined the 
road and loaded the wharves of Walter Smith 
and John Beggs. 

In 1844 such promise existed for the future 
business of the town that the first bank was 
opened, a bank of issue, established by A. J. 
Webb. 

The land of the Dunkirk Association had 



i5° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



been divided into shares among its owners in 
1838. Of the proceeds one-fourth was to be 
given to the New York & Erie Railroad, pro- 
vided the road should be built in six years. 
The company failed in this, notwithstanding 
the time had been twice extended. When it 
became certain that the road would be com- 
pleted, the proprietors of the land made a dona- 
tion to the railroad company of forty or fifty 
acres for a depot and other purposes. Mr. 
Smith, after he bought out the Townsend Com- 
pany, purchased for the association about six 
hundred acres of additional land. After the 
railroad was completed, the property was sold 
and the proceeds divided among the pro- 
prietors. 

September 22, 1S41, the Erie road was opened 
from Piermont to Goshen, and June 7, 1843, to 
Middletown. In 1845 the State released its 
lien and authorized the original stockholders 
to surrender two shares of old stock and re- 
ceive one share of new. The road was opened 
to Port Jervis, January 6, 1848, to Bingham- 
ton, December 8, 1848, to Owego, June 1, 1849, 
to Elmira, October, 1849, ar *d to Corning, Janu- 
ary 1, 1850, and now Horatio G. Brooks, upon 
whom the destinies of Dunkirk had so often 
rested, risen from the position of fireman to 
the rank of engineer, brought his engine, No. 
90, built in Boston by Hinckley & Drury, by 
way of the Erie Canal and Lake Erie to Dun- 
kirk, January 3, 185 1. As if to announce his 
coming to cheer the hearts and retrieve the for- 
tunes of the people of Dunkirk, he blew the 
first blast of a locomotive whistle ever heard 
in the county of Chautauqua. May 14, of the 
same year, the road was opened to Dunkirk, 
and the New York & Erie railroad completed. 
We continue the story as written many years 
ago by Mr. Obed Edson : 

The great enterprise which the people of Dunkirk 
had so anxiously awaited through long years of doubt 
and despondency was at last consummated, and a great 
highway of travel opened from the ocean to Lake Erie. 
It was the longest railroad in the world. The opening 
of the Pacific railroad produced no greater sensation, 
and was relatively an event of no greater importance 
than the opening of the Erie road at that time. A 
great celebration was held in Dunkirk to commemorate 
the event. Considering the interest of the occasion, 
the number of people assembled, the distinguished per- 
sons present participating in the ceremonies, the inter- 
esting character and the magnificence of the display, it 
has never been equalled by anything of the kind held 
in Chautauqua. President Fillmore and his cabinet 
and many other distinguished citizens of the nation 
were to be present. 

The distinguished party arrived in New York from 
Washington, May 13, 1851, and in the evening at- 
tended a banquet at which Mr. Loder, the presi- 
dent of the Erie road, presided. At eight o'clock 
in the morning of May 14 a train consisting of twelve 



passenger cars left New York City having on board, 
besides the eminent party, a host of railroad officials. 
It was divided into two sections, an hour apart. It 
was the first long excursion train that had ever run on 
a railroad in the world. The road was four hundred 
forty-five and one-half miles long. It was the first 
great trunk line in the United States, and the first to 
join the Great Lakes with the ocean. Everything was 
provided for the comfort and pleasure of the excur- 
sion party possible at that day. An observation car 
was made of a flat car which Daniel Webster used as 
a rostrum for the delivery of speeches at the stations 
as they came to them, and from which he viewed the 
scenery of the road while seated in a rocking chair 
provided for his comfort. The excursion was a trium- 
phal procession all the way. Crowds of people along 
the line flocked to witness it. The train stopped at 
Elmira over night and did not leave until ten o'clock 
the next morning. It was in charge of Engineer 
Charles H. Sherman, who at the time of his decease, 
and for many years before was a resident of Dunkirk. 
The time made for so long and so new a road is not 
much exceeded by the speed of trains at the present 
time. Between Port Jervis and Xarrowsburg the re- 
markable run of thirty-four miles was made in thirty- 
five minutes. The two sections, just before they 
reached Dunkirk, were made into one. 

During the forenoon of May 15, ten large steamers 
arrived loaded with passengers. Among them was the 
United States warship "Michigan," the steamers 
"Queen City," "Empire State," "Empire" and Key- 
stone State." Cannon were fired on the arrival of 
each. On the arrival of the "Michigan," one hundred 
guns were fired for the Union. The harbor was filled 
with shipping, and presented the appearance of an 
important maritime port. Dunkirk was filled with 
people. Every arrangement that was possible in a 
town of its size and circumstances had been made for 
their comfort and entertainment. Private houses were 
thrown ope^ "''he railroad depot, ..ien a covered build- 
ing extending over the present tracks of the Erie and 
Lake Shore roads, which at that time was three hun- 
dred feet in length, was devoted to the occasion, and 
the Loder House, an unfinished hotel of large propor- 
tions, was filled with tables loaded with eatables. Flags 
and streamers were strung across the streets, decorated 
the hotels and nearly all the private houses. Upon the 
depot above the flags of France and England floated 
the Stars and Stripes. There were archways of roses 
and evergreens — a grand archway spanned the rail- 
road track, through which the train was to pass. Gov- 
ernor Hunt, who had arrived from Buffalo on one of 
the boats, held a reception at the American Hotel. The 
train from New York, which was expected at 1 p. m., 
was delayed. It consisted of twelve passenger cars, and 
bore besides a host of railroad officials, Millard Fill- 
more, the President of the United States, Daniel Web- 
ster, and other members of the Cabinet — the president 
and directors of the Erie, and many distinguished in- 
vited guests. It was decorated with one hundred ban- 
ners, each bearing an appropriate motto which had 
been presented by the towns and villages along the 
line. The train had been preceded by the locomotive 
"Dunkirk" as pioneer half an hour in advance. They 
stopped long enough at Forestville for Stephen A. 
Douglas and John J. Crittenden and others to make 
some brief remarks to the people that had assembled 
there. As Daniel Webster rose to speak, the dazzling 
sun, blazing full in his face, seemed to suggest the 
thought. He pointed to that orb, and in true Web- 
sterian phrase, commenced: "My friends, you have as 
beautiful a country here as yon bright sun ever shone 




lU-XKIKK IIIHII S< M 1< >' 




vD-TIME VIEW OF CENTRAL A.VENUE, DUNKIRK 



THE CITY OF DUNKIRK 



151 



upon." As the president and directors of the road 
stepped from the cars, the ladies of Dunkirk presented 
them with a banner, and Benjamin Loder made an ap- 
propriate reply. A procession was then formed under 
the direction of Noah D. Snow, marshal, led by Dods- 
worth's New York Cornet Band, and marched to the 
depot, where tables and provisions had been prepared 
for the masses— two oxen, eight sheep, fifty pigs roasted 
whole, four loaves of bread containing five barrels of 
flour, twelve barrels of hot coffee, three hundred plates 
of sandwiches, besides a large quantity of other provi- 
sions were ready in the depot as a free lunch for the 
thousands in waiting. 

The procession soon returned to the Loder House, 
where an excellent collation was served to the officers 
of the road; there the tables were beautifully decorated 
and the viands most inviting. Hon. George W. Pat- 
terson made a speech appropriate to the occasion, which 
he concluded by introducing President Fillmore, who 
congratulated his hearers upon the completion of the 
road and said it was an undertaking greater in extent 
and of more importance than that which had been 
accomplished by any private corporation in the world. 
He gave as a toast in conclusion: "The New York and 
Erie Railroad — the greatest private enterprise of the 
age. All honor to the men whose enterprise has accom- 
plished this great work." 

Benjamin Loder responded by giving a full history 
of the road, and said it was the longest ever built under 
one charter in the world. He was followed^ by other 
speakers, among them Stephen A. Douglas in a very 
eloquent speech, Senator Daniel S. Dickinson of New 
York, Governor Hunt and others. The last speaker 
was Dr. Peter Wilson, the educated and talented chief 
of the Cayuga nation of Indians. He made one of the 
most eloquent speeches of the occasion, eliciting great 
applause. Dr. Wilson then presented Mr. Loder a 
banner of the Cayuga tribes, upon which was inscribed 
the pipe of peace, their national emblem. 

In the meantime a meeting was held in the open air, 
where the multitude was addressed by speakers from 
a platform on the north side of the Loder House. 
President Fillmore was introduced by the Hon. G. W. 
Patterson, and briefly addressed the people. He was 
followed by Governor Washington Hunt, William A. 
Graham, the Secretary of the Navy, and John J. Crit- 
tenden of Kentucky, Attorney-General, who made a 
very eloquent speech. Joseph Hoxie, of New York, 
addressed the people in a humorous way, and was fol- 
lowed by Senator William H. Seward. Soon after the 
commencement of the speechmaking, calls were made 
for Daniel Webster, which were persisted in until he 
appeared. Many other distinguished men were present 
besides those that have been named, among them Wil- 
liam L. Marcy, the Secretary of War in Polk's ad- 
ministration during the war with Mexico, Nathan L. 
Hall, Postmaster-General, Senator Fish, and Christo- 
pher Morgan, Secretary of State of New York. The 
speakers, among whom were many from the South, in 
the course of their remarks betrayed their concern for 
the stability of the nation — they showed that they were 
conscious that grave questions were beginning to 
threaten it. They often referred to the importance of 
the Union of States, and the value of the Erie road as a 
band of union between the East and West. They ex- 
pressed the hope that other railroads would be built 
binding the North to the South, and the whole Union 
together in iron bonds. There were there on that 
occasion many representative men, both from the North 
and the South, who a little later were leaders upon 
the opposing sides in the great Civil War that soon 
afterwards desolated the land. (This was on the 15th 



of May, 1851; on the 15th of April, 1861, Fort Sumter 
fell, less than ten years later.) 

The evening was occupied by the firing of cannon, 
ringing of bells, bonfires and illuminations. A grand 
display of fireworks such as had never before been be- 
held in the county, and music by Dodsworth's New 
York Cornet Band, entertained the people to a late 
hour. No accident or other occurrence marred the 
good feeling, or interrupted the festivities of the occa- 
sion. Different estimates have been made of the num- 
ber of people present on that day. None goes lower 
than fifteen thousand, while many estimate the num- 
ber as high as thirty thousand. The President and 
most of the visitors left Dunkirk on Friday, the day 
after the celebration. Mr. Webster, however, remained 
until Saturday, when he left for Buffalo. Before his 
departure he addressed the citizens of Dunkirk at some 
length, mainly upon the subject of internal improve- 
ments. 

Before the month in which occurred the great rail- 
road celebration was over, the New York & Erie rail- 
road commenced running five passenger trains from 
Dunkirk to New York daily; three were first class, and 
two were second class trains. The fare to New York 
by the former was eight dollars, by the latter five dol- 
lars. The gauge of the road was originally six feet, 
which was supposed at the time to give an advantage 
over a narrow-gauge in the shipment of freight. Par- 
ticular attention was given to the transportation of 
stock. The fine steamers "Niagara," "Queen City" 
and "Detroit" commenced to navigate Lake Erie in 
connection with the railroad to Cleveland, Toledo and 
Detroit. The fare for a passage to the latter place 
was four dollars. The arrival and departure of these 
large boats and of others of less importance gave the 
harbor a maritime appearance that it has never since 
equalled. 

Within a year after the New York & Erie railroad 
was completed to Dunkirk, another important railroad 
was in operation which gave increased importance to 
the place. The Buffalo & Erie Railroad Company was 
organized as early as April 14, 1832. The route was 
surveyed and located nearly all the way to the State 
line, but as work was not commenced upon it within 
four years as required by its charter the enterprise 
failed. This attempt to build a road along the shore 
of Lake Erie was followed by the incorporation of the 
Buffalo & State Line Railroad Company, June 6, 1849. 
The road was in a great measure originated by the 
enterprise of the people of Fredonia, and a large por- 
tion of its stock subscribed by them. It was at first 
located through that village and considerable grading 
was done on that route, but it was at last decided by 
the directors to build the road by the way of Dunkirk. 
On the 1st of January, 1852, this road was opened 
from the State line of Pennsylvania to Dunkirk, and 
on February 25th to Buffalo, with a gauge of four feet, 
eight and one-half inches. The railroad that at this 
time was being built from Ohio to meet this road was 
being laid with a four-foot ten-inch gauge. This led 
to a strife for the point where the gauge of the roads 
should change. The people of Erie made a strong 
effort to have the six-foot gauge extended to Erie. As 
it would involve a reshipment of freight it was thought 
that the point where the gauge should change would be 
of great business importance. 

The struggle resulted in what was called the "Har- 
bor Creek War," and the tearing up of five or six miles 
of track in that town in Erie county, Pennsylvania, by 
a mob. The war ended, however, without bloodshed. 
The road being completed from Buffalo to Erie, no 
longer was the traveler obliged to journey along the 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



sandy beech of the lake, or plod through the "Four 
Mile Wood" or the "Cattaraugus Swamp" to reach 
Chautauqua county from the east. By the subsequent 
consolidations of the various roads between Buffalo 
and Chicago the Buffalo & State Line railroad finally 
became a part of the Lake Shore & Michigan South- 
ern railway. 

After other branches of the Erie railroad 
were completed, the line of the road to Dun- 
kirk became of minor importance, and the Erie 
line of lake steamers was withdrawn, this 
greatly reducing the importance of Dunkirk 
as a lake port. 

Dunkirk, which had been the smaller of the 
leading villages of the county, began to take 
higher position in business and in public affairs 
after the completion of the Erie railroad. One 
of the earliest industries to settle there was 
the making of candles, a business established 
by Wilson and Harmon Camp, who moved 
from Sinclairville about 1848 and built a much 
larger factory and engaged extensively in the 
manufacture of candles. In addition to new 
industries, men of strong and enterprising 
character came, mechanics and professional 
man, founders of later well-known Dunkirk 
families. In 1858 the Armory, which later be- 
came the City Hall, was built by the State, 
and in 1859 the town of Dunkirk was set off 
from Pomfret. Prior to this action there had 
been no town meetings held in Dunkirk vil- 
lage, although efforts had been made to that 
end. Seldom was a supervisor selected from 
that part of the town of Pomfret, and the fric- 
tion between the villages of Fredonia was in- 
tense. Finally, Dunkirk's annual demand for 
the town meetings and the expense incurred in 
some Dunkirk improvements, caused Fredonia 
to assent to the creation of the new town. 

Soon after the completion of the Erie rail- 
road, the population of Dunkirk greatly in- 
creased, people of many nationalities becoming 
permanent residents. The Irish came first, 
closely followed by the Germans, and with 
them came a new religion, the opening of the 
railroad practically introducing the Catholic 
faith into Chautauqua county. Prior to 1851 
there had been no resident Catholic priests, 
and no Catholic church in the county. When 
their numbers were sufficiently increased, the 
Bishop sent a missionary priest who would 
gather around him the Catholics in some farm 
house and hold religious services. In 1851 
Rev. W. Lannon purchased a small frame 
building for divine services, and in July, 1852, a 
site was chosen for a church. The church 
opened for divine service March 17, 1854, and 
in November it was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. 



Bishop Young, of Erie, Pennsylvania. Its first 
pastor was the Rev. Peter Colgan, who for nine 
years ministered to the wants of the congre- 
gation, identifying himself with it in all its 
spiritual and temporal prosperity. In 1858 the 
Sisters of St. Joseph were brought to Dunkirk 
by Rev. Father Colgan to take charge of St. 
Mary's School and Orphanage, and May 26, 
1 861, the monastery was established. 

Many German Catholics at first worshipped 
with St. Mary's congregation. In 1857 they 
organized a society and built St. George's, a 
frame church. A separate parish was formed 
in 1874, when Father Kolb took charge and the 
church of the Sacred Heart was built at a cost 
of $20,000. 

Not all, however, who came with the new 
influx of population were Catholics. The Prot- 
estant churches of the village received many 
new members, and an Episcopal Society was 
organized in 1850 by Rev. Charles Avery. Two 
years later a church building was erected, and 
in 1867 a lot was purchased at the corner of 
Eagle and Fourth streets, and a church erected 
at a cost of $12,000. St. John's German Evan- 
gelical Church was organized in 1850 by Rev. 
Voight, of Buffalo, and a church edifice erected 
in 1852, the first pastor Rev. Strauss. 

The Zion Evangelical Association was or- 
ganized in 1865 and a church edifice erected 
the same year, Rev. J. J. Bernhardt, pastor. 

In 1 86 1 came the Civil War. Dunkirk was 
among the first localities in Chautauqua county 
to be seriously admonished of its coming. Feb- 
ruary 16, 1861, the train which bore Abraham 
Lincoln on his way to the capital for inaugura- 
tion, stopped at Dunkirk, and Lincoln from 
his car, which halted west of the Erie depot 
and just east of the center of Lion street, made 
a short speech, in which he impressively re- 
ferred to the gathering storm about to burst 
upon the country. Dunkirk may also be said 
to have been a witness to the last great tragedy 
of the war when the body of Lincoln was being 
borne to its final resting place after his assassi- 
nation. As the train paused at Dunkirk at mid- 
night of the 27th and 28th of April, 1865, for a 
moment, to receive a solemn reception amidst 
the firing of minute guns, dirges of music, toll- 
ing of bells, and in the light of funeral torches, 
a deep and lasting impression was made upon 
the people there assembled. These impressive 
incidents, the great railroad celebration and the 
debarkation of Lafayette at the harbor of Dun- 
kirk in 1825, are the most important historic 
events in the annals of Dunkirk. 

Dunkirk was not only the first town in the 



THE CITY OF DUNKIRK 



153 



county to be awakened to the great danger 
that threatened the country, but the first to 
take action in support of the government. 
Companies D and E of the 72nd New York 
Regiment of the Excelsior Brigade, the first 
organized in the county, were raised in Dun- 
kirk, sent forward, and June 20, 1861, mus- 
tered into service. Less than two months 
later, Company B, Captain James M. Brown, 
from Jamestown, was mustered in and joined 
the same regiment. Captain Patrick Barrett, 
of Company E, was the first man to enlist in 
Dunkirk, and one of the first soldiers of the 
county to fall in battle. He was mortally 
wounded at Williamsburgh, Virginia. Wil- 
liam O. Stevens, captain of Company D, after- 
wards became colonel of this regiment, and 
was killed at Chancellorsville. In the fall, Com- 
pany H, also from Dunkirk, Captain Stephen 
H. Doyle, was mustered in and joined the same 
regiment ; he was killed in battle before Rich- 
mond. Many other gallant officers and men of 
the three Dunkirk companies fell in the battles 
of the war. In other regiments and in other 
branches of the service were many of its citi- 
zens found. The Irish and the Germans of 
Dunkirk contributed quite their full share and 
suffered their full share of its losses. 

During all the four years of war, Dunkirk 
was the center of military action in this con- 
gressional district ; from there the troops took 
their departure to the seat of war. Through 
Dunkirk they were constantly passing to the 
scene of strife or returning, perhaps wounded, 
from the field of battle. Here were the head- 
quarters of the provost-marshal, and here all 
the drafts for the congressional district were 
conducted. The State Arsenal and Armory 
was the rallying point for the volunteers de- 
parting for the front, and the place where some 
of the dead heroes of the war lay. 

The new order of things introduced into 
Dunkirk by the completion of the Erie rail- 
road may be said to have been consumated at 
the close of the Civil War. Dunkirk has ex- 
perienced many adversities, and survived them 
all. A good harbor and superior railroad facili- 
ties are assets not to be overlooked, and im- 
portant manufacturing industries have located 
there. The Brooks Locomotive Works, incor- 
porated November 11, 1869, located in Dun- 
kirk, obtained their real estate and buildings 
from Horatio G. Brooks, who under the date of 
October 29, 1869, leased for a term of ten years 
from the Erie Railroad Company the above men- 
tioned property, known as the Dunkirk Shops, 
where the railway company had constructed a 
few locomotives and freight cars, as well as 



repairing same. At a subsequent meeting of 
the trustees of the Brooks Locomotive Works 
held in the City of New York, November 13, 
1869, Mr. Brooks was elected president and 
superintendent, and Marshall L. Hinman, sec- 
retary and treasurer. 

The initial order for locomotives was from 
the Erie Railway Company, such order being 
for twenty-five eight-wheel engines, six-foot 
gauge, which was the standard gauge of the 
Erie railway at that time, and the order to be 
completed at the rate of two engines per month. 
During the first month one locomotive was 
completed, and also one during the month of 
December. Twenty-seven locomotives were 
completed during the first twelve months. 

Mr. Brooks died at his home in Dunkirk, 
April 20, 1887. From the time of his death to 
the consolidation with the American Locomo- 
tive Company, Marshall L. Hinman and Rob- 
ert J. Gross were the leading spirits in the 
management of the works, Mr. Hinman becom- 
ing president of the company in 1892, Mr. 
Gross vice-president. With the consolidation 
of the works as part of the American Locomo- 
tive Company, Mr. Gross, in June, 1901, was 
elected second vice-president of the American 
Locomotive Company and placed in charge of 
the Brooks Works at Dunkirk, the latter be- 
coming at once one of the most important 
branches of that progressive organization. 

The construction of the Dunkirk, Allegheny 
Valley & Pittsburgh railroad bringing several 
towns of the county in direct trade with Dun- 
kirk, was an important event among the many 
which have followed the coming of the first 
railroads. Others were the extension of the 
Western New York and Pennsylvania, the 
building of the Nickel Plate, the trolley lines 
from Fredonia and Buffalo, and the double 
tracking of the Lake Shore & Michigan South- 
ern, making Dunkirk the most important rail- 
road center of the county. Extensive improve- 
ments made by the government through the 
influence of Congressman Warren B. Hooker 
gave to the harbor a depth of nineteen feet, 
also effective permanent breakwaters. 

Another highly important industry of 
modern Dunkirk is the Atlas Crucible Steel 
Company, manufacturers of high-speed tool 
steel. This company was organized in 1907 by 
Edward Burgess, C. P. Burgess and R. E. 
Dickenson, as the Atlas Steel Company, and 
reincorporated in 1912 as the Atlas Crucible 
Steel Company. In 191 5 the Dunkirk Glass, 
Essex Glass, Commercial Steel and Conti- 
nental Heater Companies established plants in 
Dunkirk, which is also the home of the United 



154 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



States Radiator Corporation, the Romer Axe 
Company, Lake Shore Seed Company, Niagara 
Motor, and other prosperous, important cor- 
porations. The industries of Dunkirk are to- 
day turning out and sending to all parts of the 
world, locomotives, seeds, glass bottles, radia- 
tors, silks and silk garments, automobiles, auto- 
mobile axles and parts, steel, marine engines, 
boilers, engine mufflers, axes, carriages, 
wagons, lamps, lithographs, macaroni, grape 
juice, furniture, lumber, shirts, pennants, 
cigars, gloves, hosiery, doors, artificial stone, 
brick, steam valves, paper boxes, lenses and 
scores of other articles. 

The fishing industry is an important one, 
the fine harbor affording safety and conven- 
ience for shipping the tons of fish caught daily 
in Lake Erie during the season. In the year 
1913 Dunkirk shipped 3,673,760 pounds of fish. 
A municipal wharf built at a cost of $100,000 
is one of the modern improvements to the har- 
bor, while municipal Dunkirk has a complete 
system of sewers, electric light, power and 
water plant, and well paved streets and elec- 
trically lighted at the city's expense. Dunkirk 
has a city hall, public library, efficient police 
and fire departments, well housed and 
equipped, and a large and splendidly equipped 
hospital, the Brooks Memorial. Washington 
Park is in the center of the city, a children's 
play ground. Point Gratiot, a city park on 
Lake Erie, contains 125 acres. 

The city's educational advantages are of a 
high order. The school system of ward 
graded, grammar and high schools is under 
control of the University of the State of New 
York. In addition to the public schools there 
are parochial, grammar and high schools, busi- 
ness colleges and private institutions. The 
graduates of the high school are accepted on 
the certificate plan by all colleges which have 
adopted this method of admitting students. 
The commercial, manual training and domestic 
science departments are perfectly equipped for 
best results and are in charge of a most effi- 
cient corps of instructors. The school build- 
ings are all of modern construction with 
hygenic and sanitary equipment. (See school 
chapter.) 

Seventeen houses of worship provide for 



ious side of life upon 
:ity's stability depends. 



that moral and relif 
which so much of a 

These buildings range from modest sanctuarie 
to the steepled edifices of Gothic architecture. 
People of various nationalities have the oppor- 
tunity of attending services conducted in the 
tongue of their native land, as there are 
churches where only German, Polish, Swedish 
or Italian language is used. 

There are two national banks in the city, the 
Lake Shore and Merchants, and a trust com- 
pany, The Dunkirk, established in the sum- 
mer of 1920. (See banks.) 

Fraternal, social and benevolent orders are 
to be found in abundance, as are clubs, guilds, 
church and charitable organizations in wom- 
an's influence are supreme. The Dunkirk Club, 
Willow Brook Country Club, the Woman's 
Literary Club and Woman's Union are repre- 
sentative of those organizations. 

According to the State census of 191 5, the 
city of Dunkirk had a population of 15,704 citi- 
zens and 2,166 aliens; total, 17,870 residing in 
its four wards. The same census credits the 
sixty factories or mills of Dunkirk and the 
Lake Shore repair shops with employing an 
average monthly force of 4,350, of which 3,643 
are men, 380 women, 29 children between the 
ages of 14-16, and an office force numbering 
298. 

The first supervisor from the newly erected 
town of Dunkirk was Geo. M. Abell, who 
served in i860. John S. Beggs, 1861-1873; 
Alex. Popple, 1874; Wm. Bookstaver, 1875- 
83; David Russell, 1884; Wm. Bookstaver, 
1885-86; Julien T. Williams, 1887-90; W. J. 
Cronyn, 1891 ; Samuel D. Gifford, 1892; Ralph 
Day, 1893 ; Samuel D. Gifford, 1894-95 : James 
C. Russell, 1896; Frank G. Gould, 1897; John 
K. Patterson, Jr., and Henry Mayo, 1898-99; 
John K. Patterson, Jr., and Thomas J. Cum- 
mings, 1900-1905; Benjamin L. Harrison and 
Thomas J. Cummings, 1906-1907 ; Rollin W. 
Snow and Thomas J. Cummings, 1908; Rollin 
W. Snow and John J. Walters, 1909-13; Peter 
Gregoreske and Nelson J. Palmer, 1914-19; 
Peter Gregoreske, Charles D. Loeb and Frank 
Lewandeski, 1920. 

In 1880 the village of Dunkirk was incor- 
porated a city. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Towns : Ellery — Ellicott. 

Ellery — For about twelve miles of its length, that town extending from the towns of Elling- 
the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake forms the ton and Gerry on the east to the town of Chau- 
southwestern boundary of the town of Ellery, tauqua on the west, and from the town of 



TOWNS— ELLERY 



155 



Stockton on the north to the lake. Within 
these borders are comprised 30,098 acres of 
principally hilly land, well watered, and lying 
at about the geographical center of the county. 
The twelve miles of lake front comprise the 
most valuable lands in the town, the entire dis- 
tance being well improved and largely devoted 
to residence and recreation purposes. Bemus 
Point, Griffith's Point, Greenhurst, Long Point, 
Maple Springs, and Midway are popular sum- 
mer resorts, and Long and Bemus Points, 
capes, extending into the lake, enclose a beau- 
tiful bay sometimes caller Middle Lake. In 
other parts of the town are the small villages — 
Ellery Center, West Ellery, Towerville and 
Midway. The lake shore of Ellery is tra- 
versed by the Jamestown, Westfield & North 
Western railway, a modern electric line, con- 
necting Jamestown, the villages and resorts of 
the eastern shore of the lake with Westfield 
and Dunkirk. 

The population of Ellery in 191 5, according 
to the State census was 1,876, of whom 88 were 
aliens. There is no manufacturing in the town. 

Ellery was set off from the "mother town," 
Chautauqua, February 29, 1821, but the first 
settlement was made by William Bemus in the 
spring of 1806, at Bemus Point ; Jeremiah Grif- 
fith about two weeks after settled at Griffith's 
Point. His children were John, Seth, Samuel, 
Polly, Jeremiah and Alexander. A little later 
the same spring, Alanson Weed came with his 
family and settled in Ellery, about two miles 
south of Dewittville. Abijah Bennett came 
with him, stayed during the summer, and the 
next winter brought his family. 

William Bemus, son of Jotham, Sr., and Try- 
phena (Moore) Bemus, was born at Bemus 
Heights, Saratoga county, New York, February 
25, 1762. About the beginning of the Revolu- 
tionary War he removed with his father to Pitts- 
town, Rensselaer county. He married, Janu- 
ary 27, 1782, Mary, daughter of William Pren- 
dergast, Sr. Mr. Bemus and his family were a 
part of the company of emigrants, composed 
chiefly of Prendergasts, who journeyed to Ten- 
nessee and returned and settled in Chautauqua. 
He came to Ripley in the fall of 1805, and spent 
the winter in Westfield, near Arthur Bell's. 
The next spring he settled on the east side of 
Chautauqua Lake, on land bought in January, 
1806, at what has since been known as Bemus 
Point, in Ellery, where he resided until his 
death, January 2, 1830, aged nearly sixty-eight 
years. The wife of Mr. Bemus, born March 
13, 1760, died July 11, 1845, a §T e d eighty-five 
years. They had a large family, all of whom 
removed to this county. Their children were: 



Daniel, a physician, removed to Meadville, Pa., 
where he died ; Elizabeth, wife of Capt. John 
Silsby, they removed to Iowa, where they 
died; Tryphena, who married John Griffith, 
son of Jeremiah Griffith ; Thomas ; Charles ; 
Mehitabel, wife of Daniel Hazeltine, of James- 
town, she died September 22, 1887, aged nearly 
ninety-five years ; James, married Tryphena 
Boyd and resided at Bemus Point, where he 
died. Charles Bemus, fifth child of William 
and Mary (Prendergast) Bemus, was born in 
Pittstown, August 31, 1791. He came to Chau- 
tauqua with his parents in 1805. He married, 
February 28, 181 1, Relepha Boyd, who was 
born July 20, 1790, and lived at Bemus Point 
on land originally bought by his father, until 
his death, October 10, 1861. His wife died 
January 2, 1843. 

In October, 1809, the northeastern part of 
the town was first settled by William Barrows, 
a native of New Bedford, and a son-in-law of 
Maj. Samuel Sinclear, of Sinclairville. He set- 
tled on the bank of the Cassadaga creek, at 
Red Bird. After clearing a tract of land he 
removed to Ohio. The same year John De- 
mott settled about one-half mile south of Bar- 
rows. 

In 1809 John and Joseph Silsby settled on 
the lake, one or two miles southeast of Bemus 
Point. John Silsby was captain of a Chau- 
tauqua county company in the War of 1812, 
and was wounded at the battle of Buffalo. 
Enos Warner was an early settler in Ellery. 
He bought land on lots 26 and 27. John R. 
Russell settled on lot 30. Clark Parker in 
1810 settled on lot 27. He was an ensign in 
Captain Silsby's company. William Smiley in 
1810 removed to Ellery, and died in 1825. His 
sons, Joseph and William, served in the War 
of 1812 and participated in the battle of Buf- 
falo, in Captain Silsby's company, in which 
William was killed. William, a grandson of 
William, was killed in the battle of the wilder- 
ness. Josiah Hovey built a cabin on lot 13, 
in the northeast part, and in 181 1 sold to John 
Love, who settled there. He died in Illinois 
in 1859, at the residence of his son Frederick. 
In 181 5 Joseph Loucks, from Madison county, 
settled in the southeastern part. His sons, 
John, Daniel and Hiram, came with him. The 
sons, Joseph, Henry, Peter and David, came 
later. 

William Atherly, William G. Younker, 
Henry Strunk, Henry Martin and Thomas 
Arnold also early settled in that part of the 
town. In 1816 Adam S. and James Pickard 
settled on lot 3. In a short time they removed 
to lot 22, in the northern part. Joseph W. 



i56 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



came later. Their descendants still reside 
upon the highway, which is called Pickard 
street. About this year Samuel Young settled 
in this northern part upon lot 54. Ezra Young 
early settled on lot 46, Harry Hale on lot 38, 
Festus Jones, an early blacksmith, on lot 37. 
His brother, Luther C, was a surveyor. 

John Wicks, from Saratoga county, settled 
in Ellery in 1818. His son, James H., born in 
Saratoga county, August 2, 1817, came to 
Ellery, subsequently removed to Gerry, where 
he died March, 1891. He was justice of the 
peace for sixteen years, and an active Metho- 
dist. He married Sophia, daughter of Andrew 
Ward, an early settler and lifelong resident of 
Ellicott. 

In 1824 Peter Pickard settled on lot 9, in the 
eastern part. The same year James Heath set- 
tled in the same part on lot 2. Seth Clark, 
Clark Parker, James Hale, John Miller and 
Jacob Johnson were all early settlers here. In 
1824 John Thompkins settled in the northeast- 
ern part. 

The Hale family of Ellery dates back to the 
early days of the Massachusetts colony. Har- 
vey Hale, born November n, 1797, in Otsego 
county, New York, married Jerusha Babcock, 
December 15, 1822; he died December 27, 
1876; she died April 5, 1876. They settled in 
Ellery in the spring of 1827 about two miles 
north of Ellery Center. 

Nathaniel C. Barger was born at Peekskill, 
New York, June 24, 1808. In 1828 he married 
Catherine Tompkins, and started for the West 
over the Erie canal and settled in 1828 in the 
eastern part of the town of Ellery, where he 
made his home until his decease. Mrs. Barger 
died in 1837. Their children were John D., 
Nathaniel T. and Lowry D. Mr. Barger mar- 
ried Tamor Tompkins, July 16, 1837. 

In 1839 Orrin Hale settled in the central 
part. Elhanan Winchester settled early near 
the center. His brothers, Marcus, Jonadab, 
Jotham, Francis, Ebenezer, Herman and Hart- 
ford, all settled in the town. Ebenezer was 
early associated with Horace Greeley in pub- 
lishing the "New Yorker." The father of the 
Winchesters came later and was twice mar- 
ried. He had twenty-three children, it is said. 
Lewis Warner early settled on lot 34, Morri- 
son Weaver on lot 42, James Newbury on lot 
18, and Amos Wood on lot 36. In the western 
part the early settlers were Luther Barney, 
James and Joseph Furlow, Ezra Horton and 
Joseph Brownell. Barnabus C. Brownell set- 
tled in the northwestern part. 

Benjamin Parker, son of Thomas Parker, 
was born in Rhode Island, in March, 1765. In 



the Revolution he was for three years em- 
ployed by the colonial government with an 
ox-team and a cart as a transport. He mar- 
ried Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Davis, of 
Hartford, Connecticut; she was born June 2, 
1 761. Mr. Parker, after residing in Washing- 
ton county, came with his family to Ellery 
about 1816 and purchased one hundred twenty 
acres of land near Bemus Point, where he re- 
sided until his death, November 7, 1842. His 
wife died January 26, 1847. Since Benjamin 
Parker's death the old homestead has been sold 
in proceedings in the Supreme Court in which 
there were ninety-two parties, his direct de- 
scendants. 

Elisha Tower, son of Isaiah and Sylvia 
(Toby) Tower, was born in New Bedford, 
Mass., May 10, 1788. He early removed with 
his parents to Duanesburg. In the summer of 
1810 he came to Chautauqua and after a while 
took up 176 acres of land on lots 43 and 12 in 
the northeastern part of Ellery and commenced 
improvements. In 1813 he was drafted into 
the United States service and participated in 
the battle of Buffalo. He assisted his comrade, 
Cornelius De Long, who had been wounded 
in the head by a spent grapeshot. to escape 
from the enemy. June 1, 1815, he married 
Philenah, daughter of Simeon and Rhobe Mor- 
gan. Mrs. Tower died December, i860, and 
Mr. Tower January 17, 1866. 

James Heath, born in Brattleboro, Vermont, 
about 1785, married Zubia Austin, in Cam- 
bridge, Washington county, and moved to 
Wayne county, where he resided for several 
years. March 2, 1824, he moved to Ellery, 
took up land on lot 2, on the town line road 
between Sinclairville and Fluvanna and re- 
sided there until his death, January 17, 1845. 
Morgan L. Heath was born in Lyons, Wayne 
county, April 20, 1812, moved with his father's 
family to Ellery in 1824. December 25, 1843, 
he married Electa Purdy. 

Odin Benedict, son of Dr. Isaac Benedict, of 
Connecticut, was born in Skaneateles, Onon- 
daga county, August 20, 1805. Dr. Isaac Bene- 
dict moved' to Marcellus about 1803. He was 
a surgeon in the LInited States service in 
the War of 1812, and died in 1814. Dr. Odin 
Benedict read medicine in his native town and 
graduated at Fairfield Medical College. He 
was licensed by the Herkimer County Medical 
College in January, 1826, and the same year 
came to Ellery Center and commenced prac- 
tice. He was the first resident physician, and 
for years was one of the best known in the 
county. He had an extensive practice which 
continued until the year 1850, when he re- 











WARI'ING RAFT Ul' Till-: S'l'KKAJl 



TOWNS— ELLERY 



157 



moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and started a 
government stock bank. In September, 1851, 
he went to Dunkirk and engaged in banking 
for a few years, after which he had a broker's 
office there for some years. He then resumed 
the practice of medicine, which he continued 
until his death in 1874. He was elected super- 
visor of Ellery in 1833 and was supervisor of 
that town fourteen years. He was member of 
Assembly in 1840 and 1843, and was postmas- 
ter in Ellery for about twenty years. In 1826 
he married Sally Ann Capp. He died in 1874. 

Samuel Weaver, son of Morrison Weaver, 
was born in Pittstown, January 16, 1833, came 
to Ellery from Washington county with his 
parents in 1834, and was school teacher for 
several years. He was elected supervisor for 
Ellery in 1888, serving one term with marked 
ability. He married Evaline M. Lazell, Janu- 
ary 13, 1859. He died in 1893. He had one 
brother, Simeon B. 

Alfred Harvey came to Ellery and settled on 
lot 30, March 2, 1847. He was born in Onon- 
daga county, in 1819. He married Alsina, 
daughter of Volney Patterson. (Mr. Patter- 
son came to Gerry about 1855, and died in 
1873). She was born in Onondaga county, 
August 31, 1826. 

Jacob R. Brownell, born in Dutchess county 
January 10, 1802 ; after death of his first wife 
Mary in 1830, married, March 18, 1832, Han- 
nah Harrington, of Hoosic, and moved to 
Ellery the same year and settled on lot 43. He 
died January 20, 1871 ; his wife died July 25, 
1862. Their son, William O. Brownell, was 
born May 18, 1834, married Armenia M., 
daughter of Thomas D. and Ann M. (Shears) 
Wallis, who came to Ellery in 1836. Mr. Wal- 
lis died January 25, 1871, and his wife April 
20, 1873. 

Charles G. Maples, who settled on a farm in 
1838, was many years justice of the peace, 
United States Assistant Assessor of Internal 
Revenue several years, and surrogate of the 
county. 

The first sawmill was built in 1808 and the 
first gristmill was built in 181 1, both by Wil- 
liam Bemus. Joseph and David Loucks built 
a sawmill in the southeastern part of the town 
in 1830, and in 1832 Thomas Wing built a 
gristmill, but the most valuable grist and flour 
mill was built the same year by Seth and Sam- 
uel Griffith. A carding and cloth dressing 
establishment was early erected by Tubal C. 
Owens, on Bemus creek. William Bemus 
deeded one acre of land at Bemus Point for 
burial purposes. Matthew P. Bemus after- 
wards conveyed seven and one-half acres to 



the Bemus Point Cemetery Association. A 
fence, at an expense of $3,000, was erected 
around it, and the cemetery was made one of 
the most tasteful in the county. A large num- 
ber of the dead from Ellery and many from 
Harmony are buried there. 

A Baptist church at West Ellery was formed 
in 1808 by Elder Jones, then a resident of 
Ellery, at the house of John Putnam, for many 
years a deacon. The Baptist church, Ellery 
Center, was organized with nine members in 
1814, by Elder Asa Turner, the first pastor. 
The first house of worship was built in 1830; 
in 1862 another one was built. 

The First Universalist Church of Ellery was 
organized with twenty-three members by Rev. 
Isaac George, the first pastor, June 12, 1822. 
A house was built in 1858 at Bemus Point. 

The Methodist Episcopal church, West El- 
lery, was organized with twelve members by 
Messrs. Chandler and Barnes in 1831. Their 
first church edifice was erected in 1836; a sec- 
ond one in 1861. The first pastor was Rev. 
William Chandler. 

The Methodist Episcopal church, Pickard 
Hill, was formed in 1830, Rev. J. C. Ayers, 
pastor. In 1871 they united with the United 
Brethren, and built a union church. 

The United Brethren church, Pickard Hill, 
was organized in 1869 with eight members by 
Rev. Lansing Mclntyre, first pastor. 

Supervisors — Almon Ives, 1821-24-27-32; 
Peter Loucks, 1822; Abijah Clark, 1823; Jona- 
dab Winchester, 1828-31 ; Robertson Whiteside, 
1829; John Hammond, 1830; Odin Benedict, 
1833-48; Minot Hoyt, 1840; George P. Van- 
dervort, 1843-48-50; William S. Aldrich, 1851- 
53; Ira Haskins, 1854; Elias Clark, 1855; 
Leman Pickett, 1856-57; William C. Benedict, 
1858-63-65-66-72-84-85; James Hale, 1864; John 
R. Russell, 1867; John S. Bemus, 1868-69; 
Oscar Hale, 1870-71-75-76-86-87; George W. 
Belden, 1873-74; Asa Cheney, 1877-83; Sam- 
uel Weaver, 1888; Benjamin A. Pickard, 1889- 
90; S. Dwight Thum, 1891-97; Frank F. Pick- 
ard, 1898-1905 ; A. Morelle Cheney, 1906-13 
(chairman pro tern., 1910-13 inclusive), 14-17 
(chairman, 1916-17) ; O. C. Casselman, 1918-20. 
The full value of real estate in the town of 
Ellery in 1918 was $1,763,987; the equalized 
assessed value, $1,383,973. 

Bemus Point, the principal lake resort, is 
widely known, and its summer colony is drawn 
from widely separated points. Its permanent 
population, according to the State census of 
1915 was 270. In government it is an incor- 
porated village. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Ellicott— Ellicott, formed from Pomfret, 
June I, 1812, received its name in compliment 
to Joseph Ellicott, so long connected with the 
Holland Land Company, comprised townships 
one and two of ranges ten and eleven, and in- 
cluded Poland, Carroll, Kiantone, and a part 
of Busti, making the town twelve miles square. 
April 16, 1823, the west half of township one, 
range eleven, was taken off to form Busti, and 
four of these lots were re-annexed to Ellicott 
May 7, 1845. March 25, 1825, Carroll was 
formed, and April 9, 1832, Poland was set off. 
Four lots were added from Carroll in 1845. 
Jamestown was carved out in 1886, leaving the 
towns surrounding it on the north, east, south 
and west sides, and containing 19,065 acres. 
Chadakoin river, the outlet of Chautauqua 
Lake, flowing northeast, unites with Cassa- 
daga creek, flowing southwest, on the east line 
of the town, about equal distance from its north 
and south boundaries. Ellicott is surrounded 
on the west by Busti and Ellery, north by 
Gerry, east by Poland and Carroll, south bv 
Kiantone and Busti. The soil is of alluvial for- 
mation along the streams, changing to clayey 
and then sandy loam as it approaches the hills. 
There are several artesian wells at Ross Mills, 
and a greater number at Levant, from some of 
which the water-works of Jamestown are sup- 
plied. These are from seventy-five to one hun- 
dred thirty feet in depth, and produce an abun- 
dance of pure cold water of unvarying tempera- 
ture. The water is invariably found in coarse 
sand and gravel, under a layer of clay. The 
supply is apparently unlimited, and various 
theories concerning it have been advanced. 
The water is raised in these wells by its own 
force fully twenty-five feet above the surface 
of the ground. 

The first election was held April, 1813, at the 
house of Joseph Akin. John Silsby, the near- 
est justice, presided, assisted by Laban Case, 
moderator. The officers elected were : Super- 
visor, James Prendergast; town clerk, Eben- 
ezer Davis; assessors, Solomon Jones, Benja- 
min Covell, William Deland ; commissioners 
of highways, William Sears, Michael Frank, 
Laban Case; overseers of poor, Joseph Akin, 
Stephen Frank ; constable and collector, 
James Hall ; constable, Laban Case ; fence 
viewers, Ebenezer Cheney, Aaron Martin. The 
second town meeting met at the house of 
Joseph Akin in 1814, and adjourned to the 
tavern of Laban Case. 

In 1813 the town voted $250 for bridges and 
roads, and that the supervisor solicit bridge 
money from the county. These roads were 
laid out in 1813. "From Joseph Akin's and 



Laban Case's past the 'Vernam place' to James 
Akin's ; Reuben Woodward's to Culbertson's 
(afterward Colonel Fenton's) ; from near Jones 
Simmons's to near Edward Work's mill ; from 
near Doctor Shaw's to near Simmons's. From 
the south of Fairbank, past Sloan's to Russell's 
mill at the public highway from the house of 
Lawrence Frank to Stillwater; from Simmons 
& Work's road at a sapling to James Prender- 
gast's mills ; from a small beech tree on the 
bank of the creek a few rods north of William 
Sears's to Prendergast's mills." In October, 
1814, roads were laid out from "Joel Tyler's 
to Conewango to a black oak ; from near Wil- 
liam Sears' dwelling house, as formerly laid 
out by courses and distances, across Esquire 
Jones' bridge across Stillwater Creek to the 
bridge across the outlet of Chautauqua Lake, 
near and below James Prendergast's mills. 
(This was built by Reuben Landon); from 
Work's mill to the bridge over Cassadaga, 
leading to Kennedy's mills ; from Fish's to near 
Garfield's." The $100 bridge money received 
in i8i4from the county was thus appropriated: 
Bridge across the outlet at Esquire Prender- 
gast's, $37.67 ; bridge across Stillwater creek, 
near Joseph Akin's, $29; bridge across Kian- 
tone creek at Robert Russell's mill, afterwards 
A. T. Prendergast's, $33.33. The remainder 
was raised by the inhabitants. The building 
of all the bridges in those days was much 
aided by subscriptions payable in labor and 
materials. 

The first settlers in Ellicott were William 
Wilson, George W. Fenton and James Culbert- 
son. William Wilson located on the Chada- 
koin river, probably on lot 5, in a shanty in 
the spring of 1806; by June he had so far com- 
pleted a log house as to make it his home, 
although as the land was not yet surveyed, he 
could not buy until May, 1808, when he pur- 
chased a portion of the west part of lot 5 and 
of the east part of lot 12 ; the land was occu- 
pied by him until his death in 1850. The same 
spring George W. Fenton located near Levant, 
put up a log cabin and made quite a clearing 
which he sold to John Arthur on removing to 
Carroll. James Culbertson is said to have 
located at the same time "north of the outlet," 
probably west would be better. These three, 
"except perhaps Edward Shillitto," were the 
first three settlers in the old "twelve miles 
square Town of Ellicott." Dr. Hazeltine 
graphically groups the early settlers of Ellicott 
thus: Wilson was living below Falconer in 
1806, James Culbertson a mile below, George 
W. Fenton, John Arthur and Robert Russell 
on the opposite side of the outlet a mile below 



TOW N S— EL LI COTT 



159 



Work's in 1809. During the following year 
Thomas Sloan was on the old Indian clearing 
(the Prendergasts' farm) on the Kiantone ; 
Solomon Jones, and the Akins and others on 
the Stillwater. Nathaniel Bird was at the foot 
of the lake where the late Gideon Shearman 
lived, and William Deland on the Solomon 
Butler farm. Previous to the settlement of 
"The Rapids," the Frews, the Owens, the 
Myers, James Hall, Ebenezer Cheney, Eben- 
ezer Davis, William Sears, Jasper Marsh and 
others were settlers on the Conewango and the 
Stillwater in that part now Carroll and Kian- 
tone. The first settlement in southern Chau- 
tauqua was at Kennedy. Dr. Thomas Ken- 
nedy in 1804 built the first sawmill there on the 
Conewango, and there were a number of set- 
tlers, but their names are lost. The Strunks, 
Zebulon Peterson, Augustus Moon, Benjamin 
Lee, Jonas Simmons, Amos Furguson, Thomas 
Walkup, and other early settlers of the north 
part came in shortly before or soon after the 
settlement of "The Rapids" had commenced. 

August 1, 1807, Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy and 
Edward Work, who were developing the mill 
power at Kennedy, purchased a large tract on 
both sides of the outlet below Dexterville, in- 
cluding the mill sites at Worksburg and Tif- 
fany's, and valuable timberland east of the 
Cassadaga river and Levant, along the Ken- 
nedy road. In the fall of 1807, Work erected 
a hewed log house north of the outlet. In 
1808 he built his sawmills and put them in 
operation. About this time Kennedy and 
Work opened a road from Kennedy's mills to 
Work's mill and built the first bridge across 
the Cassadaga, about one-fourth of a mile 
above Levant. In 1809 Work built a gristmill 
with one run of stones, split out of large rock. 
The erection of this mill was a condition of 
the sale of the land. This mill was a great 
accommodation to settlers and led to the open- 
ing of roads to the settlements about the foot 
of the lake and to Stillwater creek and Frank's 
settlement. These mills were built three years 
before the settlement at Jamestown, when 
almost all travel was in keelboats and canoes 
or by Indian trails. Twelve of the boats used 
in the transportation of salt down the Alle- 
gheny were built at Work's mill in 1808. The 
discovery of the salt springs on the Allegheny, 
Kanawha and Ohio rivers caused the discon- 
tinuance of the salt trade by this route. The 
keelboats that came for salt brought loads of 
provisions, whiskey, iron castings, nails, glass, 
dried fruit and other articles. Edward Work 
was a resident of Ellicott from 1807 till his 
death in 1857. From 1818 he was a prominent 



member of the Methodist church, and his home 
an hospitable "Methodist tavern." In 1840 he 
sold most of his property and retired from busi- 
ness. 

Jonas Simmons came in 1809 and made a 
claim at Fluvanna, and in 1810 brought his 
wife and thirteen of his fifteen children. John 
Strunk, his wife's brother, and Benjamin Lee, 
whose wife was a sister to Mrs. Simmons, and 
John Strunk, came with him. Four of John 
Strunk's children were in the company, so a 
whole school district came in one company. 
These were the first settlers in the west part 
of Ellicott. Jacob Strunk, brother of John, set- 
tled in 1816 on lot 53, township 2, range 11. 
Augustus Moon, a soldier of 1812, located on 
lot 37, township 2, in 1814. His brothers, 
Gideon, Samuel and Jonathan, soon came. 
Their settlement gave name to Moon's Creek. 
In 181 5 Nathan Cass made a clearing and built 
a sawmill at East Jamestown. A year later he 
sold to John and Darius Dexter, residents of 
Mayville from 1808. Darius was one of the 
most prominent citizens of Ellicott. He re- 
moved to Dexterville, as the mills were soon 
called, in 1818, and did extensive business for 
many years. He sold to Falconer, Jones & 
Allen. "He is remembered as the first colonel 
of the old 162nd Regiment, and a charitable 
man of great popularity." 

Benjamin Ross came from Cincinnati in 
1815, and in 1816 bought on lot 30, township 2, 
range 11, "Ross Mills." His nearest neighbor 
was at Work's Mills, and Mr. Ross and Isaac 
Young were twenty-one days in cutting a road 
through the intervening three miles. He built 
a log^house and occupied it with his wife and 
child in December, 1816. "For a month they 
endured the cold without doors and windows, 
substituting blankets for them. 

In 1817 Jacob Fenton came from Jamestown, 
where he had a hotel and pottery from 1814, 
and established a pottery at Fluvanna which 
he conducted until 1822, when he died, and his 
son, William H. Fenton, succeeded him. In 
1826 Samuel Whittemore became a partner, 
which continued nearly twenty years. Mr. 
Whittemore came from Concord, New Hamp- 
shire, in 1826, in 1827 was appointed postmas- 
ter of Fluvanna, and continued in that office 
until near his death in 1875. He was chiefly 
instrumental in forming one of the earliest 
local temperance societies. He kept a hotel 
from very early date until his death, where no 
liquors were sold, and was much frequented as 
a summer resort— the first on the lake. 

Nathan Meads settled on lot 35, township 2, 
range 11, in 1812, and purchased over four hun- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



dred acres the next year. He built two small 
log houses near the outlet, and in 1815 com- 
menced a large two-story house of square 
hewed pine timber, which in 1816 he sold with 
his land to Solomon Jones and Henry Bab- 
cock. Thomas and Joseph Walkup in 1814 
purchased lands on lot 48. Elias Tracy settled 
on lot 49 very early. Phineas Palmiter in 181 3, 
Cyrus Fish, his brother-in-law, in 1814, and 
Stephen Wilcox in 1814, came with families. 
Palmiter bought on lot 64, but passed most of 
his life in Jamestown. Cyrus Fish had many 
children, and his descendants are among the 
best families of the county. Cyrus Fish, Jr., 
built a sawmill on Clove Run, where it is said, 
he operated the first "shingle machine" of the 
county. 

Jehial Tiffany, brother of Silas Tiffany, was 
born in Randolph, Vermont, in 1798. He re- 
moved with his parents in 1809 to Darien, 
Genesee county. In 1816 he came to Ellicott 
and tarried a while, and after a visit to Darien 
returned to Jamestown in 1818, and was in 
trade with his brother, and dealt in lumber. 
In 1829 they built mills on the one thousand 
acre tract they had purchased on the Chada- 
koin river between Dexterville and Falconer, 
long known as "Tiffanyville." Here Mr. Tif- 
fany resided, gave up merchandising and man- 
aged the mills and real estate. He died in 1867. 

Levant, at the junction of Chadakoin river 
and the Cassadaga, early promised to be a 
place of importance. From 1840, when five hun- 
dred thousand bricks were made here annually, 
until the present, brick-making has been con- 
ducted. David Rider, a farmer near Levant, 
was a son of Silas Rider, who resided in Elling- 
ton from 1829 to his death in 1840. Stephen 
Pratt and family located in Gerry in 1819. He 
died in 1838. Nehemiah Horton settled in 
Gerry in 1818, and died August 1, 1855. His 
daughter, Mrs. Rufus Pratt, resided with her 
son, Merrick B. Asa W. Horton, son of Nehe- 
miah, lived in the south part. Amos Blanch- 
ard settled in Ellicott in 1824. His son, Flint, 
a large farmer and dairyman, was prominent in 
Democratic politics. The largest body of pine 
timber of the county occupied the area of the 
original town of Ellicott. E. A. Ross, in a 
paper read before the Chautauqua Society of 
History and Natural Science, gives the pioneer 
lumbermen and mills of the Cassadaga, and 
from it we make this summary : 

Russell Run. the first stream above the "outlet," 
empties into the Cassadaga two miles above. Thomas 
Russell built the first sawmill on Russell Run one and 
one-half miles above its mouth in 1 S 1 6 ; he operated it 
some years. It was later owned by E. W. Scowden, 



who ran it as long as there was timber. (Pine was 
the only kind then called fit to cut.) Charles and James 
McConnell built a mill half a mile above Russell's; 
after some years they sold to Cyrus and Artemas Fish. 
One mile above this Elisha Hall built a mill which he 
soon sold. The fourth mill and the lowest on the 
stream, was built by Gideon Gilson and later sold to 
Elisha Hall. It was one mile from Cassadaga, near 
the public highway and the residence of William 
Clark, one of the earliest settlers. The lumber from 
these hills was of fine quality and was hauled to Gil- 
son's Landing at the mouth of the stream and there 
rafted. The next stream was Folson Run. which 
emptied into the Cassadaga, a short distance below 
Ross Mills. This had four mills. The lower, built by 
Elijah Akin, was later owned by Cyrus and Artemas 
Fish and later by Anson Chamberlain. The mill next 
above this was built by Joel Tyler and changed owners 
often. John Cobb and Joseph Darling, the latter being 
the last owner and having cut the last timber, were 
among them. This was a double mill and cut the most 
lumber of any mill on the small streams. The next 
mill was between the last two mills, about a mile from 
each, and probably was built by Nathan Cherry. Adol- 
phus Hooker, who later owned it, built another mill a 
little above this, and ran both until the timber was 
exhausted. These mills cut a large amount of timber 
for mills situated on dry or "thunder shower" creeks. 
The first mill on the Cassadaga above its mouth was 
built in 1817 by Benjamin Ross at Ross Mills. It was 
located in the bed of the natural stream. A dam was 
later built on its site and a new mill built on a race 
dug from the pond. The mill irons for the first mill 
were brought from Pittsburgh in a canoe, the trip 
occupying two weeks. The mill irons included cast- 
ings for the gig and bull wheels, big crank and gudgeon 
for the main water-wheel, beaver tail for the pitman, 
the dogs and bars for the old-fashioned headblocks, 
bull-wheel chain and saw. These irons did service in 
all the old style mills on this site. This second mill 
was burned in July, 1S32, after running only a short 
time. This was a sad blow to the little community 
that had come to depend upon the mill for employ- 
ment, but the neighbors came from miles around to 
aid in replacing it and in six days another mill frame 
was raised. 

This mill was operated until worn out and replaced 
with modern improvements with iron or patent water- 
wheel. This was the fourth and last mill owned by 
Benjamin Ross. He sold it to M. J. Morton, who sold 
it to Joel Partridge: he rebuilt it and sold to Wesley 
Martin. Three miles above the Ross mill John Hines 
and William Newton in 1819 built a sawmill on the 
Cassadaga and in 1822 built the first gristmill of that 
section. Joel and Thomas Walkup owned them later, 
and they were long known as the Walkup mills. John 
Cobb operated them later. He and his brother Rol- 
land were then largely interested in lumbering. The 
last owner was R. M. Miller. Hatch Creek, the next 
tributary on which mills were built, empties into the 
Cassadaga half a mile above Walkup mills, and flows 
through Bucklin's Corners, early called "Vermont." 
There was only one mill on this stream at any time. 
Samuel Sinclear was builder and owner of one of the 
first mills. Tower Run, a small stream heading in 
Ellery, was the next stream utilized. Henry Shaw built 
its first mill in 1816. Elisha Tower and Jesse Dexter 
built a mill in 1827 which was burned after running 
eighteen months and reported to have been rebuilt 
and running in six days. Holden Moon built a third 
mill on this stream about 1840. 



TOWNS— ELLICOTT 



if. i 



Falconer, the prosperous and rapidly grow- 
ing manufacturing village of Ellicott, is an in- 
corporated village, joining the city of James- 
town on the east. It is located on level ground, 
with dry gravelly soil, surrounded by a fine 
farming country, and has an intelligent, pro- 
gressive population. It has most excellent 
shipping facilities, two of the lines of the Erie 
railway system forming a junction with the 
Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh rail- 
road, and the latter road having also a station 
north of the Chadakoin connecting with the 
Jamestown Electric street railway. An abun- 
dance of excellent water underlies the village 
at a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet, and 
is easily obtained through driven wells. Rob- 
ert Falconer, the first of that family, was a 
Scotchman who after a prosperous business 
career in New York, located in Warren, Penn- 
sylvania, and was the first president of the ill- 
fated Lumberman's Bank of Warren, Pennsyl- 
vania. He was at one time interested with 
Daniel Hazeltine in his manufacturing in 
Jamestown, and purchased real estate at Dex- 
terville. Worksburg and at Kennedy. His 
sons, Patrick and William, became possessed 
of these valuable interests, and were exten- 
sive lumbermen and mill owners. Patrick 
studied law with Judge Hazeltine, for a time 
was his partner, and in 1840 bought his father's 
interests at Dexterville and Worksburg. In 
1844, selling the Dexterville property, he be- 
came owner of Worksburg (which took his 
name), and resided there until his death in 

1887. William, although a minor, was by spe- 
cial legislation made executor of his father's 
will. He built the building, now the hotel, at 
Falconer, and had other interests there. He 
was later a prominent resident of Kennedy, 
where he rebuilt the mills and conducted ex- 
tensive lumbering and merchandising for years. 

W. T. Falconer and D. E. Merrill formed the 
W. T. Falconer Manufacturing Company in 

1888, to make apiarian supplies, washing ma- 
chines, advertising novelties, etc. F. T. Mer- 
riam established an extensive business here in 
1888 for making sash, doors and blinds. In 
1892 the Lister Mills, for the manufacture of 
textile fabrics, were located here and the com- 
pany organized with a capital of $300,000. 
Large and substantial brick buildings were 
erected in 1892. Goodwill & Ashworth erected 
a large brick building in 1892, for the manu- 
facture of woolen warp. Various other manu- 
factories, with mercantile establishments, 
churches and a large and beautiful high school 
building, make up a thriving and active com- 
munity. 

Chau— 11 



In 1S91 the Swedes erected a Union church 
of brick on a lot sixty by one hundred twenty 
feet presented to them. The members then 
consisted of thirty-five Lutherans, thirty 
Methodists and twenty-five Mission Friends. 
The Lutherans in 1892 formed an independent 
society. 

In the fall of 1892 Brooklyn Heights Chapel, 
then a Sunday school mission of Jamestown 
church, and Falconer "appointment," having 
preaching "once a fortnight," on Sunday after- 
noons, with fifty members, connected with 
Frewsburg, were joined as the Second Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church of Jamestown. 

The manufacturing concerns of the village 
as reported by the State census of 1915 are: 
The American Manufacturing concern ; Chau- 
tauqua Planing Mill Co. ; Chautauqua Worsted 
Mills Co., wool yarn; Cleveland Worsted Mills 
Co., wool yarn; Falconer Mirror Co.; Falconer 
Towel Mills ; Gerry Veneer and Lumber Co. ; 
C. W. Herrick Manufacturing Co. ; Jamestown 
Mantel Co. ; Lynndon Mirror Co. ; Simpson, 
Jones & Co., yarn ; Supreme Furniture Co., and 
four small factories. These plants maintain an 
average monthly force of 1,214 hands. 

The village is well supplied with mercantile 
houses of all kinds, wholesale and retail. The 
First National Bank of Falconer meets all re- 
quirements and demands of a financial nature, 
and the public school system is most excellent, 
including a high school. 

The churches of the village are the First 
Baptist, First Methodist Episcopal, Swedish 
Methodist Episcopal, Swedish Evangelical Lu- 
theran, Wesleyan Methodist, Roman Catholic, 
Our Lady of Loretto. 

Falconer Free Library is a well patronized 
institution, and lodges of the fraternal, benevo- 
lent and social orders are well represented. 
The population of the village according to the 
State census of 191 5 is 2,342. 

Lakewood, another incorporated village of 
the town of Ellicott, is situated upon the shores 
of Lake Chautauqua, and according to the au- 
thority above quoted had in 1915 a population 
of 702. Lakewood is a popular lake resort, and 
three hotels accommodate visitors — The Lake- 
wood Inn, The Sherman House and The Spen- 
cer Hotel. The churches are the First Metho- 
dist, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic, and the 
United Brethren. The Chautauqua Traction 
Company and lake steamers furnish frequent 
service. 

Celoron, also an incorporated village, had in 
1915 (State census) a population of 720. The 
village is charmingly located on Lake Chau- 
tauqua at its southern end, and there a beauti- 



[62 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ful park is maintained by the Celoron Amuse- 
ment Company. The village is within the one 
fare trolley zone from Jamestown and the lake 
steamers also make it a regular landing place. 

The full value of real estate in the town of 
Ellicott (supervisors' report) in 1918 was $3,- 
866,117. The population of the town (State 
census, 1915) was 4,862 citizens, 354 aliens; 
total, 5,216. 

The schools of these villages are of a high 
grade, ranging from kindergarten to high. The 
village form of government has proven ade- 
quate and satisfactory. Fire departments and 
all forms of sanitary methods are maintained. 
The town is prosperous, farming profitable, 
Jamestown and the lake resorts furnishing 
nearby markets for farm and dairy products. 
Life in Ellicott, whether on farm or in village, 
is attended with the best advantages and both 
contentment and prosperity abounds. 

Supervisors of the town as follows: 1813- 
15. James Prendergast ; 1816-22, John Frew; 



1823-25, James Hall; 1826, Solomon Jones; 
1827, Nathaniel Fenton ; 1828-29, Solomon 
Jones; 1830, Nathaniel Fenton; 1831-40, Sam- 
uel Barrett; 1841-42, William Hall; 1843, 
Horace Allen; 1844, Samuel Barrett; 1845-46, 
Henry Baker; 1847-48, Augustus F. Allen; 
1849-50, Charles Butler; 1851, R. V. Cunning- 
ham; 1852, Augustus F. Allen; 1853-54, Henry 
Baker; 1855, Simeon W. Parks; 1856, Augus- 
tus F. Allen; 1857, Francis W. Parmer; 1858- 
59, Lewis Hall; 1860-68, Augustus F. Allen; 
1869-70, Jerome Preston; 1871-72-73-74, Au- 
gustus F. Allen; 1875-76, Lewis Hall; 1877, 
Corydon Hitchcock; 1878-79, John T. Wilson; 
1881-82-83, Robert N. Marvin; 1884-85, Daniel 
Griswold; 1886-87-88, Gustavus A. Bentley 
2nd; 18S9-96, Alonzo Halliday; 1897, Willis 
G. Price; 1898-1903, Merrick B. Pratt; 1904-06, 
Harley N. Crosby; 1907-08, Ransom B. Lydell ; 
1909, Conrad Anderson; 1910-20, Hermes L. 
Ames, who in 1914-15 was chairman of the 
board. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
The City of Jamestown. 



The first white man to seriously consider 
the place now Jamestown as a possible site 
for settlement was James Prendergast, and 
it is from him that the city takes its name. 
The members of the Prendergast family were 
prominent in the early history of the county, 
and had in 1806 bought 3,500 acres of land 
in the vicinity of Mayville, and were rapidly 
clearing away the forest. James Prender- 
gast, the youngest of the family of eleven 
children, was sent out to find a team of horses 
which had strayed away, and before catching 
up with them at what is now Rutledge, Catta- 
raugus county, had traversed the great pine 
tree region of the Conewango Valley, Kian- 
tone, one of the granaries of the Six Nations, 
and a great deal of the then unbroken wilder- 
ness now Southern Chautauqua county. 

To such a man as James Prendergast proved 
to be, his view of the magnificent pine forests 
must have impressed him with a conception of 
their great future value, as with rare judgment 
he chose the site for mills, home and future 
city. Two years after his discovery of the 
Outlet and rapids, he made his first purchase 
of land, his brother, under the instructions of 
James Prendergast, purchasing 1,000 acres, the 
present boat landing being about the centre of 
that tract, two dollars per acre the purchase 
price. 



In the early fall of 1809, James Prendergast 
visited his purchase with a trusted employe, 
John Blowers, to whom he confided his plans 
for founding a settlement and engaging in 
the manufacture of lumber by utilizing the 
water power of the outlet. Blowers evidently 
thought well of the plan, for in 1810 he erected 
a small log cabin on the banks of the outlet, 
an event of historic importance, for it was the 
first building erected on the site of Jamestown. 
Later, a story and a half log house was built 
on the banks of the outlet for the use of James 
Prendergast and family. Then followed a dam 
for water power, a saw mill, a grist mill, and 
so Jamestown's foundations were laid. 

But the "kicker" arrived soon afterward, and 
it is astounding to learn that in 1812 James 
Prendergast was indicted by the grand jury 
for erecting this dam "to the great injury and 
common nuisance of the liege citizens of the 
State." He was found guilty, and fined fifteen 
dollars and substantial costs. He removed the 
dam, rebuilding on a new site where it was 
evidently not considered a "common nuisance." 
In December, 1812, Captain William Forbes 
came, moving into the second log house built 
by James Prendergast, the location of that 
house on now Cherry street, between First and 
Second streets. The first frame house was 
built by John Blowers, who built the first log 



THE CITY OF JAMESTOWN 



163 



house. This building was finished in 1813, and 
was also the first tavern in the town and 
known as the Blowers House, in honor of its 
first proprietor. The house was sold in 1814 
to Dr. Laban Hazeltine, and occupied by him 
as a residence for nearly forty years. No trace 
now remains. Fire destroyed the Prendergast 
early mills, but they were quickly rebuilt. The 
second war with Great Britain also interferred 
with the growth of the settlement, and a sec- 
ond time the Prendergast buildings, were de- 
stroyed by fire, but James Prendergast clung 
to his belief in the value of the location, never 
lost his courage, and finally settlers began to 
arrive, the outlet was bridged and other im- 
provements followed. 

In the spring of 1815 the first operations in 
real estate began. A number of lots fifty by 
one hundred twenty feet were surveyed and 
placed on the market at $50 each, and we are 
told that $50 was the ruling price for a lot for 
a period of about ten years, beginning with 
1815. Under existing conditions this was 
enough, for there was little about the location 
in and of itself to attract any but the adven- 
turous pioneer. Indeed, Jamestown in 1815 
was little more than a crude lumber camp, as 
will be readily seen from the perusal of a 
sketch written by Judge Foote, who describes 
the village as follows: 

A one and one-half story gristmill building, with two 
runs of stones, two single sawmills and one gang saw- 
mill, all owned by James Prendergast. There was one 
small store of goods owned by Jediah and Martin 
Prendergast, of Mayville, managed by Thomas Disher, 
a clerk. Two small shanty blacksmith shops were 
occupied by Eleazer Daniels and Patrick Campbell, 
and a small out of doors tannery owned by John Burge 
and James Rice. The chief business was cutting lum- 
ber. In November, 1815, there were thirteen families 
living on Jamestown territory, occupying rude cabins, 
and some men without families. A few families lived 
in adjacent territory: one in the extreme northwestern 
corner of the city limits, and two or three at Cass 
Mills (East Jamestown). 

Among the early settlers whose names must 
always be included in any list of the "founders 
of Jamestown" are these: Abner Hazeltine, 
Daniel Hazeltine, Samuel Barrett, Samuel A. 
Brown, Thos. W. Harvey, Royal Keves, Rufus 
Pier, Wm. Hall, Silas Tiffany, Doctor Foote, 
Horace Allen, Col. Augustus F. Allen, Dascum 
Allen, Col. Henry Baker, Adolphus Fletcher, 
Solomon and Ellick Jones, Chas. R. Harvey, 
Silas Shearman, Geo. W. Tew, Wm. H. Tew, 
Woodley W. Chandler, and John W. Winsor. 

The settlement was locally known as "Pren- 
dergast Mills" and "The Rapids," but in 1815 
the name "Jamestown" was adopted, and a 



year or so later a post office was established 
and Jamestown was a fixture on the maps of 
the county. 

By 1827 the number of settlers had increased 
to such an extent that the desirability of a vil- 
lage government was manifest, and an act of 
incorporation passed by the Legislature be- 
came a law March 6, 1827. The first village 
election was held at the home of Solomon Jones 
and these officers were elected : Trustees, 
Thomas W. Harvey, Jediah E. Budlong, Dan- 
iel Hazeltine, Jr., Samuel Barrett, Alvin Plumb; 
treasurer, Samuel A. Brown; clerk, George W. 
Tew; collector, R. F. Fenton. After the elec- 
tion, E. T. Foote, Horace Allen, S. A. Brown, 
Abner Hazeltine and Joseph Waite were ap- 
pointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, 
and when their work was completed James- 
town was ready to assume the duties and re- 
sponsibilities of a village. 

The act incorporating the village of James- 
town was drawn with great care. In terse lan- 
guage, the act defined the rights and prescribed 
the duties of the inhabitants and officials, and 
all in all was a very satisfactory scheme of 
government, as may be inferred from the fact 
that the principles that were then laid down 
were in a large degree adhered to in the amend- 
ments made from time to time to meet the de- 
mands of a growing village. 

To adequately protect the village from the 
ravages of fire was one of the first duties of the 
newly formed village government, and to pro- 
vide fire protection a meeting was held July 5, 
1827. At that meeting it was decided to raise 
$300 by tax. Eventually it was raised, and 
August 31, 1829, the first fire company was 
organized — Fire Company No. 1. This com- 
pany had a little hand pump which was hauled 
to the nearest reservoir at the outbreak of a 
fire, and with a dozen muscular young men on 
the brakes did more or less effective work. 
The first officers of this company were: Ellick 
Jones, captain; William H. Tew, captain's 
mate; Phineas Palmeter, Jr., engineer; James 
H. Culver, assistant engineer. All these offi- 
cers were prominent citizens. Ellick Jones, 
the captain, was the father of Orsino E. Jones. 

It is evident from a perusal of the early vil- 
lage records that the purchase of equipment 
for the department, the management of the 
same and the selection of officers, cut quite a 
figure in the politics of the village, and the 
minutes of a meeting held May 13, 1844, show 
that the main topic for consideration was a 
fire department controversy. 

The first system of fire protection consisted 



104 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



of a series of small storage reservoirs located 
in various sections of the village. Crude hand 
engines supplied water pressure for hose and 
thus the villagers were able to cope with an 
ordinary blaze. With the growth of the vil- 
lage came the demand for additional reservoirs 
an & d engines and to meet this demand hose com- 
panies and engine companies were organized 
from time to time. The first engine company, 
Engine Company No. I, was later known as 
Deluge Engine Company, and claims the dis- 
tinction of being the oldest in the volunteer 
department. This claim was sharply disputed 
by the Ellicott Hook and Ladder Company, 
and there are no records available which deci- 
sively settle this dispute, although an impartial 
investigation which was conducted in August, 
180^ resulted in a decision that the Deluge 
Company was entitled to claim the seniority. 
The order in which the present companies 
of the department were organized is as fol- 
lows: Deluge Engine Company Ellicott Hook 
and Ladder Company, Rescue Hose Company. 
Eagle Hose Company, Prendergast Hose Com- 
pany, Jeffords Hose Company, Fire Police, 
Martyn Hose Company. 

The village grew so rapidly that in a few 
years it was found impracticable to adequately 
protect the buildings with the reservoir scheme, 
and a private company constructed a simple 
system of water works with mains running 
through the business section of Main street. 
Pressure was supplied by a large steam pump 
and thus the business section of ^village 
was fairly well protected, residents of the out- 
lying portions of the village still relying on 
the reservoirs and hand engines 

In 1886, a general system of water works 
was projected. This system covered the en- 
tire town, and with powerful steam pumps 
provided ample pressure for all localities^ Then 
the old hand engines were laid away forever, 
and the volunteer firemen assumed the task ot 
protecting the property of the vdlage under 
more favorable auspices. In turn, the volun 
teer department gave way to the modern paid 
department with motor equipment on e engines 
hose carts and hook and ladder trucks There 
are six fire stations with the most modern fire 
alarm system, having boxes all over th city 
Fire headquarters are at No. I Spring street, 
Howard S. Rodgers, chief (July, I9 2 °-) 
H The documents prepared by the Chautauqua 
County Bank in 1831, in which they applied for 
a charter from the Legislature set forth these 
reasons why a charter should be granted. 

In 1816 there was no post office within twenty miles 
of Jamestown where it is proposed to locate this bank. 



Population of Jamestown, January, 1827 393. 
Population of Jamestown, June, 1830, 884. 
It has now eleven stores, one woolen factory, one 
sash Factory, one gristmill with three run of stones, 
one gang sawmill, three common sawmills, two printing 
,, Slice- and a great number of mechanic establishments. 
V steamboat of eighty tons burden plies daily between 
Jamestown and Mayville on the Chautauqua Lake. 
One of the Lake Erie steamboats is solely employed in 
doing the business of Chautauqua county. 

Jamestown is ninety miles on the route usually trav- 
eled, from the nearest banking institution in this Mate 
(United States Branch Bank at Buffalo). The bank at 
Lockport is the nearest State institution. There is no 
bank in the southern tier of counties from Orange to 
Lake Erie. . . . 

The lumber included in this estimate is produced in 
a territory about the size of Chautauqua which is partly 
in this county, partly in the county of Cattaraugus, and 
partly in the State of Pennsylvania, and ot which 
Jame'stown is the commercial center. 

The county of Chautauqua ranks among the f.rst 
in the State for size, commercial advantages, and fer- 
tility of soil. It has no large swamps nor barren moun- 
tains, and is probably capable of supporting as numer- 
ous and dense a population as any in the State. 



The charter for this bank was granted April 
18 1831. The institution was organized under 
the safety fund act, with a capital of $100,000, 
and the privilege of issuing bills to twice the 
amount of the capital. The first directors were 
Leverett Barker, John G. Saxton, William Pea- 
cock, James Hall, Samuel Barrett, Jediah E. 
Budlong, Oliver Lee, Thomas Campbell, Dan- 
iel Shearman, Elial T. Foote, Alvin Plumb, 
Abner Hazeltine, Richard P. Marvin. The first 
officers were Elial T. Foote, president, with an 
allowance of one cent for each bill signed by 
him, and Arad Joy, cashier, with an annual 
salary of $55°- . ' . , . , 

The prudent, conservative policies adopted 
by the founders of this bank have always been 
strictly adhered to not only by their successors 
but also by the officials of the other excellent 
banking institutions which in the course of 
time followed, and it is a pleasure to record 
the fact that there has never been a bank failure 
in Tamestown, and that all the banks have at 
all 'times maintained the most harmonious re- 
lations with each other. The present banks ot 
the city (1920) are the Chautauqua County 
National Bank; First National Bank; Ameri- 
can National Bank; Bank of Jamestown; 
Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank; Liberty Na- 
tional Bank; Union Trust Company. 

James Prendergast, with his rare foresight 
early realized the temporary character of the 
lumber manufacturing business, and did every- 
thing possible to induce manufacturers in other 
lines to settle in Jamestown. This policy has 
always been adhered to, and new industries 
have" been liberally dealt with, the result that 








FIRST T I : ATX OF C \KS AT .TAMEST' >\VN. AI'iH ST -" . l v SH'HVTX" 

c>KD IHUDCK AT FOOT OF MAIN STREET 



THE CITY OF JAMESTOWN 



[65 



Jamestown is a manufacturing city, its growth 
due to the development of industrial enterprise. 

The first manufacturing industry of which 
there is any record was a small cabinet-making 
shop started by Royal Keyes about 1815. The 
same year the Chautauqua Manufacturing 
Company was organized for the manufacture 
of cloth, and each year has seen the number 
increase until to-day (July 6, 1920) Jamestown 
manufactures in city and suburbs, wood and 
metal furniture, voting machines, washing ma- 
chines, pianos, paving brick, wrenches, woolen 
dress goods, suitings, towels, window screens, 
blinds, tools, rubbing, carving and sanding ma- 
chines, mirrors, automobile running gears com- 
plete, veneer, and bee hives. The census 
(State) of 1915 gives the names of 96 principal 
manufacturing firms and states that there are 
73 smaller factories — in all employing 6,616 
men, 1,785 women, 141 children and 561 office 
workers. The largest employing concern was 
the Art Metal Construction Company, with 
two plants and 1,130 hands; the William Brod- 
head Mills second, with 809; and the Salisbury 
Wheel and Manufacturing Company, 335. 

The furniture factories employ by far the 
greater number of hands, 70 factories and 
about 5,000 people being engaged in that line 
of manufacture, the city ranking second in the 
manufacture of wood furniture. Twice a year 
a furniture market is held, hundreds of buyers 
coming to the city to select and place orders. 
A nine-story furniture exposition building has 
been erected, in which the goods are displaved 
and large additions are now planned. The 
worsted and woolen of Jamestown and Fal- 
coner are known through their products all 
over the land and have added greatly to the 
wealth of the city. At this writing, five years 
after the State census from which the fore- 
going figures are taken, there are 263 factories 
in and around Jamestown, representing a great 
variety of industries. 

Jamestown has always possessed a high 
grade of retail and wholesale merchants, and 
its stores of all kinds are modern examples of 
merchandising. The seven financial institu- 
tions of the city have ably played their part in 
the development of manufacturing and mer- 
chandising and the diversified industries of the 
city have attracted a very desirable class of 
citizens, of whom a large percentage own their 
own homes. 

The first railroad to reach the village of 
Jamestown was the Atlantic & Great Western, 
now a part of the Erie system, which ran its 
first train into the city August 23, i860. James- 
town is now on the main line of the Erie be- 



tween Chicago and New York, and is the south- 
ern terminal of the Buffalo & Southwestern 
branch of the Erie, and in close touch by street 
cars with the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & 
Pittsburgh railroad at Falconer, that road be- 
ginning at Dunkirk and terminating at Titus- 
ville, Pennsylvania. Jamestown is connected 
with the New York Central system by the 
Jamestown, Westfield & Northwestern rail- 
way and the Chautauqua Traction Com- 
pany, the lines of these roads extending from 
Jamestown to Westfield on both sides of Chau- 
tauqua Lake. At Mayville, connection is made 
with the Pennsylvania system. The James- 
town Street Railway serves the cities, Celoron 
and Falconer. The Warren & Jamestown 
Street Railway Company connects Jamestown 
with Warren, Pennsylvania, while excursion 
steamers make frequent trips around the lake 
touching at the various landings. 

Jamestown took upon herself the dignity of 
a city, April 19, 1886, after nearly a year spent 
in the discussion of the details incident to the 
preparation of a city charter. The committee 
of ten appointed to draft a charter was : Rob- 
ert N. Marvin, A. N. Broadhead, F. E. Gifford, 
Porter Sheldon, John T. Wilson, Orsino E. 
Jones, John J. Whitney, James I. Fowler, 
Jerome Preston and Oscar F. Price. The pro- 
posed charter, perfected to the satisfaction of 
all, was passed by the Legislature March 31, 
1886, the act was signed by Governor David B. 
Hill, and Jamestown became a city. By the 
provisions of this charter the city was divided 
into five wards. The legislative branch was 
vested in a common council or board of alder- 
men, with two representatives from each ward. 
The executive authority was vested in the 
mayor. The first election was held April 13, 
1886, and resulted as follows: Mayor, Oscar 
F. Price ; city clerk, Fred R. Peterson ; Alder- 
men, First Ward, Adam Ports, John G. Wicks ; 
Second Ward, W. T. Bradshaw, T. E. Gran- 
din ; Third Ward, C. F. Hedman, J. S. Ellis; 
Fourth Ward, Conrad A. Hult, E. F. Carpen- 
ter; Fifth Ward, H. S. Hall, E. R. Bootey ; 
police justice, Henry J. Yates; justices of the 
peace, Marshall P. Strunk, DeForest D. Wood- 
ford, Egburt E. Woodbury, Herbert U. Bain ; 
assessors, James C. Swanson, John W. John- 
son, John M. Farnham. There was no contest 
for the office of mayor. The total vote was 
1,950, of which number Mr. Price received 
1,780. 

The change from a village to a city took 
place on the evening of April 19, 1886, on which 
occasion the old board of trustees met, can- 
vassed the vote of the election and declared the 



[66 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



result. In retiring, Major Hiram Smith, one 
of the trustees, took occasion to review briefly 
the past history of Jamestown and express his 
confidence in the ability and integrity of the 
newly elected officials. 

In addition to the usual city officials, James- 
town has a board of estimate and review, a 
board of water and lighting commissioners, a 
board of hospital commissioners, a board of 
park and city planning commissioners, and a 
civil service commission. 

Jamestown was one of the pioneer cities of 
New York in advocating municipal ownership 
of public utilities. Just what has been accom- 
plished is best set forth in an address of wel- 
come delivered by Mayor Samuel A. Carlson 
to the New York State Conference of Mayors 
and Other City Officials in session in James- 
town the week of July 4, 1920: 

It is fitting that you should meet here because James- 
town is one of the cities in which many successful ex- 
periments in municipal democracy have been made. 

We invite you to inspect our municipally owned 
water works, which is self-sustaining and which, not- 
withstanding our high hills and high cost of labor and 
material has continued to supply our citizens with the 
purest water on earth at the low cost of one cent per 
barrel. 

We invite you to examine our municipally owned 
lighting system by the means of which we are able to 
supply electric light at 4'Ac per K. W. And we call 
your attention to the fact that notwithstanding this low 
rate, the plant pays all expenses, all interest and prin- 
cipal on bonds and makes proper allowance for depre- 
ciation. The plant has never cost the taxpayers a 
dollar, except the $48.00 per year charge for each 
street light, and it has met the test and scrutiny of 
every antagonistic expert investigator. 

We invite you to look over our municipally owned 
public market system and building which has paid for 
itself without any tax assistance and which is patron- 
ized by thousands of our people every week. 

We invite you to inspect our municipally owned hos- 
pital which is maintained at a cost to the city of less 
than one cent per week per capita, and in which 15,000 
persons have been treated since its establishment ten 
years ago. We hold that it is just as much the func- 
tion of city government to rescue a citizen's life from 
the menace of disease as it is to rescue his property 
from the menace of fire. 

We invite you to inspect our municipally owned 
sand and gravel pit and our municipally constructed 
pavements, by which we have eliminated the profiteer- 
ing element usually imposed by contractors. 

We invite you to visit our beautiful parks, our insti- 
tutions of worship and social uplift, our Chadakoin 
Valley, filled with thriving industries, and our hillsides 
covered with homes owned by those who toil in these 
industries. Wherever you find home-owners you find 
no Bolsheviki. 

We call your attention to the annual publication of 
our entire assessment roll, which enables our whole 
taxpaying citizenship to constitute itself into a board 
of review. Less than 1 per cent, of our total tax levy 
remains uncollected in any year. 

We call your attention to our sanitary method of 
handling garbage by which each householder is re- 



quired to wrap his garbage in paper bundles thereby 
minimizing the task of its collection and rendering it 
suitable for consumption by some 500 hogs, making 
an inexpensive substitute for a disposal plant. 

Our milk supply is subject to a bacteriological test at 
a laboratory conducted by our Health Department. 

And all our health regulations are such that James- 
town now enjoys, I believe, the lowest death rate of 
any city in this State. We put the emphasis on a low 
death rate rather than a low tax rate. 

We call your attention to the fact that we have suc- 
cessfully put into practice the referendum method of 
determining important questions of public policy on 
which citizens are divided in opinion. 

And all commissioners in charge of our public utili- 
ties are appointed without any reference whatsoever 
to partisan politics. 

Had this speech been delivered about six 
weeks later, Mayor Carlson could have re- 
ferred to the municipal milk plant which was 
voted at a special election held in August, 1920. 

These innovations did not come easily or 
quickly, but through the public-spirited leaders 
and the determination of the citizens. The mu- 
nicipal lighting plant was won after a long 
fight, and at a special election held September 
26, 1890, three propositions were submitted to 
the voters of Jamestown — one to issue bonds 
for the construction of a sewer system, car- 
ried ; another, to issue bonds for paving, lost ; 
another, to issue bonds for the equipment of 
an electric light plant. Bonds were issued and 
sold at a premium, the contract for the con- 
struction and equipment of the plant was let, 
and on July 4, 1891, at 9 p. m., the machinery 
was started and electric lights flashed up in all 
parts of the city. During the evening a demon- 
stration was arranged in honor of George M. 
Martyn, one of the leaders in the fight, and 
later a considerable sum was subscribed by his 
friends, and a bronze drinking fountain was 
erected at the corner of Main and Third streets. 

The sewer system was begun at the corner 
of Sprague and West Second streets on the 
morning of April 11, 1893, and paving followed 
naturally. A determined effort was made in 
1893 to secure the removal of the county seat 
from Mayville to Jamestown, but on submis- 
sion of the question to the voters of the county 
the proposition was lost, there being 282 votes 
cast "against" in Jamestown, which had they 
been cast "for" would have brought the county 
seat to Jamestown. The city quietly acquiesced 
in the decision and at once began the erection 
of a City Hall, costing $85,000, the cornerstone 
being laid with Masonic ceremonies, Septem- 
ber 28, 1895. 

Public improvements followed fast, and 
finally an abundant and unfailing water supply 
became the great unsolved problem. The 
Jamestown Water Supply Company had sue- 




V II A I.!.- -.IAMKSTi i\\ X 



THE CITY OF JAMESTOWN 



[67 



ceeded to the earlier rights and franchises 
granted by village trustees and city aldermen, 
and had a plant which gave the city satisfac- 
tory pressure for fire protection, and there was 
no objection to the quality of the water or the 
service. But municipal water service was de- 
manded and a committee was appointed to in- 
vestigate the two plants which had been 
bought — the purchase of the plant of the 
Jamestown Water Supply Company and the 
erection of a new plant. The committee em- 
ployed J. F. Witmer, a hydraulic engineer, who 
began his work January 21, 1901, reported in 
September, 1901, and negotiations were opened 
for the purchase of the plant of the water com- 
pany. A proposition to purchase the plant for 
$600,000 was submitted to the voters, a bill was 
enacted creating a water commission, bonds of 
the city were sold, and on April 1, 1903, the city 
took possession of its own water supply sys- 
tem. 

The source of supply is at Levant, three or 
four miles east of the city. Artesian wells tap 
an unfailing supply of pure and cold water. 
This supply has been constant even during the 
greatest drought and it is believed it will be 
ample to supply the city for all time to come. 

Oscar F. Price was mayor of Jamestown 
from its incorporation as a city until 1894, 
when he retired, and Eleazer Green was elected 
by practically a unanimous vote. Mr. Green 
had for some years been one of the leading 
attorneys of the city and an active and aggres- 
sive Republican. In an appreciative and timely 
biographical sketch, the "Journal" said: "His 
nomination was a recognition of his fitness, 
progressive business spirit and sterling integ- 
rity, and his overwhelming election was 
further proof of the trust reposed in him. No 
man could enter upon his official career with 
greater evidence of esteem and confidence than 
does Mr. Green. He was selected with the ex- 
pectation that the city would be conducted in 
a business manner, and that there should be a 
clean, creditable administration." 

Mayor Green took the oath of office in the 
Common Council chamber May 7, 1894. On 
that occasion Mayor Price presented to Mayor 
Green the handsome silver tipped gavel which 
he had received so many years ago, and said he 
was glad to surrender this emblem of authority 
to a man of honor and ability. "Since coming 
to this council eleven years ago," said Mayor 
Price, "the city has more than doubled its 
population. This has been due to the enter- 
prise of her citizens and to the wisdom of those 
who have shaped its destiny during the early 
days of its cityhood." 



In the fall of 1895 Mr. Green was elected dis- 
trict attorney of Chautauqua county, assuming 
the duties of the office January 1, 1896. He 
therefore retired from office upon the expira- 
tion, and was succeeded as mayor by Oscar F. 
Price, his predecessor, who two years later was 
succeeded by Henry H. Cooper, who took the 
oath of office April 11, 1898. In the spring of 
1900, Mayor Cooper was succeeded by J. Emil 
Johnson, during whose administration the mu- 
nicipal water plant was acquired. 

In 1908 Samuel A. Carlson was elected 
mayor of Jamestown and in 1920 he began his 
seventh term as chief executive of the city. 

The following table gives the population of 
Jamestown from 1827 down to the last census: 
1827, 393; 1830, 884; 1840, 1,212; 1845, 1,642; 
1855, 2,625; i860, 3,155; 1870, 5,336; 1880, 
9,357; 1890, 16,038; 1892, 18,627; 1900, 22,892; 
1905, 26,160; 1910, 31.297; 1915, 37.78o; 1920, 
38,898, corrected, 38,917. 

The schools of Jamestown are included in 
the educational chapter, Dr. Rovillus R. Rogers, 
editor. Jamestown is a city of churches, and 
perhaps no city in the State has in proportion 
to its population as large a religious element 
or as many imposing church edifices. Rev. 
Eliot C. Hall in 1900 prepared a brief sketch 
of Jamestown's church history, which is here 
quoted, as it contains all the essential facts 
concerning the various church denominations : 

The early settlers were, for the most part, interested 
in religious matters, and favored the formation of 
churches. Many meetings, however, were held before 
any church was formed, and no minister of any denomi- 
nation visited the place without being invited to preach. 

The First Congregational Church was organized in 
1816 by Rev. John Spencer, a missionary from Con- 
necticut, and legally incorporated in 1821. 

A Methodist class was formed at_ Worksburg in 
1814, and a Congregational church in what is now 
Kiatitone, in 1815. (Both Worksburg and Kiantone 
were then in the town of Ellicott, in which township 
Jamestown was also located.) A building formerly 
used for school purposes known as the Old Academy 
served as a place of worship until the year 182S. when 
a church building was erected on the southwest corner 
of Main and Fifth streets. 

A commodious brick church edifice was erected in 
1869 on East Third street, which has been enlarged 
and remodeled and is now used by this church. 

Rev. Isaac Eddy was the first pastor of the church. 

The present First Methodist Episcopal Church grew 
out of the class formed at Worksburg in 1814. This 
class was duly organized into a church and moved to 
Jamestown in 1S23. Their first church edifice was 
erected at the junction of Second and Chandler streets, 
and completed in 1833. They now occupy a fine brick 
structure which has a seating capacity of about 1,500. 
This church has had a remarkably vigorous growth, 
and has the largest membership of any of the English- 
speaking churches of the city. 

The First Baptist Church was organized in 1832. 
Their first church edifice was built in 1833. The present 



i68 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



building, constructed of Warsaw blue stone, is one of the 
finest in the city. It is situated at the corner of Fourth 
and Church streets and is a monument to the zeal and 
devotion of both pastor and people. 

The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 
1834 by Rev. E. J. Gillett, forty-one members of the 
Congregational church having withdrawn to unite in 
its formation. In 1837 a substantial church edifice was 
built of wood, on the corner of West Third and Cherry 
streets. This building was burned in 1S77, but was 
replaced by a large and commodious brick edifice, the 
interior of which was destroyed by fire in 1890. The 
building was immediately rebuilt with all modern con- 
veniences and facilities for church work. The church 
has a large and growing membership, and has been ably 
served by its pastors. 

St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church was organ- 
ized in 1834, but was without a stated pastor until the 
year 1853, when Rev. Levi W. Norton took charge of 
this parish. The first church building of wood, erected 
on the corner of Main and Fourth streets, was conse- 
crated in 1856. This building was burned in 1862 and 
replaced by a second building upon the same founda- 
tion in 1865. The present beautiful church edifice was 
the munificent gift of the late Mrs. Mary A. Prender- 
gast, as a memorial to her daughter, Catherine. It is 
constructed of Medina sandstone, is fire-proof and 
complete in all its equipments. It has a clock tower 
which contains the only chime of bells in the city. 

The Free Methodist Church was incorporated in 
1874, the outgrowth of a class formed in 1871. The 
present church building was erected in 1884 on the 
corner of Lincoln and East Seventh streets. 

SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church occupies 
a fine stone building on the corner of West Sixth and 
Cherry streets. For a number of years Jamestown 
was part of a large parish embracing several towns 
served by one church official. In 1874 a separate par- 
ish was formed here under the care of Rev. Father 
Richard Coyle, under whose wise administration the 
church greatly prospered. 

The English Lutheran Church has a modest brick 
house of worship on West Fourth street. The church 
was organized by Rev. S. G. Weiskotten in 1877. 

The First Unitarian Church was organized by Rev. 
J. G. Townsend as an Independent Congregational 
Church in 1885. Its church property at the junction 
of East Second and Chandler streets was purchased 
from the First Methodist Episcopal Church and com- 
pletely remodeled and refurnished. 

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was 
organized in 1882 as a Union Church, but subsequently 
placed itself under the care of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Conference. It has a new church building 
on its lot on Spring street. 

The Seventh Day Adventists have a church building 
on Cherry street. 

The First Church of Christ (Scientist) has a unique 
church building on the corner of East Fourth street 
and Prendergast avenue. 

A Primitive Methodist Church has recently been 
organized, and a house of worship erected on Allen 
street. 

The Brooklyn Heights Methodist Episcopal Church 
has a neat house of worship on the corner of Sprague 
and Palmer streets. 

The Salvation Army holds services in both the Eng- 
lish and Swedish languages. There are also six chapels 
where Sunday Schools and occasional preaching serv- 
ices are held. 

There is also a Spiritualistic and a Theosophic Soci- 
ety which meet by appointment in different places. 



Jamestown has a large Swedish population, and thev 
are largely a church-going people. A Swedish Metho'- 
dist Episcopal Church was formed here as early as 
1852. This church now occupies a fine brick struc- 
ture on the corner of Chandler street and Foote ave- 
nue. 

The First Swedish Lutheran Church was organized 
in 1857. Rev. Carl Otto Hultgren, D. D., became 
pastor in 1864. A large and imposing Medina sand 
stone church building is located on Chandler street. 

The Swedish Mission Church was organized in 1879 
and has recently erected a fine brick building on Chand- 
ler street. 

The Swedish Christian Zion Church was organized 
by members who withdrew from the Mission Church 
and have a fine brick house of worship on College 
street. 

The Swedish Immanuel Lutheran Church was formed 
from members who withdrew from the First Lutheran 
Church in 1887. They have a commodious brick 
church on East Second street. 

A Danish service is held each Sunday in the Congre- 
gational church on Institute street. 

Since the above was written, the PilgTim 
Memorial Church has been located on McKin- 
ley and Forest avenues. The Salvation Army 
has a handsome citadel on the corner of Spring 
and Third streets. The Calvary Baptist Church 
is located at the corner of Ashville and Liv- 
ingston avenues. The Swedish Baptist Church 
is located on Chandler street. St. James' 
Church, Roman Catholic, is situated on Vic- 
toria avenue. Holy Trinity, English Lutheran, 
is located on Fourth street, between North 
Main and Cherry. Buffalo Street Methodist 
Episcopal Church, at Buffalo and Falconer 
streets. Grace United Brethren Church at 
North Main and Fourteenth streets. 

The newspapers of the city are: 

The Chautauqua Democrat (weekly). Pub- 
lished by the Jamestown Evening News Com- 
pany. 

The Evening Journal. Published daily ex- 
cept Sunday, at 12 West Second street by The 
■Journal Printing Company, Frederick P. Hall, 
president and general manager; James A. 
Clary, vice-president and managing editor; 
Henri M. Hall, treasurer and business man- 
ager. 

The Jamestown Journal. Twice-a-week, 
published at 12 West Second street, by The 
Journal Printing Company (for officers see 
above) ; established 1826. 

The Morning Post. Published daily except 
Sunday at 311-313 Washington street, by The 
Post Publishing Company, Ralph C. Sheldon, 
president ; Edward L. Allen, secretary and 
managing editor; Robert K. Beach, treasurer 
and business manager. Established in 1901. 

The Evening News. Published daily except 
Sunday, by the Jamestown Evening News 
Company. Inc. 307 Spring. 









^ 








Ml 




felk 




^BJ 






9a 














... m 


.~ip| 





PENTON HO 




THE CITY OF JAMESTOWN 



169 



The St. Clairsville Commercial. Published 
every Thursday by The Jamestown Evening 
News Company. 

The Vart Land (Swedish). Published at 
307 Spring street every Thursday by the Vart 
Land Company, F. G. Curtis, president ; S. A. 
Carlson, secretary. 

Skandia (Swedish). Published every Thurs- 
day by Liberty Printing Company, 14 West 
Second ; C. E. Lindstone, editor. 

The Union Advocate. Published every 
Thursday by The Jamestown Evening News 
Company, 307 Spring. 

The Furniture Index. Devoted to furniture 
trade, and published once a month by the Fur- 
niture Trade Publishing Company. 

The following are the philanthropic institu- 
tions of the city : 

The Woman's Christian Association Hospital, corner 
Foote avenue and Allen street, one of the best in the 
country, and supported largely by voluntary contribu- 
tions. 

Gustavus Adolphus Orphans' Home, 1381 East Sec- 
ond street. This institution is, controlled toy the Lu- 
theran Augustana Synod (Swedish). 

During the year 191 1 the O. E. Jones Memorial Hos- 
pital, erected on a tract of ground willed to the city 
by O. E. Jones, was opened to the public. 

Jamestown has a number of handsome public build- 
ings, viz.: Federal building, City Hall, James Prender- 
gast Library and Art Gallery; State Armory. 

The Young Men's Christian Association owns a 
building and plant valued at $100,000, and the Young 
Women's Christian Association a handsome building, 
which with lot cost $65,000. 

The Agnes Association owns a large brick residence 
and grounds which is conducted as a boarding home 
for working girls. 

The Warner Home for the Aged, the latest of James- 
town's benevolent institutions, had its beginning in 
191 1 and received at the hands of Mrs. Mary H. War- 
ner the L. B. Warner homestead in Forest avenue as 
a memorial to Mr. Warner, who died in 1905. 

A comprehensive park system has been planned and 
a park commission composed of public-spirited citizens 
who have given and are giving much time gratuitously 
to the work of developing these parks into beauty spots 
that will be a credit to the city. One of the largest of 
these parks is the Allen Park located on the south side, 
a most picturesque and beautiful spot. 

What is known as the "Hundred Acre Lot," a wood- 
land lying on the 'borders of the city has been acquired, 
through public subscription, for the particular benefit 
of the pupils of the public schools. 

There are two parks on the north side, one between 
West Fourth and West Fifth streets, known as Baker 
Park, and the other between West Sixth and West 
Seventh streets, known as Dow Park. 

The Soldiers' Memorial Park, the purchase of which 
was authorized at a taxpayers' election in the spring of 
1919, has been turned over to the local American 
Legion Post as a Memorial Home for Jamestown's 
soldiers. This park was formerly the Governor Fen- 
ton Homestead, is near the center of the city and with 
the mansion and grounds is a very fitting memorial 
to the soldier boys. 



The Jones Memorial Park is on the shores of Chau- 
tauqua lake outlet. It is still in a rough state but in 
time will be made into a modern park. 

The area of the city is approximately nine 
and one-half square miles, or 6,136 acres. There 
are more than 33 miles of paving, mostly shale 
brick, although some of the business streets 
are paved with bitulithic and asphalt block. 

The assessed valuation of the city in 1908 
was $13,347,981 ; in 1909, $13,498,331 ; in 1910, 
$14,133,149; in 1912, $16,046,366; in 1913, $16,- 
981,395; in 1914, $16,455,020; in 1915, $I7»7 I 3.- 
396, and in 1918, $23,850,405. 

On the settlement of the affairs of James 
Prendergast, son of Alexander T. and grand- 
son of James Prendergast, the founder of 
Jamestown, whose funeral was held December 
26, 1879, a brief memoranda was found which 
requested that the business block at the corner 
of Main and Third streets should be made 
available as an endowment for a free public 
library. On January 2, 1880, The James Pren- 
dergast Library Association was incorporated, 
and January 3, the association was duly organ- 
ized and took title to the property. Mary 
(Norton) Prendergast, mother of James and 
wife of Alexander T. Prendergast, and the last 
survivor of the family, died in Rochester, De- 
cember 22, 1889. By will she devised the by 
far greater part of her estate to public pur- 
poses. The various Prendergast bequests are 
as follows : 

The James Prendergast Library (which has ex- 
tended notice in chapter on Libraries) was completed 
at a cost of $60,000, and furnished with an art gallery 
costing $45,000. The grounds upon which the building 
is located cover an entire city square in one of the 
best residence districts of the city. It was opened to 
the public, December 1, 1891, and then contained 8,666 
volumes, a number which has been constantly increased 
during the twenty-nine years the Library has been in 
existence. 

A bronze drinking fountain erected near one of the 
main entrances to Lake View Cemetery at a cost of 
$2,000. 

The magnificent St. Luke's Episcopal Church edifice, 
erected at a cost of $125,000. 

The sum of $2,000 set aside and the income derived 
therefrom is divided annually into four prizes to be 
paid to students in the Jamestown schools for superior 
merit in scholarship, the same to be determined by 
competitive examinations. 

The sum of $500 set aside and the income derived 
therefrom is expended in the purchase of books for 
the librarv of the Mission Sunday School conducted 
under the auspices of the Woman's Christian Associa- 
tion. 

The rental of the Prendergast building at the corner 
of Main and Third streets provides an income suffi- 
cient to defray the operating expenses of the library. 
Thus it will be seen that the Prendergast family im- 
posed no restrictions, for they not only built the library 



170 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



but they equipped it, and provided an endowment suffi- 
cient to support it for all time to come — a truly roval 
gift. 

The general welfare of the city of James- 
town is promoted by a Chamber of Commerce, 
a Manufacturers' Association and lesser busi- 
ness organizations. The fraternal orders are 
well represented, the Elks, Eagles, Odd Fel- 
lows and Masonic orders all being well housed 
in their own buildings. There are many liter- 
ary, musical, art and social clubs. 

The leading clubs are the Jamestown Nor- 
den and Mozart, the list, however, being capa- 
ble of great extension. There is a chapter of 



the Sons of the Revolution located in the city 
and a chapter of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution. Other patriotic orders are: 
James Hall Camp, No. n, Sons of Veterans; 
James M. Brown Post, No. 285, G. A. R. ; 
Woman's Relief Corps, No. 73 ; Encampment 
No. 95, Union Veteran Legion ; Auxiliary No. 
24, Ladies of the Union Veteran Legion ; Ira 
Lou Spring Post, American Legion. 

There are lodges of the Scandinavian Fra- 
ternal Association of America, Swedish Broth- 
erhood, Swedish Sisterhood, Sons of St. George, 
Daughters of St. George, and many others, 
social, athletic, religious and fraternal. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Towns : Ellington — French Creek — Gerry — Hanover — Harmony. 



Ellington* — He who attempts to write the 
history of people who existed, and events that 
transpired nearly a century ago, perpetuated 
largely in the memory of the few who are liv- 
ing and the sayings of the many who are dead, 
must needs feel that there is danger often of 
weaving into the story an occasional thread of 
fiction ; but the writer has endeavored in this 
instance to search for truth, reconcile conflict- 
ing statements and wherever possible to sub- 
stantiate the record by documentary proof. 

To the few representatives of the "Old Fami- 
lies" who are left to tell their stories and re- 
count the doings and sayings of their ances- 
tors, the author of this brief history desires to 
extend his grateful acknowledgments ; know- 
ing that the records of many persons who con- 
tributed largely to the material development of 
the town and the intellectual and moral prog- 



early settlers came from that State and Massa- 
chusetts and Vermont. 

On April 1, 1824, it was set off from the 
town of Gerry, and at that time included the 
town of Cherry Creek ; the latter town being 
set apart from Ellington, May 4, 1829. It is 
township number three of the tenth range of 
the Holland Land Company's survey, and em- 
braces about 23,000 acres of land. 

The major part of its surface is undulating 
upland. The principal valleys are the valleys 
of Clear creek and its tributaries. The sources 
of Clear creek are in the neighboring towns of 
Gerry and Charlotte. It enters the northwest 
part of the town on lot 56, and running south- 
easterly through the central portions of the 
town empties into the Conewango east of the 
village of Clear Creek in Cattaraugus county. 
The northeast corner of the town takes in a 



ress of this community, must pass without portion of the Conewango Valley, that stream 



mention, owing to the lack of sufficient data 
and sources of information. Families, promi- 
nent in an early day, have become extinct, or 
their descendants have moved away, and the 
brief record of their lives exist only in the 
memory of the living or some old structure or 
landmark that reflects the work of their hands. 

I, therefore, beg to invoke the charitable 
criticism of any who may feel interested in this 
necessarily brief review of the first centenary 
of Ellington and its people. 

The town of Ellington is bounded on the 
north by the town of Cherry Creek, on the 
west by the town of Gerry, south by the town 
of Poland, and on the east by Cattaraugus 
county. It is understood to have been named 
after Ellington in Connecticut. Most of the 

♦This narrative is by Mr. Theodore A. Case. 



passing through the northeast corner of lot 7 
and centrally through lot 8 and through the 
northeast corner of lot 16. 

The village of Ellington is located on lots 
28 and 29, at about the center of the town, and 
in the valley of Clear creek and Twenty-eight 
creek, which streams unite just east of the vil- 
lage. The present population of the village is 
about 400, and of the town about 1,400. Two 
and one-half miles east of the village and on 
the county-line road between Chautauqua and 
Cattaraugus, is the village of Clear Creek, and 
one and one-fourth miles north of the latter 
place on lot 7 is Conewango Valley, a station 
on the Buffalo & Southwestern railroad. From 
this place a bus runs twice a day, carrying mail 
and passengers to and from Ellington via Clear 
Creek. Four and one-half miles to the south 
is Kennedv, in Poland ; a station on the Erie 



TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



171 



railroad which takes much of the travel and 
traffic from Ellington. 

Ellington is essentially a dairy town and has 
long been famous for its fine butter and cheese. 
Its diversified surface affords good grazing 
and plenty of water and the farmer who is 
attentive to his calling seldom fails of an abun- 
dant harvest. 

In the town are two steam mills engaged in 
the manufacture of lumber, by Charles J. Main 
and by Mason H. Terry. Among the citizens of 
the village of Ellington who are actively en- 
gaged in business pursuits are the following: 
On the west side of the public park is the dry 
goods store and the general store of Luce 
Brothers, and in the south half of the same 
block the drug store of George G. Gilbert is 
located, also the village post office. On the 
south side is the grist mill and the flour and 
feed business of Luce Brothers, the garage of 
Miske & Dye, Odd Fellows Hall and Murray's 
Grocery. On the east side is the general store 
of Charles A. Seekins and the shop of A. D. 
Kellogg, barber and watch repairer. On the 
north side is Grange Hall, the brick hardware 
store of The George B. Waith Company, and 
the blacksmith shop of Axel Tell. On west 
Main street is the law office of Theodore A. 
Case and the blacksmith shop of Willard Al- 
drich. At Conewango Valley on the Chau- 
tauqua side of the street, Mark Hopkins has a 
general store ; Charles J. Mahon and D. A. 
Seager are also merchants of that village. The 
Bagg store and mill is on the Cattaraugus side 
of the street. 

The fact as to who was the first actual set- 
tler in the town of Ellington, as its boundaries 
are at present constituted, seems to be a matter 
of some little doubt, but the best authorities 
agree that the first opening in the forest was 
made in the northeast part of the town on lot 
7 and Joshua Bentley is credited as being the 
first actual settler. It is claimed, however, and 
perhaps justly, that another party, whose 
name is unknown, made a clearing and erected 
a log cabin near the same place a year or two 
in advance of Bentley, but remained only a 
short time. Mr. Bentley came from Stephen- 
town, Rensselaer county, this State, in 1814, 
and by the joint labors of himself and wife 
constructed a rude log cabin on the east part of 
the lot above named, near the present site of 
the dwelling now owned by Eldred Bentley, at 
Conewango Valley. The following year 'Mr. 
Bentley purchased 300 acres on lot 16, and 
about the same time land on lots 9 and 15 of 
the present town of Cherry Creek. Mr. Bent- 
ley's son, Joshua, Jr., who it appears was for 



a time engaged with a party of surveyors, 
came about the same time as his father, and 
in the spring of 181 5 settled on lot 15 of the 
Cherry Creek purchase. Later the records 
show that Joshua Bentley, Jr., bought a part 
of lot 5 in the town of Ellington and built a 
frame dwelling, the same now owned by Lu- 
man Mather, north of Clear creek. 

Following Joshua Bentley, Sr., about three 
years later came his brother, Eldred Bentley, 
from the same place, and settled on lot 15, 
about three-fourths of a mile to the west on 
the line of the old Chautauqua road. From 
these two brothers sprang the numerous fami- 
lies of Bentleys that reside in that and other 
portions of this town and Cherry Creek. 

With the opening up of this portion of the 
old Mayville and Ellicottville road in 1814, 
settlers were attracted to lands lying along 
its course. In the spring of 1815, James Bates, 
with his family, came from Onondaga county, 
but originally from Massachusetts, and settled 
on lot 48. In 1816 Benjamin Follet settled on 
lot 40, building a log house on the same prem- 
ises now owned by Frank Bentley. The same 
year Samuel McConnell, from Cayuga county, 
N. Y., located on lot 47, west of Follet's, where 
the road crosses the Clear Creek Valley, later 
known as the Boyd farm. In 181 7 Abner 
Bates, from Chesterfield, Mass., came with his 
family, consisting of his wife (Nancy) and five 
children, Vinal, Joseph P., Maria, Alvah and 
Corydon, and settled on lots 48 and 56. For 
the first year Mr. Bates was obliged to bring 
most of his family supplies from Fredonia on 
his back. The same year Reuben Penhollow 
arrived from Pittsfield, Mass., and settled on 
lot 39. Dwight Bates settled on the same lot, 
on the farm now owned by Joseph Luce. Ben- 
jamin Rider settled on lot 48, later known as 
the Kinsman place. In 1820 Benjamin Ells- 
worth settled on lot 31, known as the Throop 
farm, coming from Hartford county, Conn., on 
foot, bringing all his worldly possessions in a 
little bundle swung over his shoulder. He 
built a log house the same year and later mar- 
ried Calista Day, daughter of William Day, of 
Cattaraugus county. These are a few of the 
early settlers along the line of the old Chau- 
tauqua road, while in other parts of the town, 
outside of the present village limits, we note 
the following: In 1816 Simon Lawrence drove 
through from Rutland county, Vermont, with 
an ox-team and located on lot 38 in the Clear 
Creek Valley. After providing shelter for him- 
self and family he proceeded to clear the side- 
hill back of his log house and plant an 
orchard, the first in town; many of the trees 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



are still standing. His son, Simon Lawrence, 
Jr., who was born upon the premises soon after 
his parents came, succeeded to the ownership 
upon his father's death and spent his whole 
life there. He died a few years since and his 
youngest son, Edgar P., now owns and occu- 
pies the old homestead. The same year Ward 
King, from Massachusetts, located in the 
northeast part of the town on lot 16. In 1817 
Charles Thacher, from Vermont, settled on 
lot 64, and the following year Oliver Bugbee 
on lot 23, Nathan Billings on lot 21, known 
as the Nye farm, and his brother, Daniel Bill- 
ings, on lot 13, later known as the Alverson 
farm. In 1821 Rolli Rublee, from Pittsfield, 
Mass., settled on lot 12, building a log house 
on the south bank of Clear creek, near the 
present iron bridge opposite the Day school 
house, and later a slab house on the farm now 
owned by Lorenzo Green. The same year 
Hiram Putnam, a brother of the late Worthy 
Putnam, settled on lot 4, east of Rublee's; he 
married a daughter of Simon Lawrence. 

In 1822 the population was largely increased. 
Among the new settlers were : Enos Bush, lot 
1 ; Samuel Newton and Gershum Newton, lot 
46; Gardner Bentley and Benjamin Carr, lot 
16; James Leach, lot 18; Amos Leach, lot 11 ; 
John Leach, lot 10; Benjamin Livermore, lot 
1 ; Henry Abbey, lot 32 ; Hosea Saxton, lot 25 ; 
David Gates, lot n; Henry Day, lot 24; Sey- 
mour Saxton, lot 18; Jeremiah West, lot 10; 
Z. L. Bemus, lot 1 ; Ira Gates, lot 19; Nathan 
Bugbee (brother of Wyman) lot 20; John 
Woodward, Jr., lot 2. Mr. Woodward was 
seven years supervisor of the town, and in 1835 
was elected member of Assembly. He was 
grandfather of Hon. John Woodward, later 
justice of the Supreme Court. He with his 
brother David, who later settled on lot 9, 
moved to the west. 

In 1823 Daniel C. Green settled on lot 24 
and Moses Wheeler on lot 43. In 1824 Orrin 
Fairbanks, lot 3 ; Enos Preston, lot 60 ; Oran 
Kingsley, Jr.. (father of the late Calvin Kings- 
ley, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church), lot 34; Otis Page, lot 34; Charles 
Crowfoot, lot 49; Ransom Williams, lot 18; 
Nathan Brown and David Ransom, lot 37 ; 
Julius Dewey, lot 38. In 1825 Friend L. Fisk, 
lot 44; Nathaniel Fuller, lot 54; Isaac Harmon, 
lot 36; Joseph B. Eddy, lot 52; Nathaniel Dun- 
ham, lot 60 ; James Tracy, lot 35 ; Elijah Green, 
lot 20; Veranus Page, lot 12; Isaac Holland, 
lot 35. In 1826 Israel Carpenter, lot 46; Rich- 
ard G. Farman and Jason Bumpus, lot 57. In 
1827 George Anderson, lot 20; Abram Holland, 
lot 25. 1828, Ira Day, lot 13. 1829, Dr. Wil- 



liam Ware, lot 5. 1830, Jonathan Slater, lot 
36, and Levi Warner, lot 32. 1832, Isaiah Nes- 
sel and Joseph B. Nessel, his brother, lot 38; 
Isaac Helmick, lot 51, and Lewis Rice, lot 21. 
1833, John N. White, lot 27. 1834, Salmon T. 
Case, and the following year his father Elipha- 
let Case, lot 63, and Andrew P. White, lot 42. 
1835, Allen Bagg and Franzier Luce, lot 28; 
Henry Altenburg, lot 63. 1836, Chauncey Fox, 
lot 54 ; Hiram Bagg, lot 27 ; John Shaw, lot 46, 
and Henry Wheeler, lot 38. 

The foregoing comprise a few of the names 
of the early settlers, most of whom were origi- 
nal purchasers from the Holland Land Com- 
pany, but the list must necessarily be brief; 
enough, however, has been given to show that 
the forest-covered hills, in those early days, 
presented to the settler, in pursuit of a home, 
attractions equal to the more fertile valleys 
and low lands. Possibly the rock-ribbed hills 
of their former New England homes, as con- 
trasted with the more moderately sloping hill- 
sides of their new found possessions, made the 
latter seem to them a pleasing heritage fraught 
with greater possibilities. Certain it was that 
the majestic pine and the oak that dotted in 
such profusion the uplands, must have been to 
them a convincing argument that their giant 
forms indicated a soil of untold wealth and 
richness beneath their spreading branches. 

Among the early industries established in 
the town, outside the village, we note the fol- 
lowing: 

Simon Lawrence, in 1820, built the first saw- 
mill, which was located on Clear Creek on lot 
29, on land bought by Frederick Love. Some 
of the remains of the old mill can be seen to 
this day, near the iron bridge crossing the lat- 
ter stream on the Clapp Hill road. Other saw- 
mills were built in town by different individuals 
and about in the order named. John Stafford, 
on Clear Creek, lot 20; Ira Day, on the same 
stream about one-fourth of a mile east on lot 
12; Silas Rider, on lot 29, northeast of William 
Clapp's residence; Jonathan Slater on Twenty- 
eight Creek, on land now owned by Gust. W. 
Engdahl ; Oliver Carpenter in the Rice neigh- 
borhood ; the Avery Porter mill about three- 
fourths of a mile west of Slater's; the McCul- 
lough mill on lot 62, west of Henry Harris's ; 
Henry Wheeler's mill adjoining his gristmill 
near Simon Lawrence, and the Gardner Gil- 
bert mill on the farm lately owned by David 
White. All of these mills have either been de- 
stroyed by flood, torn down, or burned up. 

The first gristmill was built by Ward King, 
in 1820, in the northeast part of the town, on 
lot 16. He fashioned the stones obtained from 






TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



173 



a neighboring quarry, using for the bolt 
bleached cotton cloth, bringing the water to his 
mill through hollow logs and using an overshot 
wheel. Such mills were called in those days 
"corn-crackers." 

The first tannery in town was established by 
Elijah and Elliot Mason, near Clear Creek, in 
1828. They sold the property to Philip M. 
Smith, who continued the business for many 
years. About two years later Lockwood & 
Hough started a wool-carding and cloth-dress- 
ing establishment on Clear Creek, on land 
purchased by them of Simon Lawrence. In 
1832, Isaiah and Joseph B. Nessel, two broth- 
ers from Onondaga county, N. Y., moved into 
town and bought the farm adjoining Law- 
rence's to the west, together with the property 
and business of Lockwood & Hough. They 
engaged in the enterprise until 1836, when they 
sofd their building and water privilege to 
Henry Wheeler, from Madison county, New 
York, who moved the building up near the 
road and converted it into a dwelling and built 
upon its former site a large flouring mill and 
sawmill. Mr. Wheeler continued in the mill- 
ing business at that place until 1851, when he 
sold out to William W. and Richard Gates, 
but three years later bought the property back 
and remained in business there until he pur- 
chased and built over the Vaill mill in the vil- 
lage. After the Nessel brothers sold out to 
Mr. Wheeler, Joseph formed a co-partnership 
with Alvah Bates, and they moved their wool- 
carding and cloth-dressing business to the vil- 
lage and built what is now known as the old 
Dobbin cabinet shop, and followed the busi- 
ness for many years. 

The first store in town was started at Olds' 
Corners by Camp, Colville & Holbrook ; fol- 
lowing them was Ruggles & Ingersoll, at Clear 
Creek. 

James Bates, who in 1815, settled on. lot 48, 
on what was later known as the George L. 
Wade place, kept at that point the first tavern 
in town. Later Alamanson Hadley and Henry 
McConnell kept tavern at the same place. Ben- 
jamin Follet kept another in a log house about 
a mile east from Bates' on the old Chautauqua 
road, he was succeeded by Lucretia French in 
1822, at the same place. A little later Joshua 
Bentley erected a frame building and kept 
hotel in it at Olds' Corners. About 1826 Ste- 
phen Nichols kept tavern in a frame building 
erected by him at Clear Creek. 

The first post office was established in the 
north part of the town, in the house of Benja- 
min Follet, on the old Chautauqua road, about 
1816 or 1817. It is generally understood that 



Follet was the first postmaster, and that he 
served in that capacity until about 1822 or 
1823, when he sold his purchase from the Hol- 
land Land Company to Lucretia French, a 
widow, who is said to have come here from 
Canada about that time and who succeeded to 
the office of postmaster, which she held until 
1829, when the office was moved to the Bates 
Settlement and Vinal Bates was appointed in 
her place. The Follet house was about the 
third or fourth log house built in town, and 
Mrs. French, like her predecessor, used it for 
hotel purposes, and for several years it was the 
place for the holding of all the public gather- 
ings of the town. The mail route was from 
Ellicottville to Mayville via Little Valley, and 
Sampson Crooker and Robert Guy were the 
first mail carriers; the former was the father 
of the late Hon. George A. S. Crooker, of Cone- 
wango. It is said they carried it through on 
foot, suspended from a pole resting on their 
shoulders. Later Samuel McConnell carried 
the mail through on horseback, once a week 
each way. Deacon Otis Paige was also one of 
the early mail carriers. The post office re- 
mained at the Bates Settlement until 1832, 
when it was removed to the village and Wil- 
liam T. Norris was appointed postmaster. The 
mail route was changed and extended from Sil- 
ver Creek to Ellington, taking in intermediate 
points, and for many years a stage carrying 
mail and passengers ran back and forth on each 
alternate day. After the building of the At- 
lantic & Great Western railroad the route was 
changed, running from Ellington to Kennedy, 
and after the completion of the Buffalo & 
Southwestern railroad from Ellington to Cone- 
wango Valley. 

The earliest transportation facilities were on 
the backs of the settlers, and in that way flour 
and family supplies had to be brought through 
from Fredonia, where was then located the 
nearest mill and market. The process was 
tedious and attended with hardships, but the 
early settlers readily adapted themselves to 
existing conditions. Later as the roads were 
cut through and made passable, the oxen and 
the cart made the labor more tolerable; and 
until the advent of the railroad all goods, mer- 
chandise and family supplies for this locality 
had to be hauled from Fredonia, Barcelona, 
Dunkirk or Silver Creek. The only articles of 
exchange for family necessities, which the 
early settler could transport on his outgoing 
trip, was black salts, pearl ash, or pine shingles 
— nature's product— the making of which pre- 
pared the way for the open fields in the heart 
of the forest. 



'74 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



It is related of James Bates, Jr., son of the 
pioneer, James Bates, who settled on lot 48, 
then a young man, while returning home from 
Wyman Bugbee's through the woods in com- 
pany with his little brother he met what he 
supposed to be a large dog. He called to it 
but without effect. He then tried to frighten 
it away, but this he failed to do, and as it mani- 
fested no disposition to turn out for him he 
procured a stout club and cautiously approach- 
ing the animal dealt it a severe blow on the 
head, and with a second blow apparently broke 
its back. Alarmed at the supposition that he 
had killed a neighbor's dog, he requested his 
brother not to mention the circumstance, but 
he himself related it to Mr. Bugbee, who 
passed his father's house that night, and who 
from the description given of the animal readily 
recognized it to be a wolf. The lad Bates, in 
company with his father and Mr. Bugbee re- 
turned to the scene of the encounter, and the 
suspicion of the nature of the animal was veri- 
fied. The wolf was still alive, but was soon dis- 
patched and skinned and the bounty, which 
was forty dollars, was in due time obtained by 
the young man. 

Apropos to the foregoing is another little his- 
torical incident in which Mr. Bugbee took quite 
a prominent part, but with more serious results 
than happened to young Bates. Mr. Bugbee's 
home was a log house situated on the east bank 
of one of the south branches of Clear creek 
that runs through the northwest corner of lot 
29 and empties into the latter stream about 
forty rods to the north of his dwelling. The 
streams in those days were full of beautiful 
speckled trout, as were the forests of wild 
game, and by means of the gun and the rod 
the early settler never lacked for fish, fowl or 
venison. About one-fourth of a mile west of 
Bugbee's lived Simon Lawrence with his three 
boys, Alva, Simon, Jr., and John, who were a 
family of hunters. 

Bugbee while hunting one day, in company 
with two of his neighbors, his dog started a 
bear about one-half mile north of Lawrence's 
across Clear creek, at which he fired his last 
shot. The bear, though hit, was not disabled, 
and after running a few rods climbed a tree. 
Bugbee called to his companions who came to 
his assistance. Alva Lawrence shot the bear 
in the head, but did not kill it and it began to 
descend. The party (which now consisted, be- 
sides the two already mentioned, of Simon 
Lawrence, Z. Davenport, George McConnell 
and Joseph Bates, the two former being armed 
with axes which they had been grinding) sur- 
rounded the tree and with axes and clubs 



awaited the bear's descent. When about ten 
feet from the ground it dropped and McCon- 
nell dealt it several blows with his club, but 
without apparent effect. The bear started to 
run, and Bugbee's dog followed in close pur- 
suit. Being greatly annoyed by the dog the 
bear turned upon it and gave it a terrible hug. 
The cries of the dog brought Bugbee to its 
assistance. He got behind the bear and tried 
to force it to loosen its hold on the dog, but 
the animal sprang back and Bugbee fell to the 
ground. The bear seized Bugbee by the leg, 
when a terrible struggle ensued, during which 
time the bear bit Bugbee several times. The 
position of the combatants so frequently 
changed that Bugbee's companions found it 
difficult to afford him any substantial assist- 
ance without imperiling his life. Finally a 
blow from the axe of Simon Lawrence caused 
the bear to loose its hold on Bugbee's leg, and 
turning upon Lawrence with a blow from his 
paw sent the axe flying from his hands, where- 
upon Lawrence, seizing Davenport's axe, re- 
newed the battle and finally buried the blade of 
the weapon in bruin's head, thus putting an 
end to the combat. Bugbee was so exhausted 
and faint that his companions were obliged to 
carry him home and his injuries confined him 
to his house for about six months. 

Ebenezer Green, Jr., who for many years 
was called Captain Green, from the fact that he 
held during the "General Training" period a 
captain's commission in the 218th Regiment 
of State Militia, was the first settler within the 
present bounds of the village. In the winter 
of 1819 he made maple sugar on the site of the 
present village park. In the following year the 
first public religious service ever held in the 
valley was conducted by Rev. A. Williams, a 
Methodist minister, at his house. 

It is related of Mr. Green that one evening 
while searching in the woods for some lost 
stock, he was chased to his home by a pack of 
wolves. 

The journeys of the early settlers with their 
families from the eastern states to the tree-cov- 
ered hills of Chautauqua, presented to a certain 
extent a sameness. There was the customary 
ox team and cart with its varying load, accord- 
ing to the size of the family and the amount of 
household goods ; but sometimes a new feature 
was introduced to meet the fancied needs of the 
prospective home in the forest. This was the 
case with Rolli Rublee, who journeyed through 
from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1822. Be- 
side the wife and children and the household 
articles usually brought, he utilized his four- 
legged table by nailing slats around it and 



TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



!75 



fastening to the legs a temporary bottom, in 
which he placed a pig. To complete the outfit 
he tied his only cow to the hind end of the cart, 
the milk from which was shared by the family 
with the pig, on the journey. 

Julius Dewey, who came from Massachu- 
setts in 1824 and settled on the west side of lot 
38, which he articled from the Holland Land 
Company, was a man who was proverbially 
prompt to pay his financial obligations ; indeed 
the writer can remember when a boy of hear- 
ing him often remark that 'twas "always con- 
venient to have a little grease money," suppos- 
ing, of course, that he meant that to have 
money to promptly pay one's debts made busi- 
ness matters run smooth. But in the early 
days there came a time when the modest in- 
come from his pioneer farm failed to equal the 
amount due at the Land Office on his purchase. 
With a spirit commendable for its earnestness 
he determined there should be no default, and 
accordingly one morning he gathered up into 
a modest bundle a few articles of personal 
necessities and started on foot for his old home 
among the Berkshire Mountains to raise the 
necessary funds. He accomplished the jour- 
ney and in due time returned on foot in time 
to make the payment when it fell due at the 
Land Office. 

The first white male child born in town was 
Simon Lawrence, Jr., in 181 7. The first white 
female child was born to Benjamin Follet and 
wife about a year earlier. The first marriage 
was celebrated between Rufus Hitchcock and 
Ranah Hadley in 1817, and about six weeks 
after the event Mr. Hitchcock met his death by 
falling from a building which he was erecting 
in the neighboring town of Cherry Creek. 

It is claimed the first public religious serv- 
ices ever held in town was at the house of 
Abner Bates in 1817, conducted by the Rev. 
Daniel Hadley ; others claim, however, that the 
first sermon was preached by Rev. John Spen- 
cer, a Presbyterian clergyman. 

James Thacher, who by the way was the 
first supervisor of the town of Ellington, set- 
tled on lot 64, December 9, 1820. It was the 
practice in those days to turn the cattle out to 
browse and, indeed, it was their only means 
of subsistence, with no cleared fields and little 
native grass. On one occasion Mr. Thacher 
missed one of his cows, which remained absent 
for a period of twenty-seven days, when he 
happened to be straying through a neighbor- 
ing slashing and found the animal with its head 
so caught between a couple of trees that it was 
unable to extricate itself. It was alive when 
found, having all that time been without food 



or water; but it was still able to be driven 
home, and by careful treatment its life was 
saved. 

There originally existed in this town, as evi- 
dence of a pre-historic race, four circular 
mounds. One on lot 47, on what is known as 
the Boyd farm ; one in Clear Creek Valley on 
lot 29, on the farm now occupied by Clarence 
Baldwin ; one on lot 4, on the old Doctor Ware 
farm, south of Clear Creek, and one on the 
crest of the hill north of the village ; which has 
always been known as "The Old Indian Fort." 

There has been from time to time many 
relics of much interest and historic value taken 
from these mounds, particularly from the one 
last named ; beside the latter has for many 
years been the meeting place for pleasure par- 
ties and curiosity seekers, and is still in a fair 
state of preservation. 

On September 8th, 1865, the village of Elling- 
ton, and, indeed, the whole town, suffered from 
an unprecedented flood, destroying most of the 
bridges throughout the town, and in the vil- 
lage several buildings. "Twenty-eight Creek," 
which runs through the southern part of the 
village, and which in ordinary times is a small 
rivulet suddenly became a raging torrent, 
spreading out through Main street, covering 
almost the entire village. The valley was 
transformed into a river, bearing upon its 
waters huge logs, trees and floating wreckage. 
All the buildings on the south side of the park, 
including dwellings, stores, the hotel and Bap- 
tist church, were either undermined, destroyed, 
wrecked or washed away. 

The dwelling of Abel Mattocks, on the south 
side of Main street, wherein were his wife and 
family, was carried away and wrecked and four 
of the children drowned. The mother was car- 
ried a distance of several rods under water and 
lodged on a pile of driftwood and rescued by 
the citizens. The body of one of the children, 
a four-year-old boy, was never found. Jere- 
miah Torrey, an old resident of the village, 
was carried by the water into the park, where 
he caught on a tree, but the floating wreckage 
swept him away and he was rescued by the 
people on the east side of the park. The "Wal- 
den Block," which occupied the same place of 
the Frisbee and DeVoe Block, and in which 
were stores and shops and living rooms above, 
was completely destroyed, and but for the large 
quantity of flood-wood and hay that had lodged 
near it, upon which the occupants took refuge, 
many more lives would have been lost. The 
hotel, then kept by W. V. Welch, in which 
were many citizens and guests, became under- 
mined and partly destroyed, the occupants 



176 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



taking refuge in the upper story ; expecting 
momentarily to be precipitated into the raging 
flood. Many of the imprisoned inhabitants 
within the doomed buildings became panic- 
stricken and performed many foolish and amus- 
ing acts in the face of the impending danger. 
It was indeed an event long to be remembered 
by some, and has ever since come to be spoken 
of as "The Flood," and it was many years be- 
fore the evidences of the destruction wrought 
entirely disappeared. It was generally sup- 
posed that the occasion of it was a partial 
cloud-burst in the western part of the town, 
which caused the breaking of some dams west 
of the village, and the choking up of the nar- 
row channel of the stream, thereby flooding 
the valley with the great downpour of rain 
from the hills. 

The first town meeting for the election of 
town officers, after Ellington and Cherry 
Creek had been set off from the town of Gerry, 
was held at the house of Lucretia French, 
where the first post office had been established, 
on March 1, 1825, at which time the following 
ticket was elected : Supervisor, James Thach- 
er ; town clerk, Cornelius N. Nicholson ; asses- 
sors, Robert James, Jr., John Leach and 
Charles Thacher ; collector, Alamanson Hadley ; 
overseers of the poor, Reuben Penhollow and 
Ward King; highway commissioners, Robert 
James, Ira Gates and Henry McConnel ; con- 
stables, Alamanson Hadley, Benjamin Liver- 
more and George H. Frost; commissioners of 
common schools, David C. Spear, C. H. Nich- 
olson and Parley Eaton ; school inspectors, C. 
H. Nicholson, David C. Spear and Parley 
Eaton ; sealer of weights and measures, John 
P. Hadley ; poundkeepers, Benjamin Ellsworth, 
Montgomery Evans and Nathan Brown ; fence- 
viewers, Daniel C. Green, Nathan Brown and 
Reuben Penhollow. 

The following is a list of the supervisors of 
the town who have been elected and served 
from 1825 to the present time : James Thacher, 
1825; Cornelius H. Nicholson, 1826-27; James 
Carr, 1828-29; Gideon Evans, 1830; John 
Woodward, Jr., 1831-34-38-40; Benj. Barnard, 
1835-37; Geo. J. Phipany, 1841-43-47; Jarvis B. 
Rice, 1844-46: Tohn F. Farman, 1848-53-60; Ma- 
son D. Hatch, 1855; Charles B. Green, 1856- 
57-61 ; John Farnham, 1862-63 ; Samuel Griffith, 
1864-65-72-73; George Waith, 1866-67; Philip 
M. Smith, 1868-69; Carey Briggs, 1870-71; 
Theodore A. Case, 1874-75-84-86-S7-88-95-96- 
97-98-99-1900-01-02-03-04-05-06-07; Olivin Put- 
nam. 1876-77-78-79-80-81 ; Austin H. Stafford, 
1882-83; Ernest F. Rowley, 1889-90; Sardius 
Frisbee, 1891-92-93-94; Charles J. Main, 1908- 



09-10-11; Charles H. White, 1912-13-14-15-16- 
17; James B. Anderson, 1918-19-20. 

John Woodward, Jr., was elected Assembly- 
man for the Second Chautauqua Assembly 
District in the year 1835; David H. Treadway 
in 1848; Dr. Jeremiah Ellsworth in 1852-53; 
Charles B. Green in 1858, and Theodore A. 
Case in 1876-77. Andrew P. White was elected 
school commissioner in i860, Byron Ellsworth, 
county treasurer in 1863, and Austin H. Staf- 
ford, county clerk in 1885. 

In the line of the medical profession, Dr. 
Sands M. Crumb is said to have been the first 
practitioner through this section, living near 
Clear Creek, Cattaraugus county. The first 
resident physician was Dr. William Ware, who 
moved into a log house between Ellington and 
Clear Creek, on lot 5, on the 18th day of June, 
1829, coming from Hartford county, Connecti- 
cut. He practiced his profession here until his 
death. Dr. Benjamin Potwin settled in town 
in 1832 on lot t,/, west of the village on the 
farm now occupied by his grandson, G. R. 
Potwin. He died about 1853. Dr. Jeremiah 
Ellsworth settled in town in 1846, coming from 
Silver Creek. In 1854 he sold out to Dr. W. B. 
Schemerhorn and moved to Gerry. Dr. Schem- 
erhorn practiced a few years in town and 
moved to Kennedy. Doctors Elijah DeVoe 
and his brother, Daniel DeVoe, were also resi- 
dent physicians at this place for many years. 
Both are now dead. Dr. Newton F. Marsh was 
a lifelong practitioner at this place, coming 
here a young man he enjoyed a large and lucra- 
tive practice until his death, which occurred 
in 1900. Dr. James Brooks practiced in Elling- 
ton from 185 1 until his death and was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Osborne and he by the present 
( 1920) physician, Dr. Spencer A. Drake. 

The village of Ellington is situate in the 
Clear Creek Valley upon parts of lots numbers 
20, 21, 28 and 29, and its main street runs east 
and west on the dividing line between lots 20 
and 21, 28 and 29. The purchasers of the land 
from the Holland Land Company on lot 29, 
where the village was built, with the date of 
each purchase, as disclosed by the records, are 
as follows: On July 15, 1829, James Briggs 
took title to 67 acres on the east side of the 
lot. In July, 1833, Benjamin Vaill purchased 
67 acres next west of and adjoining that of 
Briggs. On March 24, 1834, Vaill also pur- 
chased 75 acres west of and adjoining his other 
purchase. On July 15, 1816, Frederick Love 
purchased 50 acres west of Vaill's 75 acres, 
and on May 15, 181 5, Wyman Bugbee pur- 
chased the tract lying west of Love's and com- 
prising the balance of the lot. 



TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



177 



On the west side of lot 20, Ebenezer Green, 
Jr., had settled and built a log house as early 
as 1819, where Albert Clapp now lives. About 
three years later his father, Ebenezer Green, 
arrived from Pittsfield, Mass., from which 
place his son had preceded him, and purchased 
the son's interest, the latter moving over on 
lot 21, where he bought land and built a log 
house on the site of the dwelling lately owned 
by William L. Rhoades, where he resided for 
many years. The house first constructed by 
Mr. Green was the first one built within the 
present bounds of the village. 

Jeremiah Baldwin, from Bethany, Genesee 
county, N. Y., in the year 1824, articled 99 
acres lying on the east side of lot 28, taking 
deed of same November 14, 1836. On May 3, 
1828, Horace Wells purchased 60 acres lying 
next west of Baldwin's. On November 27, 
1835, Silas Wheeler purchased 80 acres lying 
next west of Wells', and on May 29, 1835, 
Wheeler also purchased 116^ acres lying west 
of his 80, which included the balance of the lot. 
The two latter purchases by Mr. Wheeler em- 
braced tracts articled by Jacob Vader and 
George Altenburg, respectively, of the Holland 
Land Company several years prior to Wheel- 
er's deed. Vader and Altenburg, who were 
brothers-in-law, came from Onondaga county, 
N. Y., quite early, cleared up these tracts, set 
out fruit trees and built themselves log houses ; 
but finally disposed of their interests to Mr. 
Wheeler and settled in other parts of the town. 
In most instances the date of actual settlement 
ante-dates the deed by several years. Mr. Vaill 
(whose name has heretofore been erroneously 
spelled Vail) was accredited to Genesee county, 
but his home appears to have been in New 
York City and he is said to have been a man 
of considerable wealth ; at all events, to him is 
largely due the success attending the early 
settlement of the village. 

The first log house on lot' 29 was built by 
Wyman Bugbee near the west line of the lot as 
early as 1814. In 181 5 Frederick Love built 
himself a log house on his fifty-acre purchase, 
just east of Bugbee's, on land occupied by Mrs. 
Clarence Baldwin. These houses were built 
before any highway was laid out in the valley. 
On June 22, 1816, Simeon Clinton surveyed the 
road commencing at Love's house and run- 
ning westerly up the valley to the Angelica, or 
old Chautauqua road, near the dwelling of 
Samuel McConnell. and on June 30, 1819, he 
surveyed a continuation of the road from 
Love's house eastward down the valley until it 
intersected the road leading west to Gerry, 
near the southeast corner of the village park. 

Chau— 12 



The Gerry road — which was called the center 
road by reason of its running east and west 
through the center of the town — had its east- 
ern terminus at this point. Mr. Clinton, how- 
ever, on the latter date, continued the survey of 
the road east along the line of lots to the Day 
school house and, from thence northeasterly 
to the county line, the present site of the vil- 
lage of Clear Creek. Prior to the opening of 
these roads the few inhabitants of the valley 
were content with footpaths through the 
woods, with a log spanning Clear Creek below 
the village for the use of pedestrians. The 
road running from the southeast corner of the 
park toward Kennedy was laid out on the west 
line of Baldwin's purchase by C. H. Nicholson, 
surveyor, June 19, 1827. 

In 1824 Mr. Baldwin built a double log house 
on his purchase, which stood on a portion of 
the lot now owned by Mrs. Joel Slater. In this 
house Mr. Baldwin kept the first hotel in the 
village. Soon after he built a frame addition 
on the west end, wherein George Walbridge, 
from Buffalo, kept a hardware store for four 
or five years, the first in the village. Subse- 
quently the frame portion was purchased by 
Lewis Leet, who moved it upon the Larabee 
lot, which Mr. Leet had purchased of Mr. Bald- 
win and where he was then conducting a tan- 
nery and shoe-shop, locating his vats across 
the street on Spring Brook. The first frame 
dwelling was built by Stephen Aldrich west of 
the Baldwin hotel ; it was subsequently moved 
across the street and is now owned and occu- 
pied by Nelson McKee. 

Opposite from Baldwin's log hotel, on lot 
29, Elisha and Levi Beardsley, two brothers 
from Genesee county, who were representa- 
tives and agents of Mr. Vaill, purchased of 
Tames Briggs, July 28, 1830, two and three- 
fourths acres of land upon which they erected 
a frame building and opened up a general store. 
To the east of the store they each built a frame 
dwelling, the first of the kind, with the excep- 
tion of the one above noted, erected in the vil- 
lage ; both of these houses are still standing 
and owned and occupied by Whitcomb and 
Wesley Mather. Back of the store on the 
Whitcomb Mather lot they built an ashery the 
following year. Briggs built a log house on 
the west side of his purchase, but on the 
28th day of October, 1833, he sold his remain- 
ing 64*4 acres to Silas Wheeler, whereon 
Mr. Wheeler built the large dwelling now 
owned by T. W. Sprague. Mr. Wheeler came 
from New Ipswich, New Hampshire, about 
1830, following his brother, Moses Wheeler, 
who settled on lot 43 in 1823. Silas was then 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



a young man of some means and possessed fine 
business attainments, was a good surveyor and 
a valuable man in the community. He invested 
largely in real estate throughout the town, 
built several dwellings, and was otherwise 
actively engaged in business for many years. 

In 1833 tne Beardsleys built for Mr. Vaill the 
first gristmill in the village. It was located on 
the latter's 67-acre purchase, and on the site 
of the present flouring mill of M. H. Terry. 
With the starting of these industries by Vaill 
a nucleus was formed for a little settlement 
and by his direction, that year Elisha Beards- 
ley, who withal was an elder in the Christian 
church, a merchant and practical surveyor, 
surveyed and plotted out into lots, all that part 
of lot 29 which Mr. Vaill then owned, whereon 
the village now stands, reserving therefrom, 
for a public park, a lot four chains and seventy- 
five links by four chains and forty links. The 
village plot was enlarged by the addition of his 
75-acre purchase the following year. Among 
the lots which appear to have been sold for 
building purposes, was lot 5, deeded to Silas 
Wheeler, just west of which was lot 8, sold to 
John Herrick. The old Christian church lot 
number 6 was eighty-three links wide and ex- 
tended across the east side of the park. Lot 1 
at the northwest corner of the park had been 
sold to William T. Norris, upon which he built 
the old store and dwelling attached, owned by 
the late Daniel Eigenbroadt. Next east was 
lot 2, east of lot 2 was lot 3, purchased by 
Albert Terhune. The Beardsley Brothers pur- 
chased lot 4 and the following year erected 
thereon the building now known as the 
"Grange Hall." On the west side of the park 
was lot 17, purchased by Merritt & Terhune. 
Just north of this was lot 18, deeded to the 
Congregational Church Society. Daniel Eigen- 
broadt had purchased lot 19, across the street, 
where he had the year before erected his house, 
and Alvah Bates had purchased the lot directly 
west of the church lot. Lot 30, later "owned 
by H. N. Jacobs, had been purchased by Sam- 
uel Babcock, and Enoch Jenkins had con- 
tracted for lot 31, lying directly across the 
street. 

These are a few of the first sales made by 
Vaill. Several lots had been laid out on the 
prospective street leading to Vaill's mill, but 
no sales appear to have been made, as that 
street was not formally opened until April 21, 
1834. Many of Mr. Vaill's sales were made 
on contract and in but few instances were 
deeds executed at time of purchase, as but few 
settlers were able to pay the money down for 
their lots. The Beardsleys themselves, a year 



or so later, purchased by contract of Mr. Vaill 
many of his unsold lots, but unfortunately for 
them they became thereby financially embar- 
rassed and Ira Day, a prominent citizen of the 
town, who in 1828 settled on lot 13, and who 
had become personally liable on many of their 
obligations, was obliged, in order to secure 
himself, to take by assignment all the Vaill 
and Beardsley contracts. In 1835 Mr. Vaill 
died and in the course of the settlement of his 
estate Mr. Day found it also necessary in order 
to protect his interests and carry out existing 
contracts, to purchase the balance of Mr. 
Vaill's real estate in the town. In so doing he 
incurred an indebtedness of $2,200, which in 
those days was looked upon as a debt of alarm- 
ing proportions, but which he nevertheless 
successfully liquidated and thereby came into 
possession of a large part of the real estate 
whereon the village is now located. 

No lots were included in the original village 
plot on lot 28. Mr. Baldwin, however, who 
owned the land from the Kennedy road to the 
east line of that lot, sold off all the lots front- 
ing the street up to the southeast corner of 
the park, and in 1832 built his residence on the 
Kennedy road, the same owned by the late 
Samuel Griffith. He sold the first lot off the 
east side of his purchase to Reuben Case, where 
Matthew Frank now resides. The lot next 
west where Mrs. Yaw now lives was sold to 
Elder Morse. Samuel Case purchased the orig- 
inal lot where Mr. Baldwin erected his log tav- 
ern and built the dwelling now owned by Sam- 
uel G. Baldwin. Mr. Case was a blacksmith 
and for a time had a shop on the same lot. 
Lewis Leet purchased what is now known as 
the Larabee lot, as before noted, and Silas 
Wheeler bought the balance of the street front 
to the corner. Mr. Wheeler sold the corner 
to Matthew Norris, who had a cabinet shop on 
the Fox place on the west side of Mill street, 
and Mr. Norris moved his shop upon the cor- 
ner and for several years continued the indus- 
try at that place. Later John C Cody bought 
it and converted it into a grocery and jewelry 
store. The later owner, Charles A. Clapp, for 
many years occupied it for a dwelling. 

On October 28. 1833, Harwood Boyden 
bought of Horace W r ells his sixty acres lying 
west of the Baldwin tract, and in 1835 Mr. 
Boyden also purchased the 80-acre tract of 
Silas Wheeler lying next west, and the same 
year sold the two to Allen Bagg and Frazier 
Luce, who that year moved into town from 
Pittsfield, Mass., the former moving into the 
house that Boyden had erected on the Wells 
tract, across the road from Baldwin's dwelling. 



TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



!/9 



In 1841 Mr. Bagg sold out his interest to Mr. 
Luce and purchased the 1 163/2 acres owned by 
Mr. Wheeler on the west side of lot 28, known 
as the Altenburg tract. All the lots, there- 
fore, on the south side of the park, with one or 
two exceptions, were sold off by Mr. Luce 
after he acquired full title to the land, and all 
the lots on the south side of West Main street 
from W. Aldrich's blacksmith shop west to the 
foot of the hill were sold by Mr. Bagg. 

In 1833 Sewell Merritt and Lewis Terhune 
built a hotel on the lot which they purchased 
of Vaill on the west side of the park. That 
year Mr. Baldwin had closed up and sold his 
log tavern and Merritt & Terhune succeeded 
to the hotel business ; save perhaps for a year 
or two, Lyman Little kept a public house in 
the dwelling erected by Stephen Brown, where 
Adelbert Andrus now lives. About 1837 Mer- 
ritt & Terhune sold out to David Torrey, who 
added considerably to the size and capacity of 
the building. In addition to the lot, Mr. Tor- 
rey owned several acres of land lying directly 
west of his hotel which he sold for church, 
school and private purposes, at different times. 
In 1839 Mr. Torrey traded his hotel property 
to Jarvis B. Rice, for a farm west of the vil- 
lage. Rice kept the hotel until 1842, when he 
sold it back to Mr. Torrey, who, in connection 
with his son Jeremiah, continued the business 
until 1853, when it passed into the hands of 
Joel Gates. Gates continued the business until 
1856, when he disposed of it to Mrs. Ruth 
Walkup, a widow, who by the help of her son 
conducted the hotel until i860, when it was 
purchased by A. M. P. Maynard. In January, 
1861, while owned by Mr. Maynard, it caught 
fire and was destroyed and was never rebuilt. 
The dwelling of Lafayette Eigenbroadt now 
stands on the site of the old hotel. 

On the 15th day of January, 1850, David 
Torrey sold the southeast corner of his hotel 
lot to Jeremiah Baldwin, who erected thereon 
a building, and in company with his son-in- 
law, John M. Farnham, opened up a hardware 
store. The co-partnership of Farnham & Bald- 
win continued until i860, when Farnham pur- 
chased Mr. Baldwin's interest and remained 
in trade until 1865, when he sold out to F. E. 
and T. A. Case. The firm subsequently be- 
came F. E. & J. H. Case ; F. E. Case sold out 
to E. E. DeVoe, and the firm became Case & 
DeVoe, until Case sold out to Hiram Terry, 
who in company with DeVoe, engaged in trade 
until the building and contents were burned 
in December, 1875. Adjoining this building to 
the north, on' the Torrey lot, was a store 
erected by Henry Wait soon after Baldwin 



built his hardware store. Wait started in the 
book business, but after a year or two sold out 
to Alvah Bates, who opened up a dry goods 
store, Mr. Bates continued in trade until his 
death, when the property passed into the hands 
of J. F. Farman & Son, who about 1866 sold 
the building and stock to Charles A. Clapp. 
Mr. Clapp in March, 1869, sold out to Sardius 
Frisbee and Darwin J. Maynard. Mr. May- 
nard soon disposed of his interest to Mr. Fris- 
bee, who continued in trade until 1875, when 
the property was burned with the adjoining 
store. 

In 1876, upon the site of these two stores, 
John H. Case and Mr. Frisbee erected the pres- 
ent three-story block, the former engaged in 
the drug business in the south half and the lat- 
ter resumed his dry goods trade in the north 
half, where he engaged in business until Feb- 
ruary 26, 1903, the date of his death. Upon 
Mr. Case's death the south half was purchased 
by George G. Gilbert. William T. Norris 
started in the grocery trade in the building 
erected by him on lot 1 at the northwest cor- 
ner of the park. He was the first postmaster 
in the village, succeeding Vinal Bates in 1833, 
when the office was removed from the Bates 
neighborhood. Norris sold out his store and 
business to Seth Grover, and Grover to Henry 
McConnell. In 1852 the property was pur- 
chased by Daniel Eigenbroadt, who for many 
years dealt in groceries and hardware at that 
point beside working at the blacksmith trade in 
his shop on the adjoining lot west. Mr. Eigen- 
broadt came from the Mohawk Valley and set- 
tled in the village in 1832 and the following 
year built his residence on village lot 19, 
where he lived until the time of his death, July, 
1899. Upon the site of the old store now stands 
the brick hardware store and dwelling built by 
his son, D. J. Eigenbroadt. On the adjoining 
lot east, now owned by Caroline and Eliza 
Smith, Seth Hussey and Elijah Edwards had 
a shoe-shop. Hussey and Edwards were tan- 
ners and soon after Vaill built his gristmill 
they purchased a lot east of and adjoining his 
mill and erected a tannery ; this was afterward 
owned and operated successively by Lewis 
Rice, Richard W. Gates, Lewis Leet and Har- 
vey Nye, but was destroyed by fire during 
Nye's ownership and was never rebuilt. Henry 
Haman afterward purchased the lot and privi- 
leges and erected a steam mill in its place. 

Albert Terhune, who purchased lot 3 on 
the north side of the park, sold it to George J. 
Phipany, who came from Genesee county in 
1836. He built the store and dwelling attached, 
now on the lot, the property of Mrs. C. D. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Stockwell. Phipany started in the mercan- 
tile business in company with Richard W. 
Gates, but he soon purchased Gate's interest 
and in July, 1839, formed a co-partnership with 
John F. Farman, who came from Oneida 
county with his brother in 1826. Farman had 
previously been in trade a short time with Silas 
Wheeler, presumably in the Beardsley store on 
the adjoining lot. Farman & Phipany con- 
tinued in partnership until 1841. About 1839 
Farman purchased the Beardsley store of his 
father-in-law, Ira Day, which he enlarged and 
improved. From 1848-50 Mr. Farman was in 
partnership with Alvah Bates at that place, 
after which he conducted the business alone 
until 1856, when he sold out to Erastus C. 
Woodworth. Mr. Woodworth remained in 
trade until i860, when he sold the property and 
business to Gates & Wheeler, who the follow- 
ing year sold to Daniel S. Bailey, who, with his 
son, Edwin, continued in active trade for many 
years. John F. Baxter was the last owner and 
occupant of the property for mercantile pur- 
poses. 

On the east side of the park, Alvah Bates 
about 1840 purchased of the Christian Church 
Society the corner lot and built the store now 
owned by Charles A. Seekins. Two years 
later Mr. Bates sold out to Norman Guernsey, 
who in 1843, m company with John F. Farman, 
engaged in trade at that point until 1847, when 
Mr. Guernsey bought out Mr. Farman, and 
the following year formed a co-partnership 
with Warren Palmer. About 1850 Mason D. 
Hatch bought the property and continued the 
mercantile business at that point until his 
death, which occurred in 1857, since which 
time the property has passed through several 
hands. To the north of this Albro S. Brown 
erected a dwelling and shop on land bought 
by him of the Christian church. Mr. Brown 
was a wagon-maker and followed that business 
until 1866, when he sold his property to A. M. 
P. Maynard, who converted the shop into a 
drug store and three or four years later sold 
the property and business to James Wheeler & 
Company, who continued in that line of trade 
at that point for many years. 

F. E. Case, about 1879, purchased a lot on 
the east side of the park and built the store, 
where he was almost continuously in the hard- 
ware trade until his death. 

At the southeast corner of the park on lot 28, 
William Jenkins, about 1832-33, built a small 
building which he used for a tannery, and at 
the same time erected a frame dwelling on the 
south bank of Twenty-eight creek, now known 
as the Dobbin house. Three or four years 



later Mr. Jenkins sold the property to Abner 
Porter, removing his tannery business upon 
the south hill, on the farm later owned by 
Henry Bagg. 

Mr. Porter built a blacksmith shop on the 
corner where Jenkins had his tannery and also 
a frame dwelling just west of his shop, the 
same lately owned by C. M. Turney. Porter's 
shop was afterward sold and fitted up for a 
store. Clapp & Williams, for two or three 
years occupied it for mercantile purposes : later 
Doctor Giles owned the property and used it 
for a drug store, at the time of the flood it was 
used for a shoe-shop, but becoming greatly 
damaged by the water was finally moved over 
on the east side of the park, between the 
Wheeler drug store and Case's hardware store. 
The dwelling, about the same time was moved 
down on the corner. To the west of this, 
George H. Chandler built a two-story building 
which he used for a cabinet shop and dwell- 
ing: later this became the property of John B. 
Stone, who occupied it for like purposes. After 
the Torrey hotel burned down the building was 
refitted and used for a public house. At the 
time of the flood it was owned-by W. V. Welch 
and was very much damaged, but repaired by 
Mr. Welch and moved down on the north side 
of East Main street and used for hotel pur- 
poses. A. W. Clapp is the owner of the prop- 
erty and for several years acceptably followed 
that business. 

West of the Baptist church lot, Myron Wal- 
den and David H. Gates in April, 1848, pur- 
chased a lot of Frazier Luce and built upon it 
a two-story double store building, for many 
years known as the "Walden Block." In the 
west half Alvah Bates opened a dry goods 
store and Alonzo Palmer occupied the east 
lower half for a harness shop. Dobbin & 
Bartholomew had a cabinet shop overhead, and 
later George Waith a shoe-shop. After a year 
or two Bates sold out to Horatio N. Barnes, 
from Gerry, who later formed a co-partner- 
ship with Nathaniel Christy, also from Gerry. 
Owing to failing health, Barnes sold out his 
stock to Christy in 1854, the latter continuing 
in trade until 1856, when he sold the business 
to A. M. P. Maynard. Mr. Maynard at about 
the same time purchased the drug stock of 
Dr. Giles and moved it up to the Barnes store. 
He continued in trade at this place until the 
fall of 1865, when his property was almost 
wholly destroyed by the flood that occurred 
that year. Afterward Mr. Maynard opened a 
drug store on the east side of the park, as before 
noted. The building occupied by Perry Fris- 
bee, grocer, and Waith & Brown, live stock 



TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



1S1 



dealers, was built on the site of the old "War- 
den Block" by Terry & DeVoe, soon after the 
latter firm was burned out across the street. 

Among others who have at different times 
and places engaged in mercantile and other 
business pursuits in the village, we note the 
following: Milo Wilcox, quite early had a 
small grocery store situate on the lot now 
owned by Sylvester Ransom, west of the hotel. 
He took ashes from the farmers in exchange 
for goods, and had an ashery northeast of his 
store. Likewise Richard W. Gates, about the 
same time, kept a small grocery in the house 
now occupied by Andrus Seekins, sending out 
teams to purchase ashes in exchange for goods. 
His ashery was on the lot later owned by C. H. 
Rice. Allen Bagg, as early as 1840, engaged 
in another primitive industry, manufacturing 
peppermint essence, and for that purpose had 
a still located on the Luce farm back near the 
foot of the hill. 

In 1S48 Lemuel Perrigo built an iron 
foundry on the lot now occupied by the hotel 
barn. He soon formed a co-partnership with 
Daniel Smoke, and for several years did a suc- 
cessful business. They sold out to John Clapp. 
Mr. Clapp sold to Franklin Fuller, who con- 
tinued the industry until 1861, when Warren 
Arnold purchased the property. After engag- 
ing in the business a number of years Mr. 
Arnold disposed of the building and contents, 
which was moved over on the Chauncey Jack- 
son lot, but the business was soon after discon- 
tinued. Ellery Bentley, as early as 1850, had a 
grocery and tailor shop on the lot now owned 
by Caroline and Eliza Smith. In 1859 Joseph 
Wesley purchased the lot with some adjoining 
land, rebuilt the house and a few years later 
erected a steam planing mill and cooper shop 
in the rear. He sold the shop to Lawrence & 
Shepardson and in 1873 it was burned down. 
Homer Pratt in 1858 built a grocery store on 
the lot now owned by Daniel Hadley ; after 
engaging in trade for about two years he died, 
and the store building was afterward purchased 
by Maria Sears and moved over on West Main 
street and converted into a dwelling, later a 
part of the Congregational parsonage. In 
1853 Benjamin R. Brown commenced business 
in the old Phipany store, and for many years 
was one of the leading merchants in town. He 
sold out to Orrin Strong, of Gerry, who also 
engaged in trade for several years at that place. 

Following Henry McConnell in the old Nor- 
ris store, back in the forties, Winfield Leach 
and David Knight, each for several years en- 
gaged in the grocery trade until the property 



passed into the hands of Mr. Eigenbroadt in 
1852. 

After the death of Mason D. Hatch his store 
was occupied by Andrews & Preston, of 
Jamestown, under the management of Andrew 
C. Holmes ; they did a large and profitable 
trade. Later Holmes took the business in his 
own hands and for several years was one of 
the leading dry goods merchants in town. 

In 1872 John Benedict started in the mer- 
cantile business on West Main street in a 
building erected by him and continued in active 
trade until 1889, the time of his death. He 
was succeeded in business by his widow, Mary 
W\ Benedict, who was later burned out. She 
subsequently rebuilt the store, but continued 
the business only for a short time. 

Wesley Milspaw, in 1872, purchased a build- 
ing on the south side of the park and engaged 
in the sale of agricultural implements, wagons 
and sundry supplies, until his death, which 
occurred in 1902, besides for many years he was 
an extensive dealer in hides, furs, etc. In 1853 
Joseph B. Nessel purchased the Jamestown 
"Herald" of Dr. Asaph Rhodes and removed 
the printing plant to Ellington and commenced 
the publication of a paper called "The Elling- 
ton Herald." He continued its publication 
until 1856, when it was discontinued. Albro S. 
Brown for a time had charge of its editorial 
department. In those days Mr. Nessel was a 
strong anti-slavery man and was closely identi- 
fied with what was then called the "Under- 
ground railroad." In addition to that he was 
an earnest advocate of the Anti-Masonic move- 
ment and was commonly known as a "man 
with a hobby." 

The Christian church was the first church 
organized in the town of Ellington (then town 
of Gerry). 

Elder Freeman Walden, from Genesee 
county, New York, came to the town in 1822, 
and commenced holding religious services in a 
log school house situate upon what is now 
known as the Joseph Smith farm, about mid- 
way between the present villages of Ellington 
and Clear Creek ; also in barns and private 
houses in other parts of the town. On July 
13, 1823, the church was organized with seven 
members, as follows: Elder Freeman Wal- 
den, Malinda Walden, his wife; Ira Gates and 
Clarissa Gates, his wife; Polly Gates, Rolli 
Rublee and Simon Lawrence. They took and 
subscribed to the following pledge or covenant: 
"We, the undersigned, agree to take the Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testament for our 
rule of faith and practice at all times." On 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



April 22, 1824, the society held a meeting to 
perfect a legal organization under the statute 
and to choose a board of trustees. Ira Gates, 
Simon Lawrence and Joshua Bush were elected 
the first trustees. 

Elder Freeman Walden was duly installed 
pastor and ministered to the spiritual wants 
of the little flock. He and his wife settled on 
a small farm about two miles southeast from 
the village, where he supported his family 
with what little aid he received from his hand- 
ful of followers. He continued his pastorate 
for a period of about twelve years. In 1835 
his wife died, and the following year he moved 
away. It was during his ministration that the 
church edifice was erected. 

It appears that on May 18, 1833, a subscrip- 
tion paper was circulated to raise funds for the 
erection of the building which, as expressed 
in said paper, was "to be thirty by forty feet 
and high enough for a gallery." The structure 
was raised (a heavy timber frame) August 15, 
1833, and completed at an outlay of about $500, 
the members contributing in work, money and 
material, and the following year it was dedi- 
cated to public worship, upon which occasion 
Elder Seth Marvin delivered the dedicatory 
sermon. In 1828 Elder Elisha Beardsley, also 
from Genesee county, moved into town and 
assisted occasionally in church work. After 
the departure of Elder Walden, services were 
conducted with more or less regularity by 
Elders Oliver Barr, Seth Waterman, Warren 
Skeels and D. Willard. From 1838 to 1840 
there seems to be no record of church service. 
During the latter year and for two years fol- 
lowing, Elder Jeremiah Knowls served as pas- 
tor. From 1842 to 1845 Elders Halliday (from 
Fluvanna, New York), Irwin Bullock and Tot- 
man, by turns, officiated. Elder Havens, 1845- 
47 ; Elder Nye, 1848. For ten years following 
there is no record of other than occasional 
services held by Elders Totman and one or two 
others. In 1859 to 1861 Elder J. W. Snyder 
served as pastor. In i860 the church building 
was repaired and rededicated, on which occa- 
sion a sermon was delivered by Rev. E. B. 
Rowlins. 

Elder Thomas Garbut succeeded Elder Sny- 
der in 1861 and remained until 1864, and was 
followed by Elder M. W. Tuck, who remained 
about two years; but he having in the mean- 
time united with the Masons, the church dis- 
pensed with his services. Elder A. S. Lang- 
don served the church as pastor from 1866-68; 
Elder J. R. Spencer from 1868-70; Elder O. P. 
Alderman, 1870-72. From the latter date no 
regular services were held in the church until 



1875, when Rev. Alden Allen was engaged and 
served as pastor until June, 1879; Rev. A. S. 
Langdon followed for about one year and was 
the last regularly employed pastor. 

The membership becoming so reduced the 
trustees finally sold the church property to the 
Free Methodist Society, who entirely re- 
modeled the building. Later ministers have 
been Rev. Charles Thorber, Rev. Lewis Leon- 
ard, Rev. R. A. Robertson, Rev. Leroy Bar- 
more, Rev. Clarence Silvernail, Rev. Henry 
Pool, Rev. Samuel Butcher, the present pastor. 

The following is a transcript of the record 
of the first meeting held for the organizing 
of the Freewill Baptist Church of Ellington : 

April 24, 1828. 

Met at the house of Horace Harmon according to 
previous arrangement to take into consideration the 
subject of organizing a church. A sermon was de- 
livered by Elder Amos C. Andrus from Heb. ii chap- 
ter, third verse. Then a general description of doc- 
trine, faith and practice of the Freewill Baptist was 
given by Elder A. C. Andrus. Then gave the right 
hand of fellowship to five brethren and three sisters, 
and acknowledged them to compose the First Freewill 
Baptist Church in the Town of Ellington, after which 
the church 

Resolved, First, That Julius Dewey serve as Church 
Clerk. Second, That Covenant meetings be held on 
Saturday before the third Sabbath in every month. 

The name of the eight members referred to 
in the foregoing, as appears from the record 
later on, were Joseph Seekins, Stephen Marsh, 
Dolphos Howard, Sally Marsh, Chloe Howard, 
Solmon Wheeler, Julius Dewey and Betsey 
Seekins. The membership appears to have 
grown quite rapidly, and covenant meetings 
were held at stated intervals for several years 
at school houses, private dwellings of the mem- 
bers and often in barns. Winthrop Johnson 
was elected the first deacon and Joseph Seekins 
church steward. 

Andrus, who organized the church, was a 
traveling preacher. The first settled pastor 
was Elder Francis B. Tanner, who for many 
years administered to the spiritual wants of the 
church and whose labors were supplemented 
by Elders A. C. Andrus, Jeremiah Baldwin, 
Joseph Parkyn and others. On April 16, 1842, 
fifty-six of the members withdrew from the 
society to organize a church in Cherry Creek. 
No steps seem to have been taken looking 
toward the erection of a church edifice until 
January, 1844, when the society adopted a reso- 
lution providing for the raising of the funds 
by a tax upon its membership, and for that 
purpose Isaac Holland, Winthrop Johnson and 
J. R. Felt were appointed a committee to 
"equalize the tax." The following year the 



TOWNS— ELLINGTON 



183 



building was erected. Frazier Luce, of Pitts- 
field, Massachusetts, donated the lot upon 
which it was built, and the first services held 
therein October 26, 1845. During the erection 
of the building Rev. B. R Cooley and Rev. 
Lucius O. Jones had pastoral charge, but Elder 
A. C. Andrus appears to have been in charge at 
the time of its dedication and was succeeded 
by Elder James A. McKay, who remained until 
1848, when he withdrew with some thirty other 
members to organize a church in the town of 
Gerry. From 1849-52 the pulpit was supplied 
by Elders Tanner, Baldwin and O. H. Light- 
hall ; then followed Elders Plumb and Benja- 
min McKoon, the latter remaining until 1854, 
and was succeeded by his brother, the Rev. 
Daniel W. McKoon and Charles Putnam. In 
1857 the church secured the services of Rev. 
A. N. McConoughey, who remained until 1861, 
then, following him, was the Rev. Charles 
Putnam, from 1862-64; Rev. D. W. McKoon, 
1865-66; Rev. R. E. Cornwell, 1868-70; Rev. 
I. J. Hoag, 1870-72 ; Rev. Nelson Young, 1872- 
73; Rev. J. L. Higbee, 1873-74; Rev. A. P. 
Cook, 1874-77; Rev. Jerome Short, 1879-80; 
Rev. John Shannon, 1880-81; Rev. F. W. 
Reeder, 1882-83 ; Rev. Z. A. Space, 1889-91 ; 
Rev. George Southwick, 1891-93, since which 
date no regular service has been maintained in 
the chapel, owing to the constantly decreasing 
membership. 

The following is the record, in part, of the 
first meeting held for the organization of the 
Congregational Church in Ellington : 

Ellington, N. Y., Feb. 4, 1828. 

A meeting previously appointed for the purpose was 
held at the house of Mrs. Lucretia French for the pur- 
pose of organizing a church. The Rev. William I. 
Wilcox was present and chosen moderator. The fol- 
lowing persons presented themselves as candidates for 
the proposed church, viz.: James Bates, Benjamin Ells- 
worth, Israel Carpenter, Aaron Merrill, Josiah D. 
Bates, Lucretia French, Calista Ellsworth, Harriet 
Spear, Nancy Bates and Polly Landon. 

After much mutual conversation in relation to the 
doctrines and precepts of the gospel, and prayer, the 
following articles of faith and covenant were read to 
and adopted by the above named persons and they 
were declared as regularly constituted by the name and 
title of the First Congregational Church of Christ in 
Ellington. (Here follows the thirteen articles of faith 
and the covenant.) 

The ordinance of baptism was adn„nistered to one 
adult and two children. The Rev. William I. Wilcox 
was chosen standing moderator of the church and Ben- 
jamin Ellsworth clerk and delegate to represent the 
church at the next stated meeting of the Buffalo Pres- 
bytery, with a request to be received a constituted 
member. Concluded with prayer. 

Attest: 
William I. Wilcox, Moderator. 
Benjamin Ellsworth, Clerk. 



At the next meeting, on March 29, 1828, 
Otis Page was admitted to membership and 
chosen the first deacon. Later on Daniel Bush 
was chosen deacon. They, together with Dr. 
William Ware, were subsequently made elders 
in the church. During that year the following 
named persons were added to the membership : 
Elizabeth Altenburg, Elizabeth Vader, Timo- 
thy Gross, Warren Mansfield, William Ware, 
Sally Ware, Daniel Bush, Jane Bush and Mrs. 
A. B. Farman. The church services for the 
first five or six years seem to have been con- 
ducted by the local membership assisted by 
the Reverends W. I. Wilcox, Abel C. Ward 
and D. G. Orton. The first communion set and 
baptismal bowl were presented to the church 
in October, 1834, by I. D. and Sherman Board- 
man, of Hartford, Connecticut, through Dr. 
William Ware, valued at nine dollars and fifty- 
eight cents. The second set was presented to 
the church in 1870 by Mrs. Frazier Luce, of 
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, whose late husband 
was a frequent attendant of that church. 

In 1840 the Rev. William Waith was en- 
gaged as pastor and remained until August 30, 
1847. He was the first regular pastor of the 
church, and during his pastorate, in the year 
1842, the church edifice was erected. Dr. Wil- 
liam Ware very generously donated the lot 
upon which it was built. 

In 1845 tne church by resolution adopted the 
Presbyterian form of government and was 
thereafter styled "The First Presbyterian 
Church of Ellington," and they united them- 
selves with the Buffalo Presbytery, and under 
the new organization, the following elders 
were elected : Otis Page, Andrew P. White, 
John N. White, Daniel L. Bush, Lewis Leet 
and Jeremiah Hotchkiss. Subsequently, how- 
ever, the society voted to change back to its 
original form, purely Congregational. 

Rev. S. W. Edson succeeded Waith and re- 
mained until 1849, after whom the following 
named pastors served for the time and in the 
order named: Rev. William Todd, 1849-50; 
Rev. H. G. Blinn, 1851-52; Rev. Charles Keeler, 
1853-54; Rev. David Powell, 1855-56; Rev. W. 
D. Henry, 1857-60; Rev. Ward I. Hunt, 1861- 
64; Rev. Henry Benson, 1865-67; Rev. H. O. 
Howland, 1868-69; Rev. Rufus King, 1870-71; 
Rev. A. D. Olds, 1872-74; Rev. L. T. Mason, 
l8 75-77 ; Rev - G - c - Jewell, 1878-80, after whom 
were the following in the order named : Rev- 
erends T. D. Jenkins, A. W. Taylor, Lincoln 
Harlow, G. E. Henshaw, William McDougal, 
William B. Marsh, J. M. Merrill, W. G. Marts, 
F. A. Kimberly, George M. Reese, Levi Reese, 



184 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



J. M. Merrill, A. O. Stockbridge, H. A. Law- 
rence. 

To Carey Briggs, a lifelong member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Ellington, I 
am indebted for the following: 

Of the early history of Methodism in Ellington we 
have no authentic record, for the reason that from 
1836 to 1844, Ellington was included in the Gerry cir- 
cuit, Jamestown District, Erie Conference. In July, 
1836, the annual conference held at Erie, Pennsylvania, 
appointed Josiah Flower and T. J. Jennings to the 
Gerry circuit, which embraced the towns of Stockton, 
Gerry, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Ellington and Napoli 
and east to the boundary of the Genesee Conference. 

This was a four weeks circuit, as it took each 
preacher (then called circuit riders) four weeks to go 
the rounds and fill all his appointments. There were 
then no church edifices in the circuit, but services were 
held in school houses, private houses, barns, etc. The 
first church on the circuit was built about 1839, in 
Gerry, then called the Vermont Settlement. There the 
Ellington branch attended service and there the rec- 
ords were kept. 

At the annual conference held at Erie, Pennsylvania, 
in July, 1844, Ellington was constituted a separate 
charge and Samuel A. Henderson was appointed pas- 
tor. He found seven well organized classes, to wit: 
One at the Center. Matthew Lane leader: one in Bates 
District, Charles Thacher, leader; one at Clear Creek, 
Harold Webster, leader; one at Waterboro, George 
Clark, leader; one at Fuller Hill, Wesley Mils- 
paw, leader; one on West Hill, David Fisk, leader; 
one in Gerry with Archelaus Mosher, leader; com- 
prising a membership in all of about one hundred 
fifty, with no church edifice or parsonage. A par- 
sonage was rented and the adjourned first Quarterly 
Conference was held in it November 13, 1844. On De- 
cember 28, 1844, the second Quarterly Conference was 
held in the Presbyterian Church, just newly erected 
in the village. The record of that Conference gives the 
first full official list as follows: Presiding Elder, 
Darius Smith; preacher in charge, S. A. Henderson; 
local preachers, T. Thacher, E. Briggs: exhorters, 
Zelotus Hitchcock, George Pierce; stewards, Hosea 
Felt, Norman Guernsey, David Carl, H. N. Jacobs, 
Lorenzo Mather, Carey Briggs and Elisha Baker. 
These, with the above mentioned class leaders, consti- 
tuted the Quarterly Conference, and through their 
efforts, heartily supplemented by the efforts of the 
membership, a church edifice was erected the follow- 
ing year (1845). . , , • 

The following are the names of the pastors with their 
date of service: S. A. Henderson. 1844: S. Churchill, 
T843; Ashbel Parcell, 1846; J. H. Tackett, 1847; T. D. 
Blinn, 1848: John Peate, 1849: Alvin Burgess, 1850-51: 
Justin O. Rich, 1852-53; O. L. Mead, 1854-55; T. D. 
Blinn, 1858-59; Joseph Allen and W. W. Case. 1860-61: 
W .W. Warner, 1862-63; L. W. Day, 1864; S. N. War- 
ner, 1865; Joseph Leslie, 1865-66; H. H. Moore, 1867- 
69: O. G. Mclntyre, 1869-71: G. W. Moore, 1871-72; P. 
W. Scofield, 1872-75: G. W. Chesbro, 1875-77; Milton 
Smith. 1877-80; A. A. Horton, 1880-83; Victor Corn- 
well, 1883-84: J. W. Barker, 1884-86; J. H. Prather, 
18S6-Q0: H. M. Burns, 1890-91: C. W. Miner. 1892-95; 
A. M. Lockwood, 1895-98; R. M. Warren, 1899; L D. 
Darling, 1900: R. L. Foulke, 1000-02: G. W. S. Phil- 
lips, 1902-04: J. E. Imes, 1904-07; J. M. Crouch, 1907- 
08; David Taylor, 1008-11; William C. Mealing, 1911- 
14; William N. Snyder, 1914-16; R. H. Ellinghouse, 
1916-18; Perry F. Haines, 1918 to date 1920. 



Ellington Academy — For over half a century 
this institution has been one of the first and 
foremost schools of Western New York, and 
the multitude of men and women who have 
received their early educational training within 
its walls have left their impress in every de- 
partment of intellectual activity all over this 
broad land. 

On January 12, 1850, about seventy-five of 
the leading citizens of the town, fully recogniz- 
ing the benefits to be derived by an institu- 
tion of this character, pledged themselves by 
an instrument in writing to furnish the neces- 
sary funds to purchase a suitable site and erect 
a building to be known as "The Ellington 
Academy." The funds so subscribed were 
divided into shares of $25 each and each owner 
of a share was entitled to a voice and a vote in 
the organization. 

On March 30, 1851, the stockholders met and 
by ballot decided upon the purchase of a site 
and at the same time elected twelve trustees 
from their number, to wit: Jeremiah Baldwin, 
John F. Farman, Hosea Felt, Charles B. Green, 
Benjamin Barnard, Myron Walden, John M. 
Farnham. Seth W. Chandler, Mason D. Hatch, 
Carey Briggs, Jeremiah Ellsworth and An- 
drew P. White. The trustees immediately 
effected an organization by the election of Jere- 
miah Baldwin, president ; John F. Farman, 
treasurer, and Andrew P. White, secretary. 

At a meeting of the trustees, April 25, 1851, 
plans were adopted and a contract made with 
Myron Walden, Nelson Brown, Benjamin 
Pickard, and Andrew P. White, 2nd, for the 
erection of the building, which was to be sixty 
by forty feet and three stories in height. 

The construction of the building was imme- 
diately undertaken by these gentlemen and by 
fall of the following year, at an expense of 
about $3,650, was made ready for occupancy. 
The first term of school opened in the fall of 
1852, with Prof. William C. J. Hall as princi- 
pal ; Andrew P. White, male assistant ; Miss 
Emeline Warren, as female assistant ; Miss 
Delia McGlashan, primary teacher, and Pro- 
fessor Backus, teacher of instrumental music. 

On January 20, 1853, a formal application 
was made by a committee of the stockholders 
to the Regents of the University of the State 
for an academic charter, and the same was 
granted under date of February 11, 1853. The 
first Board of Education were the original in- 
corporators of the institution, none of whom 
are now living, save Carey Briggs, and out of 
the original seventy-five or more stockholders 
who were instrumental in the successful organ- 



ELLINGTON ACADEMY 



185 



ization of the school barely a half dozen sur- 
vive ; but the good they accomplished lives 
after them. 

In 1853, tne second year of Professor Hall's 
administration, a teachers' training class was 
organized, and almost continuously since then 
that has been one of the distinctive features of 
the institution. The primary department, how- 
ever, was discontinued in 1859. Following 
Professor Hall, in 1855, Professor Payne had 
charge of the school for a brief period, after 
whom the principals of the academy, with their 
respective terms of service were as follows : 
Warren B. Marsh, 1855-57; J onn C. Long, 
1857-60; Hiram L. Ward, 1860-64; A. C. Moon, 
1864-66; Miss Millie Smith completed the term 
of A. C. Moon in 1866-67; R. E. Post, 1867-68; 
followed by W. E. Stevenson, who was the last 
principal under the old academic system. 

In the winter of 1870-71 the taxpayers of 
School District Number Two, comprising the 
village of Ellington and vicinity, having by 
vote decided to establish a Union Free School, 
with an academic department, applied through 
their board of trustees to the trustees of the 
academy for a transfer of the building and 
property to the new school district, which re- 
sulted in the following action by the latter 
body : At a meeting of the academy trustees 
on March 23, 1871, the following resolution 
was adopted : 

Resolved, That we the Trustees of Ellington Acad- 
emy, in pursuance to section seventeen, chapter four 
hundred thirty-three of the Laws of 1853, do hereby 
vacate our offices in favor of the present Board of Edu- 
cation of Union School District Number Two, of the 
Town of Ellington, and to their successors in office, to 
be used by them as the academical department of said 
Union School upon condition that the said school dis- 
trict shall maintain the said academical department by 
teaching at least two academic terms per year; other- 
wise the said building and appurtenances belonging 
thereto shall be delivered back to the stockholders in 
pursuance to the provisions of a bond this day executed 
by the said board of education to certain stockholders 
named therein. 

This was signed by the following named 
gentlemen, comprising the full board of trus- 
tees at that time: J. F. Farman, John Shaw, 
Galutia Beardsley, Allen Bagg, L. M. Day, 
Lewis Leet, Edwin Anderson, L. D. Fairbanks 
and Theodore A. Case. 

Thus the Union School became a reality on 
March 23, 1871. Having been chartered as an 
Academy by the Regents of the University it 
was non-chartered and became a junior Re- 
gents school. In consequence of a large in- 
crease in the library and the working apparatus 
for the labratory and the excellent educational 



work of the institution, the school has been ad- 
vanced through the grades of middle and senior 
schools until October 3, 1899, when it was ad- 
vanced to the grade of High School, the high- 
est rating given by the University of the State 
of New York. 

The principals of the Union School from 
1871 to the present time are as follows: P. F. 
Burk, 1871-75; W. P. Spring, 1875-76; R. R. 
Rogers, 1876-80; George J. McAndrews, 1880- 
81 ; D. D. Van Allen, 1881-83 ; Frank W. Cross- 
field, 1883-86; Fred C. Wilcox, 1886-87; I- 
Howard Russell, 1887-88; Clyde C. Hill, 1888- 
90; A. H. Hiller, 1890-91; George Hanley, 
1891-93; Ellis W. Storms, 1893-97; Francis J. 
Flagg, 1897-99; Edward C. Hawley, 1899-1900; 
Ernest B. Luce, 1900-03 ; E. A. Reuther, 1903- 
04; Daniel Brewer, 1905-08; H. C. Lege, 1909; 
Robert Swan, 1910-13; George Luke, 1914; 
Frank York, 1915 ; Raymond Kuhrt, 1916-17; 
Glen G. Row, 1918-19-20. 

The population of Ellington, according to 
the State census of 1915 was 1,317, of whom 
25 were aliens. The value of the real estate in 
the town, according to the supervisors' report, 
was $569,857 in 1918 and its equalized assessed 
value $447,092. 

French Creek — French Creek was formed 
from Clymer, April 23, 1829. It takes its name 
from the stream watering the town, which was 
early used by the French in their military ex- 
peditions, and contains 21,832 acres. Its sur- 
face is hilly, broken by the valleys of French 
creek and its tributaries. The main stream 
enters the town on the north line, on lot 24, 
about two miles from the northeast corner and 
running in a southwesterly direction, leaving 
the town and State on lot 58, about one and 
one-half miles north of the southwest corner. 
This stream, in its zigzag course, is a great 
annoyance to the inhabitants on account of the 
height to which the water rises in times of 
freshets. The town is cut by its valleys into 
three ridges ; two running nearly east and west, 
separated by the Beaver Meadow Valley ; the 
other running north and south, and separated 
from the former by the valley of French Creek. 
These ridges rise in some places two hundred 
fifty feet. Most of their sides are tillable and 
well adapted to grazing, but some places are 
steep. The soil varies from heavy clay to a 
gravelly loam ; there are small deposits of muck 
along the creek. The hill tops are generally 
wet, being underlaid by stiff, hard clay, im- 
pregnated with oxide of iron. 

The French Creek flat varies in width from 
a pass but little wider than the bed of the 



I Si i 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



stream to about three-fourths of a mile, and is 
about three miles long. The Beaver Meadow 
flat is so called from the appearance of its hav- 
ing been occupied by beavers. The meadow 
was covered by alders. At one time there were 
many pine and balsam or fir trees along the 
edges, and on what were islands at the time it 
was occupied by the beavers. In the south part 
of the town is another beaver meadow, a small 
one, on lot 9, the dam of which is quite perfect. 
The water from this meadow flows into Hare 
Creek, which takes a southerly course. There 
was a third beaver meadow on the west 
branch of the creek, on lot 47. This town is 
adapted to dairying. Its cool nights and heavy 
dews keep the grass in better condition than 
the drier climate of the lake shore, though 
many fruits can not be raised on account of 
frost. Near the southwest corner is a circu- 
lar cranberry bog, which was given the name 
of "Possum." Indications of petroleum occur 
on lot 21. 

The first town meeting was held in March, 
1830, at the house of William Hooper. These 
officers were elected : Supervisor, Alexander 
Wilson; town clerk, Isaiah Golding ; assessors, 
John Gotham, Nathaniel Thompson, Silas W. 
Hatfield ; collector, William Thompson ; over- 
seers of poor, Paul Colburn, Augustus Bolles ; 
commissioners of highways, Parley Bloss, John 
Gotham, Royal Herrick; commissioners of 
schools, William Hooker, S. O. Colburn, Eli 
Belknap ; inspectors of schools, D. H. Peck, A. 
Noble, Ephraim Dean ; constables, William 
Thompson, George Adams ; justice, Ephraim 
Dean. 

The first settlers came from Oswego, Essex 
and Oneida counties during the War of 1812. 
Andy Nobles is said by some to have been here 
in 181 1. He located on lot 44. John Cleve- 
land was on lot 31 in 1812, Roswell Coe on lot 
39, Nathaniel Thompson on lot 9 in 1813; 
Amon Beebe and Gardner Cleveland probably 
settled the same year. Young says that the 
first school was taught by Polly Forbes in 1817. 
Child says it was taught by a Chitsey in 1818. 
Child says "the first death was that of a son of 
Nathaniel Thompson, drowned in French 
Creek." Young gives the first death as that 
of a child of J. Inglesby in 1818. "The first 
tavern was kept by William Graves, who built 
the first grist mill, both in 1822, and the first 
store was kept in one end of the grist mill by 
John Dodge." Parkley Bloss located on lot 
46 in 181 5. He was the first highway commis- 
sioner, and did surveying with a pocket com- 
pass and used a rope as a surveyor's chain. He 
had ten children ; his sons were Aden, Parley, 



William, Reuben, Calvin, Richard, Benjamin. 
He died in 1852, aged 75 years. His son Wil- 
liam was a noted hunter; one winter before 
January 1st he had shot forty-nine deer with 
his father's open-sight flint-lock rifle. Many 
authenticated tales are told of his adventures 
and exploits in cutting wood and other labors. 
In 1870, when sixty years old, in one day he 
walked a mile and cut down the trees for, and 
cut into twenty-two inch lengths, three and 
one-half cords of wood. This whole family 
were energetic workers and did much to clear 
up the lands of the town. Gardiner Case, a 
soldier of 1812, some years after that war, came 
to French Creek and was a permanent settler. 
Henry R. Case is his son. Silas Terry settled, 
probably in 1820, on lot 2, where he bought 
land in 1821, coming from Harmony, where he 
settled in 1816 and later married Polly Powers. 
He resided in French Creek until 1855. He 
was one of the most important men of the new 
town, was justice for sixteen years and was 
collector of Clymer in 1821, which then in- 
cluded Sherman, French Creek and Mina. The 
tax collected that year in this town was about 
$800. He was also collector four years later. 
He was supervisor of French Creek in 1844-45- 
48, and in 1849 member of Assembly. Of his 
nine children, Seward W. was captain of Com- 
pany G, 49th New York Volunteers, in the 
Civil War, and was killed at Spottsylvania ; 
Cassius M. became a Congregational clergy- 
man ; Mary R. married Hon. Walter L. Ses- 
sions ; Lawyer S., made his home in French 
Creek. Nehemiah Royce settled on lot 19 in 
1825. He was supervisor seven years. Al- 
mond Stephen Park, son of Elijah Park, was 
born December 22, 1814, in Granville, Wash- 
ington county. In 1828 he came to this county. 
April 27, 1834, he married Rhoda Ann Baker 
and settled in French Creek in 1836. Mr. Park 
represented his town on the board of super- 
visors in the year 1863. Lewis H. Park was 
born March 2, 1843. He married Mary M. 
Myers, November 14, 1869. 

French Creek was included in 1816 in the 
parochial charge of Rev. Karl Wilhelm 
(Charles Williams) Colson, an early Lutheran 
missionary to the scattered Germans in Ohio, 
Northwestern Pennsylvania and adjacent local- 
ities. The first services to form a church were 
held in 1818, on lot 46, at the house of Alanson 
Root by Elder Ashford, who in 1821 organ- 
ized a Baptist church in a log school house on 
lot 56. Among the first members were: Na- 
thaniel and William Thompson, William 
Adams, A. M. Higgins, the wives of all of 
these ; Roswell Coe, Amon Beebe. This church 









^^/ ^-^5 




rc r 


Tr HItL 




BK^orj 




■MJ'L "" |gr .^d^g 



JLD PEOPLE'S HOME -GERRY, X r. 




:i:m:i: \i, so ■ i ' 1 1 : i .1 - s 1:1 i;tii i'i.ach, i;ei;i;i 



TOWNS— GERRY 



187 



had a brief existence, most of the members re- 
moving from the town. Several subsequent 
abortive attempts to keep up a Baptist church 
were made. A Methodist Episcopal church 
was organized in the northwest part in 1830 by 
Rev. J. K. Hallock and Rev. J. Chandler. The 
members were Isaiah and Betsey Golding, and 
William and Amy Adams. Moses Olds and 
wife and Mrs. Bowles were early members. 
The society built a fine church costing $2,000 
on lot 46, in 1858, which was completed, painted 
and carpeted in 1867. This society received 
fifty acres of "gospel land" from the Holland 
Land Company. It was on lot 30, and was 
sold by order of the county court and the 
money used in building the church. A Chris- 
tian church, in which the ceremony of washing 
feet was literally carried out, was formed in 
1834, with a membership of twenty-four, 
among them Benjamin and Calvin Bloss. 

Supervisors — 1830-31-32, Alexander Wilson, 
Jr.; 1833, Nathaniel Thompson; 1834-35-36-37, 
Ira F. Gleason; 1838, Daniel Hooker; 1839-40- 
41-42, Philo S. Hawley; 1843, David L. Glea- 
son; 1844-45, Silas Terry; 1846-47, Nehemiah 
Royce ; 1848, Silas Terry; 1849, Nehemiah 
Royce ; 1850, Thomas D. Jones; 1851, Nehe- 
miah Royce; 1852, Philo S. Hawley; 1853-54- 
55, Nehemiah Royce; 1856, John Sliter ; 1857, 
Marvin Hooker; 1858, Stephen W. Steward; 
1859-60, Hibbard W. Fenton ; 1861-62, Reuben 
J. Beach ; 1863, Almond S. Park ; 1864-65, Law- 
yer S. Terry; 1866-67, Dana P. Horton ; 1868- 
69, James A. Merry; 1870, Dexter M. Hap- 
good; 1871-72, Henry R. Case; 1873, John 
Jones; 1874, H. R. Parsons; 1875, John Jones; 
1876-77, Reuben J. Beach; 1878, Orson Allis ; 
1879, Nehemiah Royce; 1880-81-82, Henry R. 
Case; 1883, Orson Allis; 1884-85, Edward 
Jaquins; 1886-87-88, Henry R. Case; 1889, 
James Rhoades ; 1890-91, George I. Hapgood ; 
1892-93, Henry R. Jones; 1894-95-96-97-98-99- 
1900-01-02-03-04-05-06, Henry R. Case; 1907- 
08-09-10-11, Edward A. Austin; 1912-13, Sam- 
uel A. Webber; 1914-15, Lucas C. Gleason; 
1916-17, Frank A. Jones; 1918-19, Lucas C. 
Gleason ; 1920, Amos White. 

According to the State census, 191 5, French 
Creek has a population of 922 citizens, 19 aliens, 
and in 1918 the real estate of the town was 
valued at $472,810, which was assessed at $370, 
952. There are three small villages in the 
town : French Creek, Marvin and Cutting. 

The town has good schools. 

Gerry* — Gerry was formed from Pomfret, 
June 1, 1812. Ellington, including Cherry 

♦Condensed from a narrative by Mr. John F. Phelps. 



Creek, was taken off in 1824 and Charlotte in 
1829. It was named from Elbridge Gerry, a 
signer of the Declaration of Independence, and 
a Vice-President. It lies southeast of the cen- 
ter of the county, is bounded on the north by 
Charlotte, east by Ellington, south by Ellicott, 
west by Ellery and Stockton, and comprises 
township three, range eleven, and contains 
thirty-six square miles. The highest hills are 
in the northeastern and southwestern sec- 
tions, their summits being 400 feet above the 
Cassadaga Valley and 1,700 feet above the 
ocean. The wide and fertile Cassadaga Valley 
extends from the northwest part southeasterly 
to its southern boundary, and averages two 
miles wide. Through it runs the Dunkirk, 
Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh railroad, built 
in 1871. Gerry Station is 722 feet and Sinclair- 
ville Station 757 feet above Lake Erie. Cassa- 
daga Creek, a large, slow, crooked stream, 
flowing southerly through the valley is the 
principal water course. The other streams are 
Mill creek, which empties into the Cassadaga 
in the northwestern part of the town. E. A. 
Ross says : "Mill creek takes its source by 
two branches, one from Arkwright and one 
from Cherry Creek, and flows southwesterly 
through Charlotte and part of Gerry. The 
lower mill on this stream was located half way 
between the Cassadaga and Sinclairville, and 
was built by John McAllister on land later 
owned by his son James." Hatch creek rises 
in the northeastern part, flows southerly 
through the village of Gerry and empties into 
the Cassadaga. Folsom creek rises in the 
northeastern part, flows nearly south into Elli- 
cott and into the Cassadaga. The town is well 
adapted to grazing and dairying, and the valley 
is adapted to the raising of corn and other 
grains. The soil of the uplands is clay loam, 
that of the valleys sand loam. 

The principal portion of the present town 
of Gerry was an unbroken wilderness up to 
1815, although in the northern part contiguous 
to Sinclairville a few settlements had been 
made as early as 1810. In 1815 several fami- 
lies, all from Vermont, including those of Wil- 
liam Alverson, Porter Phelps, Dexter and Na- 
than Hatch, and Reuben and Solomon Fessen- 
den, plunged into the unbroken pine forest 
bordering the Cassadaga Creek on the east and 
commenced carving out the new settlement 
called Vermont. These were soon followed by 
many others, nearly all from Guilford and Hali- 
fax, Windham county. They came with ox- 
teams and on foot. Among the family names 
we note Bucklin, Cutting, Shepardson, 
Mathews, Pratt, Salisbury, Starr, Cobb and 



[88 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



many others. These pioneers found them- 
selves subject to laws unknown in the old Ver- 
mont. In 1813 the first town meeting in Gerry 
was held at the house of Samuel Sinclear, when 
the following town law was enacted : "Ox- 
sleds to be four feet in 'wedth.' Penalty for 
being 'cetched' on the road with an ox sled less 
than four feet wide, five dollars." The hog 
was also placed under restrictions at that time, 
not being allowed to run common without a 
suitable yoke. 

The work of home-making progressed 
rapidly, log houses were built, clearings made, 
a road was early cut through to Sinclair- 
ville, a distance of five miles, and roads 
opened in other directions. The first official 
recognition of the name Vermont to this local- 
ity we find in the town records of 1818: "A 
survey of a road beginning at a pine stump 
near James Bucklin's house, said stump stand- 
ing in the highway now designated by the 
name of Vermont." In 1820 James Bucklin 
opened a hotel which caused the place to be 
known as "Bucklin's Corners." In 1822 a post- 
office was established called Vermont, with 
Dexter Hatch as postmaster. 

In 1822 Caleb Mathews commenced the 
manufacture of pottery on his farm east of 
Vermont Corners. This was carried on suc- 
cessfully on a small scale for a few years. 
About this time Solomon Fessenden estab- 
lished a brickyard, and for many years sup- 
plied brick of superior quality to the inhabi- 
tants of the central portion of the county. In 
-1838-39 a craze for manufacturing developed 
in the northern portion of Vermont, settlement 
and three factories were built for the produc- 
tion of wooden pails, wooden bowls and veneer- 
ing respectively. This movement gained for 
the neighborhood the title of New Pittsburg, 
which it held locally for a number of years. 
These enterprises met failure with the excep- 
tion of the veneer business which has grown 
from this small beginning to one of great im- 
portance. Here in 1845 Riley Greenleaf, who 
was a genius in mechanics, invented and put 
in successful operation the first machine for 
cutting veneers in a continuous sheet from the 
surface of a slowly revolving log. These ma- 
chines are now universally used wherever this 
business is carried on. 

One of the largest factories in the United 
States is located at Gerry Village, and is owned 
and managed in part by John Strong, who used 
the first machine made over half a century ago. 
A general store was opened at Vermont by 
Howard B. Blodgett in 1826. He was suc- 
ceeded by Norman Gurnsey. Sidney E. Pal- 



mer, his clerk, became the owner of the store 
and goods in 1838. Mr. Palmer was afterwards 
made postmaster, his commission bearing date 
August 1, 1841. He held this position con- 
tinuously until his death in 1896, a period of 
fifty-five years, and was said to have been the 
oldest postmaster in point of service in the 
United States. A large portion of this time 
Mr. Palmer was town clerk. He was also five 
years on the board of supervisors from Gerry, 
and in i860 represented the Second Assembly 
District of Chautauqua in the Legislature. 

The postoffice, which long held the name of 
Vermont, was changed to Gerry about 1876, 
and the station on the Dunkirk, Allegheny Val- 
ley & Pittsburgh railroad was changed from 
Vermont to Gerry as late as 1881. When these 
changes were made, "Vermont in Gerry" was 
no longer a fact, but a memory. The pioneers 
are gone, but many of their descendants are 
occupying their places. It was believed in 
1902 that there are but two persons living who 
came with the first settlers, Caroline Phelps 
Eaton, daughter of Porter Phelps, and Albru 
Fessenden, son of Reuben Fessenden, were 
brought here by their parents in the fall of 
181 5 and the spring of 1816, respectively, mak- 
ing the journey from Vermont by ox-teams. 

The Vermonters in Gerry have always fur- 
nished their proportion of men of affairs in 
town business. One of the most conspicuous 
examples was Willard Bucklin, one of the pio- 
neer settlers. He was eight years on the board 
of supervisors, and for thirty years almost con- 
tinuously held the office of justice of the peace, 
noted for the correctness and fairness of his 
decisions and rulings. Other Vermonters or 
their descendants who have represented the 
town on the board of supervisors include the 
names of James Bucklin, Henry Starr, John F. 
Phelps, and the present incumbent, Orson N. 
Salisbury. 

The first birth of a white person occurred in 
the Jones family. Atkins, same year, built a 
log house on the northeast part of lot 55, a few 
rods from Jones' log dwelling, upon the farm 
now owned by B. F. Dennison. In 181 5 his 
wife Clarinda died, the first death in the town. 

During 181 1 the "old Chautauqua road" 
from Mayville to Ellicottville, was cut through 
the northern part of the town by John West, 
Peter Barnhart and Dexter Barnes, one rod 
wide, and cleared it of small trees and fallen 
ones for ten dollars per mile. They began 
July 4, 181 1, at the fourteenth mile stake east 
of the court house, near the house of Amos 
Atkins (the Love stand) in Gerry. They were 
about three months in cutting the twenty-one 



TOWNS— GERRY 



[89 



miles to the Cattaraugus line. September 1, 

1814, the same parties and others began to 
work upon this road and continued until cold 
weather. They resumed work September 1, 

181 5. Bridges were built and the road other- 
wise improved. It became the route by which, 
to some extent, the settlers came in from the 
east, and communication was had with Genesee 
county. 

The first town meeting in Gerry, as at pres- 
ent constituted, was held at the house of Cal- 
vin Cutting, May 2, 1S30. The officers chosen 
were : Supervisor, Hugh B. Patterson ; town 
clerk, Howard B. Blodgett; assessors, Wil- 
liam Mellen, William M. Wagoner, Calvin 
Smith ; commissioners of highways, William 
Mellen, Jr., Willard Bucklin, Horace Strong; 
commissioners of schools, Benjamin Tuttle, Jr., 
James Scofield, Nathan Hatch ; inspectors of 
schools, William Mellen, Jr., James Bucklin, 
Jr., Samuel J. Goodrich ; overseers of poor, 
William Gilmour, Gilbert Strong; collector, 
William Gilmour; justices, Leander Mellen, 
Hugh B. Patterson; sealer, Nehemiah Horton ; 
poundmaster, David Cobb. 

Stages were first run through the town in 
1827 by Obed Edson and Reuben Scott. In 
1852 the Fredonia and Sinclairville plank road 
was built through the village of Gerry. 

Sinclairville station is in the village of Sin- 
clairville. A little more than one-third of the 
corporate limits of the village and much the 
smaller proportion of its population lies in 
Gerry. 

Gerry Village is not incorporated, but is a 
prosperous little village containing about two 
hundred fifty inhabitants. Its principal manu- 
facturing establishment is the prominent one 
owned by the Strong Veneer Company. Large 
amounts of timber adapted to the manufacture 
of veneers once grew in localities in this county 
near Charlotte and Gerry, and at an early 
period many engaged in this manufacture — 
Philip Edgerton, of Sinclairville, Greenleaf & 
Cole, Leffingwell, Colton, Lewis and Jonah 
Cutting, and John Strong, of Gerry. T. D. 
Copp made voyages to London, as' also did 
William S. Fish later, to sell veneers. John 
Strong and his son Burdette commenced busi- 
ness January 1, 1893, m a new mill at Gerry, 
which had two cutting veneer mills with a 
capacity of twenty thousand feet per day. Au- 
gust 28, 1893, this mill was destroyed by fire. 
The value of the property was $25,000, insured 
for $5,000. They immediately erected a new 
iron-clad mill at Gerry, forty by eighty feet, 
three stories high, with cutting machine that 
weighs eighteen tons and will cut an eight- 



foot log. The timber comes from New York, 
Michigan, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Curly 
walnut, birch, maple, ash, sycamore and ma- 
hogany are used. A. J. Peterson's steam saw- 
mill at Gerry Village has all modern improve- 
ments, employs fifteen men and manufactures 
twenty-five thousand feet of lumber per day. 
William and Addison Murch owned the saw- 
mill at the east side of the village. The 
basket factory was formerly owned by George 
Noble, who for several years extensively 
manufactured grape-baskets. One season be- 
sides his factory at Gerry he had others 
at Brocton, Portland, and Ashville, at which 
he manufactured one million grape baskets. 
The Gerry creamery, and the Starr factory are 
butter and cheese factories of Gerry. 

The Methodist Episcopal church in Gerry, 
the first religious association, was formed about 
1819, by Elder Jonathan Wilson. It was subse- 
quently legally organized, and December 12, 
1828, a deed was executed by the Holland Land 
Company of one hundred acres on lot 53 of 
land appropriated to religious purposes to 
James Scofield, William Alverson and Stod- 
dard Cannon, Methodist members, as trustees. 
In or soon after 1829, with the proceeds of the 
sale of a portion of it, a meeting house was 
built upon the west side of the highway, about 
two miles south of Sinclairville. It was the 
first church built in Gerry and in the Cassa- 
daga Valley, and one of the first Methodist 
meeting houses in the county. For years it 
was the only church in Gerry. It was the, 
center of Methodism and was fondly regarded 
by the early Methodists. Adjacent to it a pub- 
lic burying place was set apart from this tract 
of land. The old church has long since passed 
away, as have the earnest and faithful fathers 
of the little society that built it. Of the build- 
ers of this church and early members of this 
society whose influence was long felt in Gerry, 
are buried, James R. Alverson ; his wife, Dama- 
ris : his brother William ; James Heath ; and 
Gilbert Strong, aged 92. Here are buried other 
pioneers of Gerry : John McCullough, James 
Langworthy, Robert Lenox, David Strong, 
David Cowden ; and Susannah Woods, died 
June 15, 1873, a S e d 100 years, 8 months and 22 
days. The church was merged in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church of Sinclairville, and later 
the meeting house was accidentally destroyed 
by fire. 

The first Baptist church of Gerry was formed 
by Rev. Jonathan Wilson about 1820, chiefly 
of members from the Stockton church. They 
held meetings in Gerry Abbey's log house at 
"The Huddle," a small cluster of log houses 



190 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



near the old Cutting stand. This church organ- 
ization has ceased to exist. 

The first society of the Methodist Protestant 
church was organized at the school house in 
district No. 4 in Poland, in May, 1839, by Rev. 
James Covell. The second was organized in 
district No. 11 (Miller's settlement), in Poland 
in 1840 by Rev. O. C. Payne. The third was 
organized by Rev. James Covell at Bucklin's 
Corners, April 15, 1840. The fourth was organ- 
ized by Rev. Joseph Parkyn in district No. 2 
in Gerry, December 28, 1840, and included the 
country around the early Methodist Episcopal 
meeting house. The first regularly appointed 
preacher was Rev. Joseph Parkyn, superin- 
tendent, and Rev. E. A. Wheat, assistant. 
Their successors have been : William Emmons, 
Elisha Brownson, Alanson Kingsley, Ran- 
dolph Pennell, Lewis Sweetland, O. C. Payne, 
John W. Davis, William H. Farnham, Isaac 
Fister, S. M. Short, A. O. Hutchinson, C. K. 
Akley, H. L. Bowen, Charles Hundson, until 
1882, when the Free Methodist class was organ- 
ized at Gerry by withdrawing members. The 
Kennedy class of Methodist Protestants was 
about this time separated from Gerry, making 
Gerry a station to which Rev. F. N. Foster was 
appointed and served six years, supplying Ken- 
nedy also for three years. He was succeeded 
by Rev. C. C. Reynolds, A. L. Stinard, S. E. 
Mathews. 

The Free Methodist Church of Gerry was 
organized in 1880. In 1883 an excellent church 
building was erected on a lot donated by N. J. 
Wilson, at Gerry Village. Among those who 
contributed largely were N. J. Wilson, John 
Strong, L. R. Barmore, Walter A. Sellew, Jar- 
vis K. Wilson, Joseph Trusler, H. N. Sealy and 
others. Of the ministers who have served this 
church are those who stand high in the coun- 
cils of the church at large, among whom are: 
J. H. Harmon, Walter A. Sellew, B. R. Jones, 
editor of the denominational paper; Prof. D. S. 
Warner, principal of Spring Arbor Seminary, 
Michigan ; J. S. McGeary, a prominent mem- 
ber of the Genesee Conference, and others. An 
excellent parsonage is connected with the 
church. A fine toned bell from the McShane 
bell foundry of Baltimore, a gift from N. J. 
Wilson, hangs in the belfry. 

To the Free Methodist Church and the pub- 
lic spirit of the citizens of Gerry the county is 
indebted for a valuable benevolent institution, 
Gerry Orphanage and Home. Its history is 
given in the following contribution : 

In the years from 1880 to 1885, several ministers and 
laymen in Western New York were much exercised 
about the necessity of having a suitable home for 



orphans and homeless children. Among these were 
Rev. S. K. J. Chesbro, Rev. Henry Hornsby and Rev. 
Walter A. Sellew. In 1885 at the annual session of 
the Genesee Conference, a resolution was introduced 
by Rev. Sellew authorizing the appointment of a com- 
mittee to secure the legal incorporation of such an 
institution. This committee was appointed, consisting 
of the ministers named above, and a charter was 
drafted, which was made the basis of an incorporation 
by act of the Legislature of New York State, May 6, 
1886. The following were named as trustees: Henry 
Hornsby, S. K. J. Chesbro, Walter A. Sellow, Wilson 
T. Hogue, Wm. Manning, Newell J. Wilson, Albert 
McCoy, Alanson K. Bacon, Tristam Cortiss, Peter D. 
Miller, Owen M. Owen, Geo. W. Gurley, John T. 
Michael, Hiram Beardsley and Wm. Gould. The first 
meeting of this board was held at Gerry, August 17, 
1886, and officers were elected: Henry Hornsby, presi- 
dent; John T. Michael, vice-president; S. K. J. Ches- 
bro, secretary; Walter A. Sellew, treasurer. 

Nothing was done toward establishing the institution 
till 18S8. when Rev. Walter A. Sellew (later Bishop 
Sellew) offered to donate the property in Gerry known 
as the "Seminary property," consisting of eight acres of 
land and a building of two stories and basement, with 
barns and suitable outbuildings. The land, estimated 
at $1,200, had been donated a few years before to Mr. 
Sellew by the citizens of Gerry to be used for semi- 
nary purposes. The donation by Mr. Sellew made to 
the Orphanage and Home was estimated at about 
$5,000. This donation from Mr. Sellew was accepted. 
In the spring of 1889 Rev. O. O. Bacon and wife were 
elected manager and matron, and entered upon their 
duties. The first children, four in number, were re- 
ceived as inmates in June, 1889. 

There had been a pressing demand for a "Home" 
for aged persons, and the management decided to ad- 
mit that class of dependent people also. The first aged 
inmate was received June 3, 1889. At the annual meet- 
ing in September, 1890, there were ten children and 
seven aged persons as inmates. 

In May, 1890, the trustees purchased the property 
adjoining, known as the "Starr Estate," ten acres of 
land with dwelling house. In October, 1903, they also 
purchased the Oscar Partridge farm, also adjoining, 
consisting of no acres with the usual farm buildings. 
The large increase in the number of inmates, both chil- 
dren and old people, rendered it necessary that more 
room should be provided. The association of children 
and aged people in the same building was not pleasant 
to either class, and this fact also made it imperative 
that a new building should be provided. Accordingly 
in 1900 this new building was constructed, three stories 
and a full basement, with modern heating and sanitary 
plumbing. To obtain a suitable location for this build- 
ing the trustees purchased the John Strong homestead 
on the main road running towards Sinclairville, and on 
this location the new building now stands. 

The first manager and matron, Rev. O. O. Bacon and 
wife, remained till April, 1893. The Rev. George M. 
Allen and wife succeeded them and remained till Octo- 
ber, 1898, when Rev. L. D. Perkins and wife became 
manager and matron. 

The largest contributions to the institution besides 
Rev. Walter A. Sellew, who gave the original property, 
and those giving the original land for a location, has 
been as follows: William and Charlotte Phillips of 
Newfane, New York, gave their farm which was sold 
for $4,000 cash; they also deeded the institution their 
village property valued at $2,000, to be sold after their 
death. Mrs. Lavanche Essex of Franklinville, New 
York, gave $2,550; L. Atwood, of Rome, New York, 




x - s i ii !.\i ;•: inula x 



TOWNS— HANOVER 



[ 9 ] 



Thankful Burrett, of North Chili, New York, and 
Jarvis K. Wilson, of Gerry, New York, have each given 
$1,000. Mrs. Burrett and Mr. Wilson made repeated 
liberal donations from time to time. Rev. Henry 
Hornsby has also given the institution something over 
$1,000 and has deeded to them his farm in West Ken- 
dall, New York, valued at about $7,000, and he and his 
wife retain the use of it during life. The larger part, 
however, of all moneys received, both for property and 
for current expenses, has been contributed in small 
amounts by a large number of people from a wide 
scope of territory. In 190.1 there were contributors 
from twenty-six States and Territories, including Can- 
ada, besides some from foreign countries. 

While this institution receives and cares for both 
children and aged people, they have always made a 
specialty of caring for homeless children, and obtain- 
ing for such, good Christian homes. The Gerry 
Orphanage believes that the best place for a child is in 
a good family, but that an orphanage is a necessity in 
order to gather and care for these homeless ones until 
a proper home in a family can be secured. They have 
conducted their institution so that it has been a medium 
between a homeless child and a childless home, and 
they take the children committed to them, keep them 
a year or two, training, educating and developing them 
meanwhile, and then place them in some Christian 
family for adoption. This plan they have steadily pur- 
sued so that they have since their opening placed out 
a large number of such children in good homes. 

The Orphanage building has lately undergone exten- 
sive repairs. They have a nursery, with competent 
nurses, and make a specialty of caring for infants and 
small children. They have a fine day school for the 
larger scholars with an attendance of about thirty-five. 
The school is under the control and supervision of the 
Public School Commissioner. They have never had a 
serious case of sickness of a child over one year old, 
and no deaths except of young infants. According to 
their reports, the total expenditures for medicine, medi- 
cal supplies and attendance for ten years was only 
twenty dollars and ninety-five cents. 

Supervisors — Samuel Sinclear, six years ; 
Amos Atkins, 1814; Selah Pickett, 1817; Joel 
Burnell, two years: Hugh B. Patterson, eleven 
years; Nathan Lake, 1829; James Scofield, 
1831; Samuel Fargo, 1836; Willard Bucklin, 
eight years : William M. Waggoner, two years ; 
William Bliss, two years; William R. Wilson, 
two years ; Sidney E. Palmer, five years ; Wil- 
liam Mellen, 1856: James Bucklin, six years; 
Lyman Eaton. 1853 ! Samuel Griffith, two 
years ; Robert Lenox, i860; Galusha Beardsley, 
six years ; George A. Aldrich, two years ; B. F. 
Dennison, two years ; William H. Scott, three 
years ; Jarvis K. Wilson, three years ; John F. 
Phelps, 1870; Charles A. Tracy, nine years; 
Henry Starr, six years; 1896-1901, John A. 
Almv: 1902-07, Orson N. Salisbury; iqoS-ii, 
Obed E. Ostrander; 1912-15, George N. Tomp- 
kins ; 1916-20, Park L. Starr. 

The population of Gerry in 1915 (State cen- 
sus) was 1,175 citizens, 19 aliens. The full 
value of real estate in the town in 1918 (super- 
visors' report) was $843,197; its equalized as- 



sessed value, $661,547. Gerry schools are also 
of high grade. 

Hanover — The town of Hanover, the ex- 
treme northeastern town of the county, was 
formed from Pomfret, June I, 1812, lost the 
area comprised in the town of Villenova in 
1823 and a part of the town of Sheridan in 
1827. It comprises township 6 of the tenth 
range, and in addition to the territory usually 
contained in a township six miles square, ex- 
tends several miles north to Lake Erie and 
Cattaraugus creek, which form its northern 
boundary. Its 30,402 acres of well watered 
gravelly loam lie within Chautauqua's grape 
belt, these beautiful acres sloping from the 
lake to a height perhaps 600 feet above lake 
level in the south part of the town. So gradual 
is the rise that from most of the farms a view 
of Lake Erie is had, sometimes a broad view, 
sometimes but a glimpse. This wonderful 
tract is largely devoted to vineyards, their out- 
put very large. Silver Creek, an incorporated 
village with a population of 3,200 (New York 
State census, 191 5), is the most important in 
the town, other settlements being, Forestville, 
also an incorporated village (population in 
1915, 740), Irving, Abbey, Nashville and Smith 
Falls. 

Forestville is the seat of the Hasesot Can- 
neries Co., and of the fruit basket factory 
owned and operated by W. F. Miller. 

Silver Creek's industries are The Columbia 
Postal Supply Co., manufacturers of canceling 
machines ; Fredonia Preserving Co. ; The S. 
Howes Company, grain cleaners; Huntley 
Manufacturing Company, grain cleaning and 
canning factorv machinery ; Invincible Grain 
Cleaner Co. ; H. J. Montgomery Manufactur- 
ing Co., furniture; Silver Creek Parlor Frame 
Co.; Silver Creek Upholstery Co.; Stewart 
Underwear Co. The population of the town, 
according to the State census of 191 5, was 
5,998 citizens, 467 aliens ; total 6,465. 

When the Holland Land Company made 
their original survey of Hanover, it was an 
almost unbroken wilderness. Great hemlocks, 
black walnut, whitewood, elm, beech and other 
timber making up these great forests. The 
first purchaserof land in Hanover was Charles 
Avery, who bought lot 3 in Cattaraugus vil- 
lage in 1804. He was in the town in 1803, but 
it does not seem that he was the first settler, 
that honor being generally accorded to Amos 
Sottle, who in 1798 and 1799 assisted in sur- 
veying that part of the Holland Purchase, be- 
ing entered on the books of the surveying com- 
pany as "Amos Sawtel axeman." He is said 



[Q2 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



to have had a shanty along the creek in which 
he lived alone for a year or more before enter- 
ing the company's employ. He was for a time 
in Ohio with a surveying company, but in 
1801 returned to Hanover, built a small log 
house for the entertainment of travelers and 
operated a ferry across the creek. 

He married a colored woman at Buffalo, and 
lived with her until her death about 1844. His 
son John died at Cattaraugus and was buried 
in the graveyard lake ; this was the first ceme- 
tery in the town. Sottle, after he built on lot 
61, Cattaraugus Village, about 1845, moved 
John's remains to lot 61, near the house. Many 
of the remains of the other early inhabitants 
buried there were moved to Hanover Center 
Cemetery, and the Railroad Company has since 
carried away the sand bank, cemetery and all. 
Chloe, Sottle's wife, was a good neighbor and 
kind-hearted. They had about the only 
orchard in the vicinity in the early days, and 
seldom a boy went to "Aunt Chloe" for apples 
in time of apples, but what he got some. 

Ezekiel Lane was son-in-law of Middaugh. 
In 1800 Ezekiel Lane was one of the three who 
paid taxes at Buffalo, then, in 1803, he took up 
lands in Tonawanda, but lived on lot 48 in Cat- 
taraugus Village, making his home in a small 
house belonging to Sottle. 

The Cattaraugus settlement was at or near 
the mouth of the creek and was known as Cat- 
taraugus, and the harbor made there by the 
government was called Cattaraugus Harbor. 
Yet the first postoffice there was called "Acas- 
to." It must have kept this name until the 
formation of the Irving Company in 1836. The 
first map of what was afterward "Irving Vil- 
lage plot" was called "the map of the Village 
of Acasto." Dr. H. P. Wilcox's Albany papers 
came as late as 1850 addressed "Acasto." Some 
time about 1836 the name must have been 
changed. The postoffice was located at the 
lower village, Irving. The upper village, now 
Irving, was then called La Grange. During 
President Tyler's administration C. R. Leland 
was appointed postmaster, and the office moved 
to La Grange. The name of the office was not 
changed, but La Grange Village gradually took 
the postoffice name, Irving. Yet the place was 
so generally known as Cattaraugus that letters 
were frequently (especially by sailors) directed 
to Cattaraugus. 

After the survey was made, settlers began 
to come in more rapidly. In 1804 Charles 
Avery took lot 3, Cattaraugus Village. He 
kept a store there and remained as late as 1816, 
in which year he was pathmaster. Avery, the 
first person who took up land in Hanover, was 



on the land at the time of the survey, having 
evidently located his land and bought as soon 
as it was in the market. This same year Wil- 
liam G. Sidney took up lots 1 and 2, Cattarau- 
gus Village, which he transferred to Captain 
John Mack. Sidney kept the Cattaraugus 
House, which he sold to Mack. Sidney came 
to Cattaraugus in 1801 or 1802, and remained 
until he died in 1807. Captain John Mack. 
who bought of Sidney, came in 1806, and kept 
the hotel and ferry there a long time. His 
daughter Elizabeth married Judge Richard 
Smith, at the Cattaraugus House, in January, 
1807; this was the first marriage in Hanover. 
Judge Smith then lived in what is now Erie 
county, but soon after moved to Hanover, near 
Forestville and taught school there and at Sil- 
ver Creek ; he was one of the earliest teachers. 
Rev. Chalon Burgess was one of his scholars 
at Silver Creek. After Captain Mack's death, 
his son John kept a tavern until 1840, when he 
built the farm house near the railroad. Some 
years later he removed to South Bend, Indi- 
ana. Captain John Sydnor as early as 1803 or 
1804, came to Cattaraugus and was there a 
number of years. February 23, 1805. Abel 
Cleveland and David Dickinson bought lot 74, 
township 6. range 10. The greater part of Sil- 
ver Creek is on this lot, and the greater part, 
all but about thirty acres, was conveyed either 
by the land company or by Cleveland and 
Dickinson, to John E. Howard before 1805. 
Cleveland and Dickinson built a sawmill on the 
thirty acres — the first in town; to this they 
attached a mortar and pestle for pounding corn 
into meal. This was the first gristmill in town. 
Those mills were sold to John E. Howard in 
1805 or 1806. In 1805 Jesse and John Skinner 
took up lot 73, the southern part of Silver 
Creek, and John Tyler took up lot 10, near Ash- 
ville. Tyler apparently gave up his contract, 
for in 1810 the land company sold this lot to 
Guy Webster. Turner in his history (page 
461) savs that "in 1806 Aaron Dolph, William 
Tuttle, Elijah Lane and Henry Johnson took 
up lands at Irving," but it is very doubtful if 
they settled there or perfected tlieir titles, as 
none of the early residents seem to have known 
them. In i8o6\ Abner Cooley bought lot 61, 
north of Forestville. In 1806 John E. How- 
ard was the only resident at Silver Creek and 
owned lot 74. including the mills built by 
Cleveland & Dickinson. Artemas Clothier and 
Norman Spink came into Hanover this year 
and lived near Silver Creek. In 1806 also, Sot- 
tle first bought in town. He bought lots 55 and 
50, Cattaraugus Village. In 1807 John Smith 
and David Scott articled lot 73 (afterwards 



TOWNS— HANOVER 



193 



sold to Artemas Clothier), part of the same lot 
articled to Jesse and John Skinner in 1805 at 
Silver Creek. In August, 1807, Samuel John- 
son took up lot 68 on the lake adjoining Catta- 
raugus Village. He sold lot 68 and in 1809 
bought lot 51 near Forestville, moved there and 
remained until his death. This lot was after- 
wards bought by John Mack. Ezra Puffer 
bought this same year (1807) lot 58, Catta- 
raugus Village ; he seems never to have located 
there, but went to that part which became 
Villenova. He held a number of town offices 
in Hanover, was the first supervisor of Ville- 
nova, and moved to Indiana in 1843. 1° J 8o8 
Rufus Washburn bought lot 57, near Forest- 
ville, and Benjamin Kenyon bought lot 63, Cat- 
taraugus Village, built a house and lived there 
until his death about 1830. Walter Lull and 
Martin B. Tubbs bought lot 50 in 1808, near 
Forestville and the same year Sylvanus Maybe 
took up lot 7. In 1808 Jehial Moore settled at 
Forestville. He is said to have built the first 
house in Forestville, and in 1809 he moved his 
family in and also built the first sawmill below 
the Falls, and the first gristmill in 1810. In 
February, 1814, he moved to Ohio. 

In 1809 Amos Ingraham bought lot 5, Catta- 
raugus Village. Ingraham was drowned about 
1835 in Cattaraugus Creek. This gave the 
name "The Ingraham Hole" to a deep place in 
the creek, which it still retains. Daniel Hol- 
brook bought lot 58, Forestville, built and lived 
there. While Hanover included Villenova and 
Sheridan, the town-meetings and elections 
were held at Mr. Holbrook's. This year in 
September, Guy Webster bought lot 3, Nash- 
ville. The little settlement in the southeast 
part was called "Webster Settlement" until 
after 1814. Artemas Clothier this year bought 
part of lot 73, the south part of Silver Creek. 
He was a farmer and surveyor, and lived near 
Silver Creek until his death in 1879. Joseph 
Brownnell in December, 1809, bought lot 11, 
near Nashville. He was, by the town records, 
the first supervisor, and held other offices. The 
same year Asher Cooley bought lot 33, near 
Forestville. In 1810 Ephraim Hall came from 
Lowell, Mass., to LaGrange. He located on 
lot 44, Cattaraugus Village, where he built and 
lived a few years. He also bought lot 43, 
known as the "Island." While living on lot 
44, there was an ice-jam in Cattaraugus creek, 
setting the water back over the flats. Hall 
was awakened in the night by running water. 
He jumped out of bed into about a foot of 
water, got his family upstairs, where they lived 
three days with no fire or light except one 

Chau-13 



candle. At length some men ran the bow of 
a boat into the open door and the family were 
relieved. By this jam Mr. Hall lost about 
ninety head of young cattle. Hall was justice 
of the peace of Pomfret and frequently held 
court at Fredonia. After the experience with 
high water, Mr. Hall bought part of lot 11, 
Cattaraugus Village, and built on its high 
grounds and lived there until about 1832, when 
he sold and bought part of lot 48, including the 
sawmill on the creek. In the War of 1812 a 
British war vessel chased an American schooner 
into the creek. The schooner ran as far up as 
it could, and the crew gathered the settlers and 
Indians to protect the schooner. The British 
fired a few shots and gave up the chase. Esquire 
Hall was one of the whites, and Morris Half- 
town one of the Indians in the company. Mr. 
Hall did in 1859. Rev. William Hall and his 
sisters were early teachers at Cattaraugus. 

In 1810 Thomas Chapman bought part of lot 
13, north of Nashville, James Webb part of lot 
10, Uriah Nash number 19 at Nashville, Daniel 
Farnham lot 51, Joseph Lull lot 50, Thomas 
White lot 57, James Bennett lot 59, Forest- 
ville, and William Jones lot 33, and James 
Knapp lot 18, both between Forestville and 
Nashville. In 181 1 Job Knight bought lot 63, 
Hezekiah Fish lot 53. 

Dr. Jacob Burgess came into Hanover, set- 
tled at Silver Creek in 181 1. He was the first 
physician in town. In 1812 he bought lot 74, 
south of Silver Creek. He lived at Silver Creek 
until his death in 1855. He left one son, Rev. 
Chalon Burgess, and two daughters. 

Isaac Smith from Whately, Mass., came to 
Sheridan in 1810 and to Hanover that year or 
the next ; bought with Erastus Scott lots 45 
and 53, west of Smith's Mills. He was in the 
War of 1812 at Buffalo, contracted fever, and 
died. Rodney B. Smith, the founder of Smith's 
Mills, was his son. "When but fifteen, in 1812, 
he took his brother's place in the army and was 
in the battles of Chippewa, Black Rock and 
Williamsville." His son, Major Hiram Smith, 
of Jamestown, was quartermaster in the Civil 
War. Major George R. Smith, son of Major 
Hiram, was a graduate of West Point, and in 
1882 was appointed paymaster in the United 
States Army. 

Reuben Edmonds came in 181 1, took lots 55 
and yy. Lot 55 was near Hanover Center and 
lot "jj in Silver Creek. In 1812 Nedabiah An- 
gell bought lot 47 at Angell's Settlement (Han- 
over Center). It is thought that he was acting 
supervisor in 1813, yet there is no record of his 
election. There seems to have been no lands 



m 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



taken up in 1813. In 1814 Jonathan L. Bartoo 
settled at Forestville, bought a farm and re- 
sided there a number of years. In 1816 he sold 
his farm and mill to Nathan Mixer, moved to 
Erie county, and died in 1852. In 1814 Benja- 
min Smith bought lot 45 and Otis Tower lot 
69, near Angell's Settlement. Otis Tower re- 
mained in town until his death. In 1816 David 
Convis bought lot 54, south of Angell's Settle- 
ment ; Norman Spink lot 52, near Forestville ; 
he bought afterwards between the creeks, near 
Silver Creek, and died in Silver Creek ; George 
E. Kirkland, number 5, on the east side of the 
town, and Walter Libbey, number 12, between 
Smith's Mills and Nashville. In 1817 Thomas 
Nevins bought lot 37, west of Smith's Mills; 
William McManus, lot 32, south part of town ; 
Samuel P. McKee, lot 35, east of Forestville. 
In 1818 Solomon Gregory bought part of lot 
59, Forestville; in 1822 James Beach bought 
lot 33, between Nashville and Forestville ; in 
1823 William Patterson bought lot 53, north 
of Forestville, and Israel Patterson lot number 
43, east of Forestville ; in 1826 George Love 
bought number 3, near Nashville; in 1827 Wil- 
liam Dinsmore bought lot 32, south line, and 
Belinus Green bought lot 36, Cattaraugus Vil- 
lage. He built on this lot and resided there 
until his death in the seventies. 

Albert G. Dow, a native of New Hampshire, 
came here in 1827 and after a residence of nine- 
teen years removed to Randolph. 

After 1827, settlers began to come in rapidly. 
Those who took up lands were not the only 
residents. There were many who came and 
remained who do not appear on the company's 
books, either never bought, or bought of indi- 
viduals. As early as 1818 Philo Newton, from 
Massachusetts, came and remained until his 
death. Nine sons came with him, who settled 
at La Grange, and many of their descendants 
live here. Henry J. Newton, of Silver Creek, 
the last surviving son of Philo, died in the 
spring of 1894. Rufus L. Bonney, a soldier of 
1812, came in soon after the war. Bonney died 
at Irving in 1886, aged 86. He married a 
daughter of John Smith, who came about 1807. 
Nathan Mixer came to Forestville in 1817. He 
was supervisor ten years, three terms a mem- 
ber of Assembly, and for a time associate judge 
of the county. He died at Forestville in 1871. 
George Love in 1820 settled for life near For- 
estville. Forestville was early known as Wal- 
nut Falls. The first postoffice there was called 
Hanover, and it is said Mr. Love brought the 
change of name to Forestville. Dr. Jeremiah 
Ellsworth came in 1828, settled at Silver Creek, 
practiced until 1846, moved to Ellington, and 



from there to Corry, Pa. He was supervisor 
of Hanover three terms. While at Ellington 
he was twice elected member of Assembly. In 
1873 he was elected mayor of Corry. Comfort 
Birdsey came to Portland from Oneida in 1828 
with his mother, a widow with three sons and 
three daughters. They came to Hanover the 
same year and settled between Hanover Cen- 
ter and Silver Creek. Mr. Birdsey was a man 
of good, safe judgment and much respected, 
holding various offices. He died in 1893. 

In 1812, when Hanover was formed, there 
was a scattering population in various parts. 
There were four centers, hardly villages : Sil- 
ver Creek, then Fayette ; Irving, then Catta- 
raugus ; Forestville, and Nashville (Webster 
Settlement). At the first election for member 
of Assembly, April, 1813, in Hanover, which 
comprised Sheridan and Villenova, the whole 
number of votes cast was only 112. James 
Williams received 67, and Jacob Houghton 45. 
There is no record showing any town election 
in 1812 or 1813. The first town meeting of 
which there is record preserved is thus re- 
corded: "Resolutions and proceedings of the 
annual town meeting held at the house of 
Daniel Holbrook for the year 1814, April 5. 
Bethel Willoughby chosen moderator. Re- 
solved, that Joseph Brownell be and is hereby 
appointed Supervisor for the year ensuing. 
Resolved, that Samuel J. Smith be and is here- 
by appointed Clerk for the year ensuing. Re- 
solved, that Ezra Puffer, Nedabiah Angell and 
Miles Webster are hereby appointed assessors." 
The date 1813 given by Mr. Young and Judge 
Foote as that when Daniel Russell was chosen 
supervisor, is wrong. The record is some 
pages later in the record book and says "1815." 
The error arose from mistaking a five for a 
three. 

In 1830 and after that the lands were taken 
up more rapidly, and various branches of busi- 
ness began to spring up in different parts of 
the town. In 1828 Oliver Lee bought of John 
E. Howard the mill property and other lands 
on lot 74, at Silver Creek and opened a store. 
He soon built up a large trade with the Indians 
and settlers reaching to the south line of the 
county. When Lee came there were but eight 
or ten houses in Silver Creek. Oliver Lee died 
at Buffalo in 1846. C. C. Swift came from 
Batavia as a clerk for O. Lee, sent by Ellicott 
in answer to Lee's request for a man who 
talked Seneca. He remained with Lee as clerk 
and partner until Lee closed business at Silver 
Creek. He married Lee's daughter. The early 
merchants at Silver Creek were Stephen Clark, 
John E. Howard and Manning Case. After 



TOWNS— HANOVER 



195 



these came John M. Cummings. The village 
was west of Walnut Creek before 1828. The 
post office, then Fayette, was kept in a store on 
that side when Oliver Lee came. In 1832 Wil- 
liam Van Duzer was postmaster, and moved 
the office to Lee's store, east side of Walnut 
and between the two creeks. O. Lee and C. C. 
Swift continued in mercantile business until 
about 1S46. Afterward there were engaged 
in business there Ammi Merchant and Daniel 
Rumsey in 1849 ! Foot & Rumsey ; Rumsey & 
H. N. Farnham. The firm was H. N. Farn- 
ham & Co. With Farnham, in the company at 
different times were Justin Clark and Joseph 
Wells. Farnham's business was sold to Mack 
Montgomery and Charles Wells and continued 
by Charles Wells to 1872. E. R. Ballard and 
H. H. Hawkins traded in the O. Lee store. 
Silas Gates, O. Lee Swift and Porter Smith 
were also traders. 

At Cattaraugus, soon after 1830, the United 
States government commenced building a har- 
bor and expended much money in building 
piers, etc., to protect and keep the channel 
open. Thus a village grew up at the mouth of 
the creek and was known as Cattaraugus. 
Stores and storehouses were built there. Con- 
siderable freighting business was done, and 
large quantities of lumber shipped, as the har- 
bor gave an outlet to market for lumber, and 
soon five or six lumber mills were built at La 
Grange, a mile and a half above the harbor. 
The Irving Company was formed August 17, 
1836, and bought about twenty Cattaraugus 
Village lots at the mouth of the creek. The 
title to a large amount of land bought by the 
company was owned by Rufus Reed, who con- 
veyed it to Augustus C. Stevens in 1835. He 
conveyed lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Cattaraugus Vil- 
lage. The Irving Village plot included the first 
twenty-four Cattaraugus Village lots. 

John I. Thorn and family and Hiram Sackett 
and family, from Dutchess county, came to 
Portland in 1829, and to Hanover in 1830 and 
located at La Grange. Thorn bought of Squire 
Ephraim Hall lot 11, Cattaraugus Village, and 
Sackett, lots 47, 48, Cattaraugus Village, of 
Holland Land Company, and of C. A. H. Mc- 
Gregor, a nephew, of Ellicott, lots 43, 49, 51, 52, 
53. 54. 56, 57 and 58, Cattaraugus Village, and 
lot 59 of Sottle. Sackett afterward owned the 
two sawmills on the creek, and carried on lum- 
bering and merchandising there along with his 
farming. A large part of his lands he sold 
afterwards to John J. and E. B. Guernsey. He 
was elected for several terms justice of the 
peace, and was for a number of years a judge of 
the court of common pleas. He died at Irving 



in 1869, aged 72. He was "affable and cour- 
teous in his manner, decided in his convictions, 
a man of strict integrity and of comprehensive 
mind, and scrupulously just; evincing in his 
judicial character those qualities of mind and 
heart which made him both the able and the 
just Judge." His children were Jehiel, John J., 
Joseph T., Marcus, Semantha and Niram, Jr. 

Forestville, after the building of the saw mill 
and grist mill in 1809 and 1810, was the center 
of much business and early had a large trade 
in pot and pearl ashes. 

The Holland Land Company laid out a road 
from Fredonia through Forestville and Nash- 
ville. This road became the road drovers took 
in driving their cattle, hogs and sheep to New 
York and Philadelphia. Taverns were about 
as frequent there as on the main road along 
the lake. Forestville received early a number 
of enterprising men who materially assisted in 
building it up. Among them were John Hurl- 
but, Nathan Mixer, Albert H. Camp, Daniel 
and Harvey Holbrook, William Colville, Jr., 
Amos Avery, M. D., Adolphus and Orrin Mor- 
rison and later Daniel Sherman, L. J. Pierce, 
P. O. Tower. 

After the Erie and Lake Shore railroads 
came in 1851-52, the whole character of the 
town was changed. The road from Fredonia 
to Nashville ceased to be used by drovers. A 
similar change took place in the northern part 
of the town. After the Lake Shore railroad 
came through in 1852, the long lines of emi- 
grant wagons going to the west were no longer 
to be seen, and the hotels closed for the want of 
custom. The main road along the lake shore 
from the old Mack Tavern to Silver Creek was 
principally abandoned for a more direct new 
road from upper Irving to Silver Creek. The 
business at Irving and Silver Creek was much 
reduced by the cutting off of the trade with the 
southern towns. Forestville also lost its part 
of the southern towns trade. The lower vil- 
lage of Irving was entirely abandoned, except 
one or two fishing shanties near the lake. From 
the coming of railroads Forestville and Silver 
Creek more largely, invested in manufacturing 
and increased in population and wealth until 
they are thriving places. Forestville had a 
disastrous fire in 1870, which burned most of 
its business places and checked its growth for 
years. Silver Creek's most enterprising citi- 
zens after 1853 built factories, machine shops, 
etc. 

February 10, 1877, a few farmers met at Dea- 
con A. S. Giles' to form a farmers' club, which 
was organized March 22, 1877, at the house of 
A. M. Keach, as the "Farmers' Club of Han- 



196 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



over," with J. J. Keyes, president, and A. S. 
Giles, R. C. Clothier, E. Dennison, A. M. 
Keach, J. J. Keyes, William Gardner, N. C. 
Southworth, Comfort Birdsey, D. J. Rider, J. 
F. Elson, Mr. McEwen and John Mixer, mem- 
bers. It meets two Saturdays in each month. 

Hanover Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, 
was instituted at Forestville, February 5, 1824. 
Charter members : Luther Thwing, worship- 
ful master ; Ezra Puffer, senior warden ; Seth 
Snow, junior warden ; Albert H. Camp, secre- 
tary; Warren Griswold, treasurer; Ephraim 
Judson, Richard Smith, William Jones and Eli- 
jah Robinson. Discontinued in 1828; it was 
rechartered in 1849. 

Silver Lodge, No. 757, Free and Accepted 
Masons, was organized November II, 1874. 
The charter members were Hiram Washburn, 
worshipful master; Amos Bowen, senior 
warden ; G. W. Eacker, junior warden ; O. Lee 
Swift, treasurer; C. G. Talcott, secretary; 
Frank Swift, senior deacon ; P. W. Bates, 
junior deacon, and F. D. Fuller, W. L. Cristy, 
F. M. Gifford, James Chesbro, Ebenezer Buel, 
W. W. Huntley, Smith Clark, A. L. Mulkins, 
A. Montgomery, M. Leland, W. S. Andrus, 
Squire Keith, G. D. Chesbro, H. Newton, G. 
W. Smith, G. B. Bishop. 

Silver Creek Lodge, No. 682, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted October 
31, 1893. Charter members: H. A. Weston, 
W. W. Cole, C. M. Homan, John Schmill, D. J. 
Van Vlack, H. W. Allen. 

The supervisors have been: Joseph Brownell, 
1814-19; Daniel Russell, 1815-28-29-30; Na- 
than Mixer, 1820-27-31-32-36; Seth Snow, 1825; 
Oliver Lee, 1833-35; William Colville, Jr., 
1837-46-50-51 ; Ebenezer R. Avery, 1838; Adol- 
phus F. Morrison, 1839-48; Ezekiel B. Gurnsey, 
1840; Thomas C. Hale, 1841 ; Jeremiah Ells- 
worth, 1842-44-45; Orson Stiles, 1843; Henry 
H. Hawkins, 1847; Charles H. Lee, 1849-52; 
Hiram Smith, 1853-54; Clark C. Swift, 1855-56; 
Hiram Smith, 2nd, 1857-59; Chandler Scott, 
1860-62-67; Cyrus D. Angell, 1863; William D. 
Talcott, 1864; Nahum S. Scott, 1865-66; John 
D. Hiller, 1868-69; Norman B. Brown, 1870-71 ; 
Smith Clark, 1872-73; LeRoy Andrus, 1874; 
Carlos Ewell, 1875-76; O. Lee Swift, 1877-78; 
John G. Record, 1879; Seth M. Tompkins, 
1880-81; Jason Knapp, 1882-85; Albert H. 
Stebbins, 1886-93; John McAdam, 1892; Asa 
Dye, 1894-99; Frank L. Smith, 1900-01 ; David 
T. Smith, 1902-05; Frank A. Rider, 1906-11; 
James O. Bennett, 1912-13; Loren W. Steb- 
bins, 1914-20. 

F. J. McCarthy was elected supervisor in 
1918 and died during the annual session of 



board. L. W. Stebbins, the former supervisor, 
was appointed to fill the vacancy and was 
elected his successor. 

The full value of the town real estate in 1918 
was $5,694,070; the equalized assessed value, 
$4,467,403. 

Harmony — Harmony was taken from Chau- 
tauqua, February 14, 1816. It contains about 
eighty-six square miles of territory, and com- 
prises townships 1 and 2, of range 13, together 
with two tiers of lots in townships 1 and 2, 
range 12, from the State line to Chautauqua 
Lake, and two additional lots in township 2, 
range 12, south of the lake, including Ashville 
Village. April 16, 1823, a portion of its terri- 
tory was added to Busti. Its surface is some- 
what hilly; its highest summits are 1,400 feet 
above tidewater. The principal streams are 
Brokenstraw creek, which flows south ; Goose 
creek, which passes through Ashville, and 
Prendergast creek. The last two flow into 
Chautauqua Lake. The soil is a clay and 
gravelly loam. Sandstone of fine quality is 
found in some localities. "Panama Rocks" is 
one of the most remarkable geological curiosi- 
ties of the county. 

The first saw mill was built in Ashville by 
Reuben Slayton, Jr., an original purchaser on 
lot 43, township 2, range 12, in 1809, and a grist 
mill was added. The mills were on the Ash- 
ville site. The first stones used were borrowed, 
but a rock was soon found on lot 45, from 
which stones were made, which were used until 
1872. Israel Carpenter, Oliver Pier and Ste- 
phen Groom, built about 1828 a sawmill and a 
log gristmill at Blockville. In 1840 a large 
mill was built of pine logs. The millstones 
came from France as ballast, and cost, it is 
said, delivered at Blockville, $350; this mill 
burned in 1893. A sawmill was built about 
1825, by Francis W. Mather, three miles south 
of Panama. Isaac Carpenter built a sawmill 
about 1828, a mile below Blockville ; it was re- 
built by Abner L. Carpenter, and later was 
owned by Daniel Williams. Another was built 
by Samuel Hurlbut about 1830, between the 
last two mentioned, and in 1875 was owned by 
Samuel J. Green. A sawmill was built by Har- 
vey and Theron S. Bly about 1847, near the 
mouth of Goose creek. A steam sawmill was 
built about 1870 by Messrs. Allen near Grant's 
Station. A sawmill was built by George 
Brightman about 1835. A steam sawmill was 
built about 1870 by William W. Ball, near the 
mouth of Bemus creek. Theron Bly and Dan- 
iel Sherman erected a carding mill in 1822 or 
1823; cloth-dressing machinery was introduced 
later by Hiram Benedict. The establishment 



TOWNS— HARMONY 



197 



was burned about 1826; another was built by 
Hiram Benedict and Samuel Brown less than a 
mile below ; several years after this was owned 
by Theron Bly and Henry Lovejoy, who sold 
in 1844 to Harvey and Henry H. Bly. Another 
was built at Panama about 1830, where John 
Ward and David Moore operated for years. 

Harmony was first settled by Thomas 
Bemus, son of William Bemus, who took up 
laud in January, 1806. Thomas, then a bache- 
lor, built his log cabin on this land, lot 54, 
township 2, range 12, opposite Bemus Point, 
and occupied it several years. The first family 
to locate was that of Jonathan Cheney, whose 
wife was Amy Cole, of Pittstown. He bought 
land on the east side of the lake in May, 1806, 
brought his family here the next year, but 
located on the west side of the lake, where 
some of his descendants still reside. His chil- 
dren were: Nathan, Betsey, Clarissa, Calvin, 
Amy, Daniel, Alfred, Unisa (Mrs. James 
Green), and Polly. Myron Bly settled on lot 
47, township 2, range 12, northerly from Ash- 
ville in 1809, on land entered by his father, Asa 
Bly. In 1808 and 1809 Reuben and Thomas 
Slayton bought land at Ashville, settled there, 
before 1810 had sawmills in operation. In 
1810-11 the Matteson family came; first 
Thomas, then William and his brother Estys ; 
their father, William Matteson, came in 181 1. 
He was a Revolutionary pensioner and died in 
1858 in his ninety-nineth year. The Carpenter 
family were early owners and settlers. In 1808 
Josiah Carpenter, from Rensselaer county, 
bought lots 55, 56 and 64 in township 1, range 
12, southwest of Ashville, about 1,000 acres. 
In 1809 his son James, with his young wife 
settled on lot 56. 

In 181 1 Josiah Carpenter with his sons Dan- 
iel B., Isaac, Josiah, Jr., and Timothy came, 
Mr. Carpenter locating on lot 64, where he 
raised his log cabin ; his sons selected their 
future homes also on their father's land. One 
of his daughters married Oliver Pier, son of 
Levi Pier, of Busti, who lived most of his life 
in Harmony. It is said that Mr. Pier paid for 
his land in Harmony with the bounty he re- 
ceived on wolf scalps. He was a great hunter, 
the "leather stocking" of Chautauqua county, 
and said "he had killed 1,322 deer with one 
gun, which had required three new stocks and 
hammers." He became totally blind in his old 
age and removed to Corry, Pa. Isaiah Rex- 
ford, from Pennsylvania, came in 1816, located 
near Blockville ; in 1824 settled two miles 
north of Panama. His sons attaining maturity 
were Everett, Myron, and Lyman. Calvin 
Manley settled on lot 41, township 2, north of 



Panama; he purchased his land in 1821 and re- 
sided there nearly fifty years. John Steward, 
Sr., in 1821 located on lot 24. His son John 
was an early merchant at Panama and was in 
trade for a long period. Sardius Steward, son 
of John, Sr., at one time conducted the most 
extensive farming business in the county. 

Obediah Morley settled in the northeast part 
on lot 24 in 1810; John Morton about 1818, on 
lot 15, township 2, range 13; Edmund Wells 
on lot 7, purchased in 1826; Charles Saxton on 
lot 4, purchased in 1826, he later resided on lot 
13; Edwin Gleason, a Massachusetts man, on 
lot 14, about the same time ; Clinton Marcy 
about 1822 on lot 22; his son on lot 15, near 
him. Peleg Gifford many years later located 
on lot 23. In the north part on lot 32, where 
Homer Pringle settled in 1828, his sons erected 
a cheese factory. Orson Whitford came about 
1817. Samuel P. Durham settled on lot 56, 
bought in 1822. James and Peter Bloss came 
in 1830. Eleazer Daniels bought on lot 39, 
near Panama, in 1821. Samuel L. Paddock 
settled on lot 55, where William G. Cook sub- 
sequently took up his residence. The Wiltsie 
family in 1821 settled on lots 48 and 49. Reu- 
ben Randolph settled near the center. Rufus, 
Elijah and Joseph Button located on lots 30 
and 31. A descendant, Joseph H. Button, en- 
listed as private in Company F, 112th Regi- 
ment, New York Volunteers, was promoted 
corporal March 1, 1864, and killed at Ft. Fisher, 
January 15, 1865. John Knapp settled in 1821, 
on lot 49, township 2, and his son Noah on lot 
41, adjoining; two other sons, Darius and 
Levi, also made their homes in this town. 

In the east part near Blockville, many set- 
tlers came from 1816 to 1820. Among them 
were Zaccheus and Samuel Hurlbut, brothers, 
and Nathaniel, son of Zaccheus; they bought 
land in 1816 and 1817 and located here. Timo- 
thy Jenner, from Vermont, settled on lot 63, 
township 1, range 12. He purchased portions 
of this lot in 1817 and 1819. His son, Timothy 
G., settled near Blockville. Daniel Loomis, a 
Methodist local preacher, made his home one 
and one-half miles west of Ashville. His sons 
were Eli, Francis, Levi, David and George. 
Simeon Powers, the first pastor of the first 
(Baptist) religious organization in the town, a 
native of Vermont, located in 1816 near Block- 
ville, but in 1823 made his home on lot 33, 
township 2, one mile north of Panama, where 
he resided until his death in 1842. He has 
many descendants in the town. William Sco- 
field, John Deming, Wanton Morley, Levi 
Rexford, Joseph Tichnor and John H. Matte- 
son were other early settlers in this section. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



In the southeast part Charles and Isaac Hoag 
settled on lot 53, township 1, range 12. The 
Hoag family is a prominent one in New Hamp- 
shire and are Quakers. Elijah B. Burt, whose 
sons were Ethan and Barrett E., removed from 
Busti, where he first settled, to lot 51, town- 
ship 1, range 12. About 1830 Emanuel Smith, 
father of Cyrus, settled on lot 49. John Badg- 
ley, of Busti, bought part of lots 57 and 58 and 
his sons, Asa and Nathan, occupied the old 
place. George Hawkins came in 1825, bought 
on lot 50 and made his home there. He had 
five sons, George, James, Francis, Orrin and 
Albert. Nathan Hawkins and Marvin Pardee 
settled near him on lot 51, Joshua Rich on lot 
57, Cyrus Ranson on lot 37 in 1825, and was a 
lifelong resident. His sons were Cyrus. Sam- 
uel, Willard, Asa, Elisha and Thomas. George 
W. Wescott bought and located in 1826 on lot 
27, later removed to lot 28, where his sons, 
Jerry and Abraham, have lived. Benjamin T. 
Holbrook bought on lot 27 in 1827 and lived 
his life there. His sons, John and Henry, were 
later residents on the homestead ; Benjamin 
T., Jr., lived on lot 29. Ezra Abbott located 
in 1829 on lot 43. Francis W. Mather settled 
on the Little Brokenstraw. Amos W. Muzzy, 
about 1830, made his home on lot 34. William 
Kelso, a native of Westford, Otsego county, 
born in 1805, came to Harmony in 1834, and 
carried on blacksmithing and wagon-making 
for over fifty years, and was one of the indus- 
trious factors in the furthering of the prosper- 
ity of the community. He served as assessor 
and school inspector. William S. Kelso con- 
ducted merchandising for many years. Pal- 
mer Cross, a native of Vermont, came from 
New York State in 1827, settled north of 
Panama on lot 41, township 2, range 13, and 
was a resident here until his death ; he was the 
second pastor of the Baptist church. John 
Lewis, a local Methodist preacher for over 
sixty years, came from Vermont, settled in 
1817 about two miles east of Panama on lot 24, 
township i, range 13. "There was nothing but 
a footpath from his place west to the State 
line." His son Abner was a lawyer, practiced 
at Panama and at Jamestown; a deputy, 
sheriff, first judge of the county, a member of 
Assembly two years, and a member of Con- 
gress two terms. Levi, another son, resided 
in Panama. "Judge Lewis did more for the 
cause of temperance than any rnan that ever 
lived in the county." John H. Pray, of Ver- 
mont, came to Panama in 1831, was in trade 
until 1855, and studied law with Hon. Abner 
Lewis. He commenced law practice in 1836, 



continued until about 1870, and is said to have 
been Panama's first lawyer. 

Ashville took its name from the circum- 
stance that at one time there were four asheries 
in operation in the place. Alvin Williams, who 
established a store in the fall of 1822, built the 
first ashery ; Adolphus Fletcher, also engaged 
in trade here, built an ashery soon after, and 
later Ephraim Berry built an ashery, and an- 
other person was also in the same trade. In 
1821-22 Titus Kellogg, Alvin Williams and 
Adolphus Fletcher had established stores here, 
and in 1824 James McClellan erected a dwell- 
ing which was afterwards used as a tavern. 
In 1826 a tannery was built by Daniel and 
Joseph, brothers of Alvin Williams. Dr. Elder- 
kin was the first physician. His successors 
were Hiram Alden, Stephen Eaton, Simeon 
Buzzell, Dr. Dorr, John S. King, Dr. Parker. 
In 1870 there were 350 inhabitants who sus- 
tained Baptist, Congregational and Methodist 
churches, and one school. They were an in- 
dustrious community as their three stores, 
grist mill, sawmill, two shoe shops, two 
wagon shops, two blacksmith shops, a harness 
shop, a cabinet shop and a hotel were all in 
"working order." Ashville is a station of the 
Erie railway. 

Dr. Williams was a native of New England, 
born in 1806, and came to Ashville in 1824. He 
was of great use to this little community, as 
he carried on several pursuits — tanner, shoe- 
maker, merchant and farmer, was much in 
town affairs. He took an active part in origi- 
nating and constructing the Atlantic & Great 
Western and the Crosscut railroads. His chil- 
dren were : Oscar F., Addis E., Adelaide E., 
Earl P. and Alton L. Joseph Hoyt commenced 
merchandising in Ashville in 1836, removed to 
Panama about 1844, and continued in business. 
In connection with farming he attended to 
much public business. Morris Norton, a na- 
tive of Otsego county, settled at Ashville in 
July, 1833. He was justice of the peace and 
did much conveyancing, etc. ; he was super- 
visor of Harmony, and county superintendent 
of the poor. He married Olivia Kent, of Rome, 
New York, and had six daughters. 

Panama was incorporated as a village in 
1861 and was formerly the chief business place 
of the town. It now has about four hundred 
population, is the center of butter and cheese 
factories, has one hotel, churches, a steam mill, 
and a few business houses. The millsite at the 
upper village has been used ever since Jesse 
Smith and Horatio Dix built a saw and grist- 
mill there in 1824. From this ancient millsite 



TOWNS— HARMONY 



199 



the lovely village stretches down the beauti- 
ful valley for half a mile, its principal street 
being a graceful avenue overshadowed by 
magnificent trees. 

The first schoolhouse in Panama was of 
logs, built in 1823, and located near the center 
of East Cemetery. This was destroyed by fire 
in January, 1825 ; the loss of the books was a 
great misfortune as they could not be easily 
replaced. Jesse Smith was the teacher, and 
school was continued in a log hut. A second 
schoolhouse was built on the rocks near the 
hotel site. John Steward was settled in 1821, 
two miles east of Panama, was a teacher there 
in 1828-29. The third was the "old red school- 
house" on the hill. 

About 1827 a few people commenced to build 
frame houses ; Benjamin Smith erected one 
near the site of Frank Hill's shop. The first 
hotel in the village was opened in 1827, and 
not long after, one Smith built a hotel. The 
first hotel on the flat was kept in a building 
moved from the hill. Jesse Smith built a tav- 
ern where the brick hotel stands ; this corner 
has been used as a hotel site since. 

A hamlet of log houses preceded the build- 
ing of the mill at the upper village. In 1824 
also, Moses Cushman Marsh (father of Mrs. 
J. H. Clark) from Massachusetts, who had 
been a wealthy Cuban trader, and by the dis- 
honesty of Southern customers had been 
brought to failure, came to this new country 
to repair his fortunes. He located at the lower 
village, built the first frame house in the vicin- 
ity, opened the first store of the place, to which 
he gave the name of Panama, and was made 
postmaster, March 22, 1826, and was very 
prominent in affairs until his death in 1833. 
"His wife was a woman of great strength of 
character and it is said possessed the gift of 
oratory to a remarkable degree." The first 
birth at Panama was that of Eaton, son of 
Benjamin Smith ; the second that of Mary L., 
daughter of Mr. Marsh. Both occurred in 
1827. 

The Cooks of various families were among 
the early settlers. Stephen Cook, son of War- 
ham and Mary (Bushnell) Cook, born in 
Oneida county, October 6, 1805, came in Feb- 
ruary, 1827, selected a home, returned to 
Oneida county, and the next spring returned 
with his young half-brother, William, and they 
both became life residents of Harmony. Ste- 
phen located first on lot 32, township one, and 
later on lot 51 on the Goshen road. His near- 
est neighbor at first was three miles away 
through an unbroken forest. Having made a 
clearing and put up a log house he again went 



east and married Ruth Anthony. They lived 
on this homestead thirty-two years ; by indus- 
try and thrift brought a large and productive 
farm into being, and here their six children 
were born. In 1864 Mr. Cook removed to 
Panama. Mrs. Cook died in February, 1886, 
and Mr. Cook, April 23, 1894. H. H. Cook, 
son of Stephen, was born August 23, 1840, and 
lived on the farm until March, 1862, when he 
went to Illinois. He enlisted July 18, 1862, in 
Company E, 91st Regiment Illinois Infantry, 
was taken prisoner at Elizabethtown, Ken- 
tucky, December 28, 1862, by Morgan's cav- 
alry, was paroled and sent to Benton Barracks, 
Missouri, July 1, 1863; he was exchanged and 
sent to the Department of the Gulf, where he 
served until the close of the war, then returned 
to Panama. William G. Cook, son of War- 
ham and Olive (Gay) Cook, born in Oneida 
county, January 14, 1808, came in 1828, bought 
a part of lot 51, and after ten years labor re- 
moved to the vicinity of Panama. In 1832 he 
married Amy Benton, who died in 1892. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cook united with the Baptist church 
in Panama in 1834. About 1831 Mr. Cook lost 
his right arm, but performed all kinds of farm 
work, and even cleared land for others by the 
acre. He died April 12, 1894. Elisha Cook 
settled a short distance from the village of 
Panama. H. J. Cook, a farmer, is the repre- 
sentative of another branch of the Cook fam- 
ily. Hon. Ebenezer G. Cook, born in Oneida 
county in 1808, settled on lot 50, township 1, 
range 13, and developed a fine farm where he 
lived over 40 years, and reared a large family. 
He served in offices of trust, and was a mem- 
ber of Assembly. Ten of his eleven children 
attained maturity. Philander and DeForest 
located at Panama, where the latter conducted 
merchandising for years. Elihu Cook, a 
brother of E. G. Cook, was a physician, resided 
here for some years, and later lived in Fre- 
donia. 

The Pringle family are of Scotch descent. 
Homer Pringle, Sr., came to this county from 
Otsego county with his family in the spring 
of 1828. He bought of the Holland Land 
Company the west half of lot 32 in township 2, 
range 13, in Harmony. Homer Pringle, Sr., 
was accompanied by his brother, James H., 
who bought a piece of land on lot 40, same 
townshipand range as his brother. James H. 
soon sold his farm, went to Jamestown and, 
after a few years, went south, then to Buffalo, 
and subsequently to Michigan, where he went 
into the lumber business. He died about 1883, 
leaving a widow and one daughter. Benjamin 
Pringle, another brother, came west as far as 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Batavia, New York. He was a lawyer and 
held various offices of trust. He was a judge 
of Genesee county, a member of Assembly, a 
member of Congress, and was sent, under the 
Lincoln administration to Cape Town, South 
Africa, as judge of a mixed court ; he died 
about 1886 in Minnesota, leaving a son and 
daughter. Homer Pringle, Sr., died in 1878, 
having lived fifty years on the same farm. He 
brought up a family of ten children. 

William T. Morse, an early settler, born in 
Stoughton, Mass., in 1805, removed with his 
father to Onondaga county in 1819. In 1826 
he came to Chautauqua county, bought 121 
acres of wild land in Harmony, and in 1829 
took possession, cleared and cultivated the 
land and has since occupied the farm. He 
married Amelia, daughter of Rufus Anthony, 
of Scott, Cortland county. 

Francis Starkweather, a pensioner of the 
War of the Rebellion, was born in Skaneateles, 
Onondaga county, in 1836. Francis married 
Matilda, daughter of Nathan and Lucinda 
Eggleston, of Harmony, and settled at Panama 
and engaged in the manufacture of wagons. 
The Eggleston family were of the pioneer set- 
tlers at Panama. In 1862 Mr. Starkweather 
enlisted in Company F, 112th Regiment, New 
York Volunteers, and was with the army until 
mustered out. 

Physicians — Charles Parker, M. D., young- 
est son of Benjamin and Mary Parker, was 
born at Burlington, April 6, 1812. He followed 
the practice of his profession, that of a homoeo- 
pathic physician, until the spring of 1870, when 
he retired to farm life near Panama, where he 
died December 26, 1892. He married (first) 
Orlinda, daughter of Samuel Sinclear, of Sin- 
clairville. They had five sons; two died in in- 
fancy, three in the military service of their 
country in the Civil War. Doctor Parker was 
an able physician. He was one of the founders 
of the Chautauqua Society of History and 
Natural Science. 

Dr. Johnson was an early physician. He 
was soon followed by Doctor Hood, who, how- 
ever, attended more to his store than his pro- 
fession. Dr. Stephen Peck, a well educated 
physician, and careful and conscientious prac- 
titioner, located on the hill. His practice was 
a large and useful one. He lived to a ripe old 
age. Dr. Cornelius Ormes practiced from 
1833 to 1863, when he removed to Jamestown. 

Edson E. Boyd, M. D., of Ashville, was a 
native of Carroll, born in December, 1832. He 
studied medicine, and was graduated from the 
University of the City of New York in 1854. 
He commenced practice in Jamestown and re- 



moved to Ashville in 1856. At the formation 
of the 1 1 2th New York Volunteers, he was 
commissioned first assistant surgeon, and was 
honorably discharged November 9, 1863, on 
account of physical disability. 

Dr. A. B. Rice, born in Harmony, October 
22, 1 84 1, practiced here for twenty years, and 
removed to Jamestown, where he died. 

Dr. John C. Lewis, son of Marshall L. 
Lewis, was born in Ellery, August 6, 1848. He 
was educated at Westfield Academy and re- 
ceived his degree of Doctor of Medicine, Feb- 
ruary 24, 1874, at Buffalo University, and 
established himself for practice at Panama in 
December, 1874. 

The First Baptist Church was organized at 
Blockville (where the first religious services 
in the town were held by Rev. Simeon Pow- 
ers), May 15, 1817. The primary meeting for 
organization was held April 5. The members 
were Rev. Simeon Powers and Polly Powers, 
Tiomthy and Ruth Jenner, Orange and 
Jemima Phelps, Samuel and Susan Hurlbut, 
Oliver and Betsey Pier, Israel and Hannah 
Carpenter, Caleb and Phebe Beals, Moses Jen- 
ner and Aurilla Groom. The field was divided 
into sections. The "east" was Blockville; in 
the "middle" section, services were held some 
years at a school house north of Panama ; in 
the "west" section, meetings were held at a 
school house one-half mile west of Panama. 
In 1834-35, through the liberality of some 
Presbyterians of Panama, a site for a church 
was obtained at that place, and a church was 
built. In 1828 the new church at Ashville re- 
ceived several members from this church, and 
in 1834 thirty-seven were dismissed, mostly to 
form the North Harmony Church. The first 
church built was burned December 25, 1859, 
and one costing $4,000 was built in i860. The 
church very early commenced Sabbath school 
work. It ever took strong grounds against 
all secret, oath-bound societies. When slav- 
ery divided church and brotherhoods, this old 
church of Harmony ever lifted its voice and 
recorded its vote in favor of freedom ; in the 
Civil War it offered its sons as warriors. Its 
membership for many years averaged 200. 

The Congregational church at Ashville was 
organized with nine members, June 10, 1820, 
by Rev. John Spencer; he was its first pastor. 
A house of worship was erected in 1834. 

The Methodist Episcopal church at Block- 
ville originated in a class formed in 181 8. In 
January, 1822, it was organized with six mem- 
bers by Rev. Mr. Hill, first pastor. Their 
church edifice was built in 1849. 

The Baptist church at Ashville was organ- 



TOWNS— HARMONY 



ized in July, 1828, by Rev. Jarius Handy, with 
these members: Hiram Alden, Chas. D. Slay- 
ton, James McClellan, Sr. and Jr., Nath. H. 
Stow, Anson Phelps, Heber Cowden, Daniel 
Higley, Albert Partridge, John Wellman, John 
Rugg, Geo. L. Case, Peter L. Phelps, John 
Morton, Ephraim Case, and seventeen females. 
Ephraim Case was chosen the first deacon; 
James McClellan, clerk. Their church edifice 
was erected in 1836. 

The First Congregational Church was or- 
ganized November 28, 1830, by Rev. Justin 
Marsh, assisted by Revs. Samuel Leonard and 
Isaac Jones. After several years it became the 
First Presbyterian Church of Panama. Of the 
early members were Orrin Matthews and wife, 
Isahel Clark and wife, Margaret Morgan, 
Mary Nichols, Benjamin and Eunice D. Smith, 
Emi'line M. Smith, Dr. Stephen Peck, Dr. Cor- 
nelius Ormes, John H. and Esther Pray, Ma- 
tilda Chase, Samantha Dix, Deacon Josiah 
Holbrook and wife, Nehemiah Sperry and 
wife, Mrs. Sarah Dix, Reuben Davis and wife, 
Noah Harrington and wife. The first pastor 
was Rev. Alfred W. Gray ; other early pastors 
were Aaron Van Wormer, Abner D. Olds, O. 
D. Hibbard, A. Worthington, Charles Merwin. 
For many years their place of worship was in 
the tannery, which had been fitted up for that 
purpose. Their church edifice was erected in 
1846. Rev. Chalon Burgess was pastor from 
February, 1861, until the last of November, 
1875. The next pastor was Rev. James Phil- 
lips ; he was succeeded by the Rev. I. I. St. 
John, then for several years this church was 
supplied occasionally by theological students. 
In 1886 or 1887 Rev. I. Brodnal commenced a 
pastorate which continued five years. The 
church has had no settled minister. 

The Free Baptist Church of Harmony was 
organized at Nathaniel Clark's, Kings Corners, 
December 4, 1830; Elders Harmon Jenkins and 
Thomas Grinold, officiating. The members 
were Timothy Walkley, David Lucas, Na- 
thaniel Clark, David Clark, James Alexander, 
Asa Wait, Ebenezer Thayer, Samuel Reed, 



Phineas Chamberlain and many of their wives ; 
Isaac Phelps, Freeman Williams, Sarah Bur- 
ham, Rhoda Keith and Pamelia Baldwin. Asa 
Wait was chosen clerk. The first deacon was 
David Lucas, chosen January, 1834, and who 
held the office till his death, September 4, 1872. 
The church was subsequently moved south to 
the town line and took the name of Clymer 
and Harmony Church. 

Harmony contains 54,734 acres, which in 
1918 (supervisor's report) was valued at $2,- 
353,826, with an assessed value of $1,846,746. 
The population in 1915 (State census) was 
3,049 citizens and 26 aliens. The villages of 
the town are: Panama, Ashville, Blockville, 
Stedman, Victoria, Stow, Open Meadows, 
Watts Flats, Brokenstraw, Grant and Kings 
Corners, some of these but small settlements. 

Panama is an incorporated village having a 
population of 352 in 191 5. The village has 
good schools, churches and all that goes to 
make up a modern rural community, except 
railroad facilities. Panama Rocks, a remark- 
able geological formation, is the chief scenic 
attraction and is visited by many scientists and 
tourists during the open season. 

The supervisors of the town follow : 1816-23, 
Palmer Phillips; 1824, Reuben Stayton ; 1825- 
3i,TheronBly; 1832, Henry Hill ; 1833-34, The- 
on Bly; 1835-36. Zael Ward; 1837-38, Theron 
Bly; 1839-41, Robert Hewes ; 1842, Daniel Wil- 
liams; 1843-47, John Steward; 1848-49, Theron 
S. Bly; 1850-52, John Steward; 1853, Morris 
Norton; 1854, John Steward; 1855, Albert 
Gleason; 1856-57, Ebenezer G. Cook; 1858-60, 
Sardius Steward; 1861, Reuben F. Randolph; 
1862, John Steward; 1863-64, Walter L. Ses- 
sions; 1865-70, Loren B. Sessions; 1871-72, 
Frank G. Steward; 1873-89, Loren B. Sessions; 
1890-95, Jared Hewes; 1896-99, J. Samuel 
Fowler; 1900-01, James Hawkins; 1902-03, 
Edwin W. Connelly ; 1904-06, Leon E. Button ; 
1907, Ambrose Cross; 1908-11, Edwin W. Con- 
nelly; 1912-15, Leon E. Button; 1916-17, James 
Pringle; 1918-19, Harry B. Bouton ; 1920, Leon 
E. Button. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Towns : Kiantone — Mina — Poland — Pomfret — Portland. 

mits are about one hundred feet above Chau- 
tauqua Lake. Conewango creek and its tribu- 



Kiantone — Kiantone lies upon the south 
border of the county. It was set off from Car- 
roll, November 16, 1853, and its name perpe- 
tuates the memory of the Indians who occu- 
pied the village on the creek, called by them, 
Kyenthono. Its surface is undulating in the 
east and hilly in the west. The highest sum- 



taries, Stillwater and Kiantone creeks, are its 
principal bodies of water. The soil is a gravelly 
loam. Its area is 11,456 acres. Attracted by 
the beauty of the charming Kiantone region, 
James Prendergast early articled over twelve 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



hundred acres, lots 50, 58 and 59, township 1, 
range 10, and part of lot 3, township 1, range 
11. Here he developed a magnificent estate 
and passed his last years, and here his son, 
Alexander T. Prendergast, conducted a model 
farm. 

Joseph Akin, from Rensselaer county, came 
with his family in 1807 and located on lands 
on the Stillwater (later owned by the Russell 
heirs), near the west line of the town. He was 
the pioneer settler, and was imbued with the 
plan of building up a town "Akinsville," but 
the survey was not completed, and as he could 
not obtain a clear title, he could not sell, and 
in 1814 the plan was abandoned. Laban Case, 
however, had rolled up a log tavern and a 
blacksmith shop. Mr. Akin built a bridge 
about 1814 on the Stillwater creek, and the 
first town meeting in Ellicott in 1813 was ap- 
pointed at "Joseph Akin's house at Stillwater." 
He was an energetic, ambitious man. Several 
of his relatives located here and the name of 
Akin is borne by many of Kiantone's worthy 
citizens. 

Robert Russell accompanied his father John, 
and brothers, John and Thomas, to the lower 
Conewango in 1800. In 1808 he, with his 
brother Thomas and John Frew, articled his 
land at Batavia, which was lot 1, north of the 
Conewango. He built the first mill on Kian- 
tone creek, above the Indian village from 
which the town and stream received their 
name. 

In the summer of 1810, Solomon Jones, from 
Wardsboro, Vermont, located land, felled tim- 
ber, partly built his loghouse, hired Elijah 
Akin to complete it, and returned to Vermont 
for his family. They arrived at Mayville No- 
vember 1st, where a flatboat was engaged to 
transport his family and goods down the lake. 
Mr. Jones and his son Ellick brought their five 
horses down on the east side of the lake. For 
two cold dreary days Mrs. Jones and her five 
daughters under nine years of age were tossed 
on the waves with cold spray dashing over 
them, while part of the way the ice had to be 
broken to allow the passage of the boat to 
"The Rapids." The ground was covered with 
snow. After a few days' stay at Joseph Akin's, 
they moved into their unfinished cabin. They 
resided in Kiantone for nearly ten years. 

John Jones, a son of Abraham, Sr., came 
from Vermont with his son Levi, and settled 
on lot 2 in Kiantone in 1814. In 1815, Benja- 
min, son of John, moved from Vermont and 
settled on the same lot. 

William Sears, a native of Wardsboro, Ver- 
mont, came in 1810. In the spring of 181 1 he 



purchased lot 11, on which the village of Kian- 
tone is built ; this was at one time called Sears. 
Mr. Sears erected what was probably the first 
inn. He subsequently built another tavern on 
this farm, and here resided until his death. 
He married Ruby, oldest daughter of Ebenezer 
Cheney. Ebenezer Cheney was a native of 
Orange, Mass. He settled on part of lot 12, 
township 1, range 11 ; his deed bears date No- 
vember 12, 1812. He resided for a short time 
in Jamestown from 1817, but returned to his 
farm in Kiantone, where he died in 1828. aged 
67 years. His children were: Nelson, Ruby, 
Mary, Abigail, Maria, Anna (the wife of Judge 
Elial T. Foote), Levi and Seth. Seth, the 
youngest son, married Cynthia, daughter of 
Benjamin Jones, who was a man of moral 
worth and integrity and early and active in the 
cause of temperance. 

Jasper Marsh, a native of Massachusetts, 
came in 181 1, settled on lot 28, township 1, 
range 11, near Joseph Akin's, on Stillwater 
creek. He was a farmer and mechanic, supply- 
ing many of the early settlers with large spin- 
ning-wheels, reels, common chairs, hay-racks, 
fork-handles, and most other wooden articles 
turned in a lathe. His wares were generally 
stamped "J. Marsh." He was a Revolutionary 
soldier, present at the surrender of Burgoyne, 
and drew a pension for his services. 

Ebenezer Davis, accompanied by his brother 
Emri, came from Wardsboro, Vermont, in 
1812, and settled on or near the Stillwater 
creek in. Kiantone. He married Lydia, a 
daughter of William Hall. He was the first 
town clerk of Ellicott, which then included 
Carroll and Kiantone. At the first revival in 
1818, commenced under the preaching of Elder 
Davis, Baptist, Ebenezer Davis was the first 
person baptized in Stillwater, at Akin's bridge. 
He died January 9, 1846, aged 66. The land 
book shows Mr. Davis as an original purchaser 
by article, only of the south part of lot 37, 
township 1, range 10, in May, 1814. The 
assessment roll of Pomfret, however, has the 
name of Ebenezer Davis on the east part of 
lot 28, township 1, range 11, now in the west 
part of Kiantone, a short distance south of 
Stillwater creek. Mr. Davis' children are said 
to have possessed much musical ability. 

Elijah Braley, a native of Wardsboro, Ver- 
mont, emigrated to Chautauqua county in 
181 1, and purchased in June, lot 10, township 
1, range 2, of about one hundred fifty acres of 
wild land in Kiantone. Here he cleared and 
cultivated his land and made a home. His first 
wife was Lucinda Sears ; his second, Electa 
Strong, of Gerry. 



TOWNS— KIANTONE 



203 



James Hall, son of William and Abigail 
(Pease) Hall, of Wardsboro, Vermont, came 
in the spring of 1812. Dr. Hazeltine says: 
"He took up lands in that part of the town of 
Ellicott now known as Kiantone, about a mile 
west from Kiantone village, and there resided 
until his death in 1846. James Hall served in 
various town offices of Ellicott until Carroll 
was set off, then as supervisor of Carroll until 
he refused to serve longer. In 1833 he was 
elected member of Assembly. The known 
Whig majority was about 2,000; nevertheless, 
James Hall, Democrat, was elected by 1,700. 
He was a member of the Congregational 
church. His first wife was Mary, second 
daughter of Ebenezer Cheney. Their children 
were: Abigail, Lewis and Elial. Mr. Hall 
married second, her sister, Abigail Cheney ; his 
third wife was another sister, Maria Cheney. 
Children: Erie Mary and James. James en- 
listed in the Civil War and fell at Malvern 
Hill. The post of Sons of Veterans in James- 
town was named for him. Samuel Hall, oldest 
brother of James, came in 1814, took up land 
on the Stillwater, on what is now the dividing 
line between Busti and Kiantone, here made 
his home, and here died in 1859. His son, 
Chapin Hall, was born in Ellicott in 1816. 
John A. Hall was another son. 

Captain William Martin, son of Aaron Mar- 
tin, of Busti, was born at Claverack, Columbia 
county, November 7, 1789. He came to Busti 
with his father in 181 1, and with his brother 
Isaac took up lot 23, township 1, range 11, in 
Kiantone, where he lived most of his life after- 
ward and where he died. In 1828 he went 
back to Busti to care for his father's family 
and remained till about 1847, when he returned 
to his Kiantone place. He was in the War of 
1812, served as ensign in the company of Lieut. 
William Forbes in 1813. He was taken pris- 
oner on the road from Black Rock to Buffalo 
on the day of the burning of Buffalo, carried 
to Montreal and kept until May 14, 1814. He 
was called out again in the fall, and received 
a commission as captain in the militia two 
years later. He was a Universalist, a rigorous 
temperance man, and would have no whiskey 
used among his workmen in farm work, even 
when it was the almost universal custom. He 
married Roxy Pier, of Busti, in 181 5. Their 
children were Isaac; Abram, born October 12, 
1818, married Mary E.. daughter of Eliphalet 
Burnham, of Pomfret, February 4, 1845. The 
Burnhamswere descended from Thomas Burn- 
ham, a lawyer, who settled in Hartford, Con- 
necticut, in 1865. Eliphalet Burnham was 



born in East Hartford, Connecticut, in 1779, 
and settled in Pomfret on lot 6, township 5, 
in 1805, on the place later owned and occupied 
by Lyvenus Ellis. Mr. Burnham in 1834 
bought the paper mill at Laona, subsequently 
sold the mill, went to Pennsylvania, where he 
died September 27, 1863. He was a public- 
spirited man, very generous, and his house was 
the free abiding place of a large number of the 
early settlers and their families while they 
were getting their houses ready for use. He 
was a very earnest member of the Baptist 
church, first at Fredonia and then at Laona, a 
Whig in politics and an abolitionist. Mr. 
Burnham's second wife was a daughter of Eli- 
jah Carter, who settled in Charlotte in 1817. 
She was a very superior woman intellectually, 
and kept up her interest in everything until 
her death, August 27, 1882, at the home of her 
daughter, Mrs. Mary Martin, in Kiantone, aged 
near 90. Captain William Martin died Sep- 
tember 13, 1875, and his wife in March, 1883. 

Abram Martin, son of William, lived always 
in Kiantone except from about 1828 to 1840, 
when he was with his father in Busti. He 
occupied part of the land on lot 23, originally 
taken by his father. He died November 29, 
1893. He was active in the support of the 
Republican party from its organization until 
about 1880, when he joined the Prohibition 
political party. He was at different times 
trustee of the Universalist societies of Kian- 
tone, Frewsburg and Jamestown, and an ad- 
vocate of the enfranchisement of women. His 
daughter, Ellen A. Martin, born January 16, 
1847, was the first woman in this county to 
regularly pursue the study of law. In 1871 she 
entered Cook & Lockwood's office for the 
study of law and as a clerk. In 1873 she en- 
tered the University of Michigan, and gradu- 
ated in 1875. This admitted her to practice 
in Michigan courts. In January, 1876, she was 
admitted to the bar of Illinois, and has since 
been in practice in Chicago. 

Ezbai Kidder, a native of Webster, Mass., 
came from Vermont to Ellicott in 1813, and 
in 1816 cleared land on his purchase in what is 
now the northeast corner of Kiantone. He 
was the first supervisor of the town of Kian- 
tone. He was a member of the Congrega- 
tional church of Jamestown. He died aged 92 
years. His wife, Louisa (Shearman) Kidder, 
died in 1867. Samuel Kidder, their son, occu- 
pied the homestead; he married Eleanor Pa- 
tridffe. 

The population of Kiantone, as reported by 
the State census of 1915, is 641, 43 of these 



204 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



being aliens. Kiantone, the only village of 
the town, is a small settlement in the southern 
part. 

Kiantone, the smallest town of the county, 
contains 11,456 acres. The assessed valuation 
of real estate in the town for the year 1918 was 
$367,792, full value $468,782. 

The first town meeting was held at the 
house of E. Frissell, February 21, 1854. Ezbai 
Kidder was elected supervisor; Levant B. 
Brown, clerk; Levant B. Brown, Martin C. 
Grant, Charles Russell, Aaron J. Phillips, jus- 
tices of the peace ; Francis M. Alford, superin- 
tendent of schools ; Joel Scudder, Jr., and Na- 
than A. Alexander, assessors; Simeon C. 
Davis, Smith Spencer and Stephen C. Rhine- 
hart, commissioners of highways ; Stephen 
Norton, collector; Eddy Weatherly, Joshua 
Norton, overseers of the poor; Stephen Nor- 
ton, Joseph Davis, Abram Martin, James Grif- 
fin, constables ; Milo Van Namee, George A. 
Dorn, Stephen Norton, inspectors of election 
(appointed). Alexander T. Prendergast, Ben- 
jamin T. Morgan and James B. Slocum, with 
Albert Scudder as clerk, were designated a 
board to preside at this meeting. 

Supervisors — 1853-54, Ezbai Kidder; 1855- 
56, Lucian V. Axtell ; 1857, Charles Spencer; 
1858, D. G. Morgan; 1859, Russell M. Brown; 
i860, George A. Hall; 1861, Russell M. 
Brown; 1862-65, Wellington Woodward ; 1866- 
67, Aaron J. Phillips; 1868, W. Woodward; 
1869-72, Joel Scudder; 1873, Aaron J. Phillips; 
1874-75, John H. Russell; 1876, Charles W. 
Creal ; 1877, W. Woodward ; 1878, Charles W. 
Creal; 1879-80, Joel Scudder; 1881, Charles 
W. Creal; 1882, C. E. Woodworth; 1883-85, 
George C. Fissell ; 1886-87, Samuel Kidder; 
1888-89, Izariah Hall; 1890, Samuel Kidder; 
1891-97, Allen A. Gould; 1898-01, Andrew B. 
Carter; 1902-07, Alonzo J. Martin; 190S-09, 
Parker E. Miller; 1910-17, George C. Kidder; 
1918-20, Alonzo J. Martin. 

The Kiantone Movement was a phase of 
early spiritualism which yet lingers as a 
memory of the past — 173 acres were purchased 
by Spiritualists in the town of Kiantone and 
christened "The Domain." Ten or twelve cot- 
tages, square, round and octagon, were built, 
and "The Domain" attempted on the commu- 
nity of interest plan. Fruit culture was be- 
gun and a grove of Osier willows planted for 
basket weaving, and the community seemed to 
prosper. 

At the camp meeting held there in Septem- 
ber, 1858, a mob spirit developed and from 
that year its popularity declined. The ruins of 
the round and octagon houses may yet be seen 



while the tangled mass of willows remain as a 
prominent feature of the landscape. 

The First Congregational Church of Kian- 
tone was organized in i8i5,as the First Church 
of Ellicott, about a year earlier than the Con- 
gregational church of Jamestown. After Car- 
roll was formed from Ellicott in 1825, the 
church was called the Congregational church 
of Carroll, and since the separation of Kian- 
tone from Carroll in 1853, the church has been 
known as the Congregational church of Kian- 
tone. It was organized by Rev. John Spencer 
with these members: Asa Moore, Samuel 
Garfield, Levi Jones and their wives ; John 
Jones, Anna, wife of Ebenezer Cheney, Mrs. 
Wheeler, wife of Josiah Wheeler, and William 
Deland. The first deacon was John Jones. 
For several years the church had occasional 
preaching in dwellings and school houses by 
John Spencer. Early ministers were Amasa 
West, Samuel Leonard, Isaac Eddy, Simeon 
Peck, Joseph S. Emory, O. D. Hibbard, S. W. 
Edson, T. A. Gale, E. M. Spencer, W. T. Rey- 
nolds, N. H. Barnes, W. A. Hallock. In 1830 
a meeting house was built on a site given the 
society by Mrs. Ruby (Cheney) Sears. 

The first Christian Society of Universalists 
in Carroll was formed at the present village of 
Kiantone, Dec. 30, 1853. The constitution and 
by-laws of the society were subscribed to by 
about twenty-five persons. A meeting house 
was built in 1845, and a church was organized 
November 26, 1853. A constitution, articles of 
faith and form of church covenant were 
adopted and were signed by Rev. F. M. Al- 
vord, pastor; N. A. Alexander, Horatio N. 
Thornton, stewards; Joseph Case, Arthur B. 
Braley, Oliver G Chase, Caroline Wheaton, 
Eunice N. Thornton, Mary S. Thornton, H. N. 
Thornton was chosen clerk. 

Kiantone schools are on the same modern 
plan as those of the surrounding towns and are 
well supported. 

Mina — When on March 23, 1824, Mina, a 
town of 22,028 acres, high in altitude and of 
rolling, hilly surface, was set off from the town 
of Clymer, it included its present area and 
what is now the town of Sherman, which was 
taken off eight years later. Findley Lake, a 
rival of Chautauqua Lake in beauty, if not in 
size, lies within the town, its waters, shores 
and two beautiful islands forming pictures of 
beauty with the varying changes of light tem- 
perature and season. Findley Lake, situated 
among the high hills, is the second largest 
body of water in Chautauqua county, its 
waters finding an outlet through French creek, 
a stream which in earlier years furnished water 



TOWNS— MINA 



205 



power in abundance and turned the wheels of 
many mills. The town is a part of the natural 
watershed which turns the waters north and 
south into the valleys of the St. Lawrence and 
the Mississippi. There are two villages in the 
town, Mina and Findley Lake, the latter 
located at the north end of Findley Lake. The 
population of the town, according to the State 
census of 1915 is 1,016 citizens and 5 aliens. 
There is little manufacturing in the town, 
owing to the insufficiency of the water power 
and the absence of rail transportation. Mina 
has been fortunate in having good records of 
its early days preserved by participants in 
making the history of the town. The follow- 
ing historical matter relative to Mina is gleaned 
from an article written by a pioneer of the 
township and published in 1861 : 

The town of Mina was settled between forty and 
fifty years ago. Among the first settlers were: Alex. 
Findley, Geo. Haskell, Roger Haskell, Damon, James 
Skellie, H. J. Skellie, Robt. Corbett, Philip Mark, 
Woolcutt, Jos. Palmer, John Keeler, Asa Madden, 
Potter Sullivan, James Ottaway, Nath. Throop, Seth 
McCurry, S. Park, S. Curtiss, Benj. Hazen, C. Barnes, 
Samuel Ellithorp, D. Babcock, Samuel Gott, E. F. 
Bisby, Hial Rowley, Z. Beckford, A. Whitney. Alex- 
ander Findley, I believe, was the first settler. He 
came in the year 1816; erected mills soon after. His 
wife died at the age of nearly one hundred years. 

The first store was kept by Charles Brockway, on 
Findley Lake. In 1824 our first inn was kept at Mina 
Corners by Cullen Barnes. The first death, the mother 
of Nathaniel Throop, was in 1827. Nathaniel Throop 
was the first supervisor, elected in 1825; town clerk, 
Roger Haskell. In 1824-25 Mr. Throop lived on the 
farm now occupied by Newell Grover. He was the 
first postmaster and brought the mail on his back once 
a week from Mayville. Our second postmaster was 
Potter Sullivan; next. I believe, H. J. Spalding. First 
physician in town was Dr. Wilcox. He lived in a log 
house on the farm now occupied by N. Grover. The 
next was Alma. We have had eleven: Wilcox, Alma, 
Barnes, Truesdale, Pierce, Sanders, H. J. Rumsey, 
Philips, Green, A. F. Jenning, Bowen. 

The first militia training was held at the house of 
Z. Riekard, near Mina Corners, where Hugh Skellie 
lives. The captain's name was John R. Adams. 

We have six sawmills and one gristmill, owned by 
Robert A. Corbett. The water privilege at Findley 
Lake is second best in the county. We have eleven 
school districts, in which school is kept from six to 
nine months in the year. We have thirty-one road dis- 
tricts and the roads throughout the town are mostly 
in good condition. We have three meeting houses — 
the Methodist Episcopal in the west part of town; 
one at Findley^ Lake, called the United Brethren; and 
one near Mina's Corners that belongs to the Germans, 
Presbyterian. 

Peter R. Montague, a venerable gentleman 
who was born in 1809 and without whom a 
thorough history of Mina could not be told, 
said: 



With my parents I came from Middlebury, Wyo- 
ming county, N. Y., in April, 1824, and took up land 
on lot 36, in an almost unbroken wilderness, with but 
a few settlers in town. As soon as our house was con- 
structed I set about to make myself a bed with noth- 
ing but an augur and axe to work with. It was made 
out of round poles, and for the cord I used elm bark, 
quite different from the beds of the present time. In 
those early days the making of black salts was the 
chief industry, that commodity always bringing cash. 
Another young man and myself took a job to clear 
one acre of land, for which we received ten bushels of 
wheat and the ashes. The black salts made from the 
ashes we sold for twenty-one dollars. Those who had 
pine timber suitable for the purpose could shave shin- 
gles and get one dollar a thousand for them in trade 
at the stores. The price of eggs was six to eight cents 
per dozen; butter eight to nine cents a pound. Wolves 
were troublesome and sheep had to be guarded each 
night. The settlers trapped them by building a pen 
of logs about twelve feet square at the bottom, tapering 
to a smaller diameter toward the top till at the height 
of eight feet it would be but three feet across. With 
fresh meat used as bait the wolves were often lured 
into this area during the night, whence they of course 
could not escape. The two early industries were tan- 
ning and distilling. Benjamin Hazen had a few vats 
and tanned leather for many years. Another Hazen 
had a small distillery and distilled whiskey from pota- 
toes and corn meal, which readily sold for twenty- 
five cents a gallon. 

The following is from "Child's Gazetteer": 
"It is said that Nehemiah Finn made the first 
butter sent to New York from Chautauqua 
county, and John Shaver made the first firkin 
and owned the first dog-power of the county. 
The first birth was that of a daughter of Na- 
thaniel Throop in 1823, and the first death 
that of the mother of the same individual, in 

1825. The first marriage contracted was that 
of Isaac Stedman and Nancy Wilcox in April, 

1826. Elisha Moore taught the first school in 
1826 near Findley's Mills. The first store was 
kept in 1824 by Horace Brockway on lot fifty- 
two." 

Early Land Purchases. 

1811 — September, Alex. Findley, 52. 

1815 — October, Alex. Findley, 42; Jona. Darrow, 57 
or 58. 

1816— March, Geo. Haskell, 58. 

1818— October, Aaron Whitney, 59; Robt. Haskell, 
59. 

1821 — May, Geo. Collier, 45; November, Nathan 
Leach, 44. 

1822 — September, Hiel Rowley, 37. 

1823 — August, John G. Acres, 38; September, Jas. 
Ottaway, 14; Wm. Tryon, 31; October, Silas Hazen, 
Jr., 23; Horace Brockway, 44; November, Jos. Palmer, 
Palmer, 11; John Barnes, 20. 

1824 — March, Elisha Morse, 39; Nathan Morse, 45; 
Edw. P. Morse, 45: April, Ezra Bisby, 26; Ezra F. 
Bisby, 26; June, Josiah Morse, 61; Elijah Heyden, 33; 
Chas. T. Bailev. 7; August, Edw. Chambers, 14; Sep- 
tember, Robt. Corbett, 2 or 3; October, Jas. Nichols, 3. 

^25 — March, Seth McCurry, 13; Wm. Craig. Jr., 
22; April, Squire King, 7; Benjamin R. Teft, 60; Nath. 



200 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Herrick, 7; May, Jesse Oaks, 27; Josiah R. Keeler, 3; 
Zina Rickard, 28; October, Nath. Throop, 6; Hugli 
Findley, 42; Oliver B. Bliss and Henry Bliss, 56; De- 
cember, West Barber, 47. 

1826— January, Hugh I. Skellie, 50, 51; April, Gideon 
Barlow, 16; June, Jas. Ottaway, Jr., 35; October, 
Horace Brockway, 59: Jesse Robertson, 62. 

1827 — March, James W. Robertson, 43. 

1828 — January, Isaac Fox, 46; February, Geo. Col- 
lier, 54; May, Theodore Whitten, 40; Cyrus Under- 
wood, 40; August, Wm. Tryon, 31; November, Jas. W. 
Robertson, 34. 

1831 — May, Daniel S. Richmond, 32; Geo. Pulman, 
45- 

In 1875, 0I tne original purchasers named in 
the foregoing, Aaron, Whitney, Hiel Brock- 
way, Gideon Barlow and John W. Robertson 
were the only persons who owned the lands 
they bought from the Holland Company. 
Peter R. Montague owned the farm on which 
he settled with Ezra Bisby, his step-father, the 
original purchaser, in 1824. 

Alexander Findley, who is credited with 
having been the first settler of Mina, came 
from the North of Ireland about 1790 with his 
family. He first settled in Greenville, Pa., 
from where he made excursions as a hunter 
of wild game and lands that should suit his 
fancy as the seeker of a permanent home. Be- 
ing charmed with the situation at the foot of 
the lake to which his name was later given, he 
selected and bought in 181 1 land on lot 52 
there. The Holland Land Company gave him 
the privilege of building mills. He began to 
build a sawmill in 1815 and in 1816 he made 
his permanent home there. In this year he 
completed his sawmill and soon after a grist- 
mill. The water which first received the name 
of Findley's Pond later received the more dig- 
nified name of Findley's Lake. A settlement 
sprung up about the mills, which at this time 
is a prosperous village of some five hundred 
people, with several stores, a good hotel, a 
creamery, shops, two churches, an excellent 
school building and a newspaper. 

Young says : "By the construction of the 
dam (for Findley's Mills) several hundred 
acres of land were overflowed. The dam was 
several years later swept away by a June 
freshet and on the land which had again be- 
come uncovered, a luxuriant growth of herbage 
sprung up before a new dam was erected ; and 
the subsequent decomposition of the herbage 
under the water caused sickness, and Mr. Find- 
ley was indicted for maintaining a nuisance." 
The litigation that was begun as a result was 
not concluded as long as Mr. Findley lived. 
About 1827 Findley built a carding mill in 
which he also dressed cloth. He and his son 
William served in the War of 1812. Of his 



eleven children three sons, Hugh B., Russell 
and Carson, became residents of Mina; Hugh 
B. and Carson, who inherited the mill proper- 
ties, sold the upper site to Robert Corbett, who 
built new mills and stopped the sickness. 

James D. Findley, a farmer, son of Hugh B., 
served as postmaster at Findley's Lake. He 
and his brother, Henry B., served in the Civil 
War. Henry was killed June 1, 1864, at the 
battle of Cold Harbor; James D. lost his left 
arm, June 26, 1864, at Petersburg. 

Among the early settlers, Aaron Whitney 
bought on lot 59 in 1818; he lived there all his 
life and reared a large family. Jonathan Dar- 
row, George and Roger Haskell settled in the 
same neighborhood, on lots 58 and 59, in the 
southwestern part of the town, previous to 1820. 
Aaron Whitney, who bought on lot 59, became 
a lifelong resident and reared a large family. 
Jeremiah Knowles, an early settler, was a sur- 
veyor and laid out the first road in the western 
part of the town. Zina Rickards settled on lot 
18 in 1818, and Cullen Barnes settled in Mina 
about the same time. George Collier bought 
a farm on lot 45 in 1821 and long resided there. 
His son, George H., went to Oregon from 
Mina, where he became professor of chemistry 
and physics in the University of Oregon. In 
the next three or four years after 182 1, new 
roads were laid out, bridges built, and talk 
was heard of school and "meeting houses." On 
the east side of the town, pioneer settlers were 
coming in from County Kent, England. James 
Ottaway, whose descendants held important 
positions in the county, came in 1823. Other 
settlers were Edward Buss, William and 
George Relf, Edward Chambers, Edward Bar- 
den and Thomas Coveny. The sons of Ed- 
ward Chambers were Joseph, Frederick, Wil- 
liam and John. George and Isaac Relf, sons 
of William, were prominent in business and 
held office. In 1824 Robert Corbett came from 
Milford, Mass., and bought part of lot 3. The 
rebuilding of the Findley saw and grist mills 
at the village by him has already been men- 
tioned. Robert A. Corbett, his son, succeeded 
to the mills, which were sold in 1864 to Wil- 
liam Sellkregg. 

The officers elected at the first town meet- 
ing, held at the school house near Alexander 
Findley's, in April, 1824, were as follows: Su- 
pervisor, Nathaniel Throop ; town clerk, Roger 
Haskell ; assessors, Aaron Whitney, Zina 
Rickard, Otis Skinner; collector, Isaac Hazen ; 
overseers of the poor, Alexander Findley, Or- 
lando Durkee; commissioner of highways, 
Benjamin Hazen, Jeremiah Knowles, Potter 
Sullivan ; constables, Isaac Hazen, Thomas 



TOWNS— MINA 



207 



Downey ; commissioners of schools, Zina Rick- 
ard, Jeremiah Knowles, Alexander Findley ; in- 
spectors of schools, Daniel Waldo, Jr., Isaac 
Hazen, Samuel Dickerson. 

The first regular religious meetings were 
those of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1826, 
in the barn of Benjamin Hazen, with Rev. Mr. 
Bradley as the clergyman. Findley Lake 
Church (United Brethren) was founded in 
1855 by Rev. J. W. Clark, pastor. The society 
built a church in 1862. The American Re- 
formed Church was formed December 19, 1856, 
with forty-four members, by Rev. J. W. Dune- 
wald. The original members included Lorenzo 
Buck, Adam Himelein, George Hammer, J. G. 
Barringer, Adam Merket, their wives, and Mar- 
garet B. Phifer. In 1859 a church edifice was 
built costing $1,400. The Methodist Episcopal 
church at the Corners was formed May 18, 
1858. The first members were Thomas R. 
Coveny, Daniel Fritz and wife, Alexander D. 
Holdridge and wife, Daniel Declow and wife, 
William Baker, Charity Chase, Lucy and Me- 
lissa Holdridge, Jane Tryon, Lucinda Relf and 
Betsey Baker. The trustees were A. D. Hold- 
ridge, William Baker and Nehum M. Grimes. 
About the same time, the Methodist Episcopal 
church, West Mina, was formed. Among its 
first members were John and Alexander Skel- 
lie, Uriah and Azan Fenton, Henry F. and 
James F. Moore. A church was built in 1859 
with capacity for seating three hundred. 

From the school offices it is noticeable that 
the pioneers were very particular about their 
schools. They desired that their children 
should have the best opportunities for educa- 
tion possible in such primitive surroundings. 
Considerable attention was paid to the mak- 
ing of roads, too, and keeping them in passable 
condition. 

In 1824 the vote in Mina for governor was: 
Young, 44 ; Dewitt Clinton, 20. From 1841 to 
1845 the strength of the Whigs and Demo- 
crats was practically equal. A tie vote oc- 
curred for supervisor several times. At one 
election the vote for highway commissioners 
was 63 on one side and 64 on the other. 

The principal era for the building of saw- 
mills and gristmills using water power in the 
town was from 1825 to 1840. The first steam 
mill was built by Davidson and Greenman in 
1866, in the northwest part of the town, on lot 
64. The firms of E. Chesley & Co. and Elmer 
Chesley & Sons owned it afterwards succes- 
sively. The Chesley family in America is a 
very old one, dating back as far as 1633 in 
Dover, New Hampshire. The Chesleys of 
later generations have been prominent in New 



England and elsewhere to the present time. 
A. D. Holdridge, an active citizen, built a saw, 
shingle and lath mill in Mina in 1872. Samuel 
Gill owned and operated a sawmill on lot 16, 
in the north part of the town near Ripley line, 
on Twenty-mile creek, from 1852 to the time 
of his death in 1879. The business was con- 
tinued by his son, Samuel H. Gradually, as the 
timber was cut away, the fields and hillsides 
became pasture and meadowlands, the herds 
increased and dairying came into greater and 
greater prominence as the industry upon which 
the people relied. 

Supervisors — 1824-27, Nath. Throop ; 1828, 
Roger Haskell; 1829, Nath. Throop; 1830-31, 
Otis Skinner; 1832, Elias E. D. Wood; 1833, 
Joshua LaDue ; 1834-37, Joseph Palmer; 1838, 
David Declow ; 1839-42, Valorous Lake ; 1843, 
Jesse B. Moore ; 1844, David Declow ; 1845, 
William Putnam ; 1846-48, Gideon Barlow ; 
1849, Cyrus Underwood; 1850, Luke Grover; 
1851, Edward Buss; 1852, Gideon Barlow; 
1853, Alex. Eddy; 1854, Ora B. Pelton ; 1855, 
Geo. Ross; 1856-57, Luke Grover; 1858, Edw. 
Buss; 1859, David Declow; 1860-61, Geo. Relf; 
1862, Thos. R. Coveny ; 1863 ; Edw. Buss ; 1864- 
65, Geo. Relf; 1866, Franklin Declow; 1867, 
Geo. Relf; 1868, Thos. R. Coveny; 1869-70, 
Henry Q. Ames; 1871, Franklin Declow; 1872, 
Geo. Relf; 1873-75, J onn E - Ottaway; 1876-77, 
Ebenezer Skellie ; 1878-82, Dana P. Horton ; 
1883, John E. Ottaway; 1884, Dana P. Horton; 
1885, John E. Ottaway ; 1886, Dana P. Horton ; 
1887, Samuel Barringer; 1888-90, William A. 
Knowlton; 1891, Dana P. Horton; 1892-93, 
Alfred M. Douglass ; 1894-97, Dana P. Horton ; 
1898-01, John A. Hill; 1902-03-04-20, W. Lav- 
erne Nuttall. In 1906-07-18-19, Mr. Nuttall 
was chairman pro tern., and in 1920, chairman 
of the board, that being his nineteenth year of 
continuous service as supervisor. 

The full value of the real estate in Mina was 
placed at $598,110 in 1918, and the assessed 
value was $469,259. 

Mina schools have kept pace with the other 
improvements of the town and are very effi- 
cient. 

Findley Lake is a charge of the Erie Con- 
ference of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
the same pastor also supplying Mina and 
South Ripley, the three churches having a 
membership of no. 

The United Brethren Church was estab- 
lished at Findley Lake in 1855 by a missionary, 
Rev. E. B. Torrey; in 1857 Rev - J onn w - 
Clark was sent to "the mission, and in 1858 a 
church was organized. A church edifice was 
completed in i860, which was succeeded by 



208 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the present edifice in 1894. The original 
church was also used by the Methodists and 
by the Baptists. 

The Lakeside Assembly, on the west shore 
of Findley Lake, was founded in 1895 by Rev. 
C. G. Langdon, a minister in the United Breth- 
ren Church. Rev. Langdon lived in the par- 
sonage on the east shore of the lake. He had 
succeeded in erecting a fine new church in the 
village, but as he sat in his study and looked 
out over the lake into the woods on the west 
side of the lake he thought of the large audi- 
ences that might be gathered in the shade, to 
rest and at the same time to learn. A plot of 
ground was secured of J. A. Hill, and Rev. 
Langdon taking an axe began to cut and 
clear away the brush and logs. After a short 
time Dr. F. E. Lilly, who lived at the foot of 
the lake, was taken into partnership with him. 
A large tent was secured, several small build- 
ings were erected, lots were laid off and the 
first season announced. About forty lots were 
sold and preparations made for the erection of 
many buildings. Feeling the need of a strong 
company, the two owners of the new Assem- 
bly organized a stock company and secured a 
State charter, sold stock and planned for a 
permanent institution. 

Lakeside Assembly is modeled after Chau- 
tauqua in its system and is doing a good work 
for the section in which it is located. 

Poland — Lying between Carroll and Elling- 
ton in the eastern tier of towns and directly 
east of Ellicott, from which town it was set 
off, April 9, 1832, Poland comprises township 
2, range 10, and was originally covered with 
great forests of immense pines. It was this 
magnificent timber which first attracted set- 
tlers to Poland and the conversion of these 
great forests of pine, hemlock, elm, maple, 
beech, oak and chestnut into lumber was long 
the sole town industry. Many of the pines 
measured five and six feet in diameter and 
"Poland Quality" in lumber was the standard. 

Captain Newell Cheney, in the "Centennial 
History of Chautauqua County" prepared an 
article on the town of Poland, from which this 
chapter is largely drawn. He states that Mr. 
Cheney, of Kiantone, an early surveyor, used 
a fallen pine 268 feet in length to stretch his 
chain upon. 

Daniel Griswold gives these figures of the 
product of six hundred acres on lot 21 in Sala- 
manca as an evidence of the enormous yield of 
these early forests: This tract averaged five 
trees of white pine to the acre and produced 
over 6,500,000 feet of lumber, while the hem- 
lock made fully twice that quantity, making 



the average product per acre over 33,000 feet. 
E. A. Ross, in his paper on early lumbering, 
says: "When we come to make an estimate 
of the amount of lumber made on the Cassa- 
daga and its tributaries, you can form some 
idea of the vast amount of lumber made on the 
upper Allegheny. As I make it, about eighteen 
mills are putting lumber out of the Cassadaga, 
and allowing two hundred thousand feet for 
the smaller, and five million feet for the larger 
mill, would make two hundred seventy-five to 
three hundred rafts, requiring five hundred fifty 
or six hundred men to run them to the mouth 
of the creek and half that number from there to 
the Allegheny. When all these men were mus- 
tered into service and put on their line of 
march, or drift, it took about all of the re- 
sources of the inhabitants along the streams to 
furnish them with food and lodging." 

Capt. Cheney, in his article, thus interest- 
ingly describes the geological features of the 
town: 

In the stone quarry at Kennedy is found, sandwiched 
between the rocks, a wide bed of sea shells several 
inches thick. Above this strata of shells is more than 
twenty feet of solid rock. These shells are the earliest 
evidence of animal life in this region. They belong 
to the class of sea mollusks called Brachiopods (or 
branching feet) and their clear imprint in the rocks 
may properly be called the first foot prints. Here 
they lived their natural lives for many generations in 
the bottom of the ancient sea that then covered this 
region, and were then buried under many feet of mud 
and sand. 

After many thousands of years by some spasm of 
nature they were lifted up to their present position, 
thirteen hundred feet above the sea. This record of 
early life of millions of years ago, so well preserved 
and so plainly read in the rocks, makes the period 
covered by human monuments seem brief, indeed. For 
many other thousands of years following this uplift of 
the land, the region here was rough and rocky, with 
high, steep cliffs and deep canyons. The waters of 
this region found their way to the Allegheny River, 
which then flowed along a deep channel near the pres- 
ent location of the Conewango, into a river that flowed 
to the north through Falconer, Cassadaga and Fre- 
donia, and found its way to the sea by way of the St. 
Lawrence. 

Along the narrow valley below the Kennedy stone 
quarry are many fragments of the local rocks, broken 
and worn, some showing the imprint of the sea shells. 
Scattered about near are pieces of granite, some quite 
large, and all much worn and rounded. These are the 
granite boulders, and we are confronted with the ques- 
tion — where did these come from, and how did they 
get here? 

This was a question that puzzled geologists for many 
years till solved by Professor Agassiz. His solution 
is so clear and so sustained by all the evidence, it is 
now universally accepted. These stray pieces of 
granite were broken from the gigantic ledges of North- 
ern Canada and brought here by glaciers that extended 
from the northern regions all over this part of the 
continent during many thousands of years of wintry 
climate. These glaciers, hundreds of feet thick, are set 



TOWNS— POLAND 



209 



on their under surface with sand and gravel ; these same 
granite boulders we find strewn over the land and 
through the soil of the whole glaciated area, made the 
grinding force which cut down the rocky cliffs, filled 
the deep gorges and covered the whole surface with 
material for rich and enduring soils. The glaciers 
stopped the flow of water to the north, blocking the 
channel at Cassadaga, making a great lake of this 
region now drained by the Allegheny and its branches 
until the water cut a channel through the rocky ridge 
below Irvine and reached the Ohio. The result of all 
this work of ice and water left this region covered with 
a rich soil, made from a ground mixture of all the 
rocks between here and Labrador. The highest lands 
are mostly covered with a boulder clay, while wide 
areas of drift lie in terraces, moraines and isolated 
knolls alongside the alluvial soils of the lower valleys, 
a most attractive topography for fine landscape effects 
and for thrifty, industrial communities. Scattered 
through the gravelly deposits are now found many 
forms of coral and other fossils of great interest from 
the Niagara limestone and other rock formations to 
the north, that were exposed to the carrying force of 
the glaciers. 

Poland has rich farming lands in the wide 
valleys which border the Conewango and 
Cassadaga creeks, these winding streams, 
after traversing the town, uniting near the 
southern boundary. The Erie railroad crosses 
the town and maintains a station at Poland 
Center. The Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & 
Pittsburgh railroad touches the southwestern 
corner of the town. Kennedy in the north- 
eastern part of the town, is the principal vil- 
lage, although without railroad facilities. 

At first Poland's population increased rap- 
idly, numbering 916 in 1835, 1,539 m 1880, 
1,608 in 1890, which was the high-water mark. 

The clearing of the forests and the natural 
trend toward the cities seem to have operated 
against Poland and according to the State cen- 
sus of 1915, the population had fallen to 1,442. 

In 1798-99-1800 Joseph Ellicott made survey 
of the lands of the Holland Land Company 
into townships, his office being then located in 
Buffalo. One of his survey parties, under 
Amzi Atwater, in July, 1798, surveyed the line 
which now lies between Chautauqua and Cat- 
taraugus counties, beginning at the Pennsyl- 
vania line and running north. This survey 
party was probably the first to note the extent 
and value of the pine timber in what is now 
the towns of Carroll and Poland. 

Captain Cheney gives the following account 
of Dr. Kennedy and his connections with 
Poland : 

On November 17, 1794, Dr. Thomas Ruston 
Kennedy, a young physician of Philadelphia, 
whose father, Dr. Samuel Kennedy, had served 
as surgeon-general in the Revolutionary army, 
and whose mother was a daughter of Dr. Rus- 



ton, an eminent physician of Philadelphia, was 
appointed surgeon of Captain Drury's com- 
mand at Fort LeBoeuf. Governor Mifflin 
wrote to Capt. Drury: "I have appointed Dr. 
Thomas Ruston Kennedy, a young man of 
excellent character, surgeon of your battalion ; 
you will be pleased to receive him as my 
friend." In 1795 Dr. Kennedy accompanied 
the troops ordered to Warren to protect the 
surveyors who under General William Irvine 
and Andrew Ellicott were surveying the site 
of that town. 

That same year Dr. Kennedy built a sail 
boat at Presque Isle, and in the autumn went 
in it to Philadelphia, having it carried around 
the Falls of Niagara and over the portage be- 
tween the Oswego and Mohawk rivers. He 
removed to Meadville in 1795, and was the 
first physician in Northwestern Pennsylvania. 
On the organization of Crawford county in 
1800 he was appointed prothonotary of the 
court, which office he held till 1809. At the 
time of his appointment, Crawford county in- 
cluded Erie, Venango and Warren. His name 
appears upon the assessment rolls of 1806-07 
as owner of several outlots in Warren. In 
1803 Dr. Kennedy married Jane I., daughter 
of Andrew Ellicott, at that time secretary of 
the land office of Pennsylvania at Lancaster, 
which was then the seat of the State govern- 
ment. This marriage placed Dr. Kennedy on 
most friendly relations with Joseph Ellicott, 
the agent of the Holland Land Company, as 
indicated by letters now found in the library of 
the Buffalo Historical Society. He and his 
bride visited Joseph Ellicott, at Batavia, in 
June, 1S03, on their way to Meadville, and on 
this visit discussed the matter of buying a 
tract of the fine pine timber and other lands of 
the Holland Land Company which Ellicott 
had already surveyed into townships and 
mapped. The most important event in the 
early history of Poland, and the first impor- 
tant commercial enterprise in Southern Chau- 
tauqua, was the building of the sawmill by Dr. 
Kennedy. Dr. and Mrs. Kennedy returned to 
Lancaster that same summer. His letter to 
Joseph Ellicott, dated "Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania, October 29, 1803," is in part as follows : 

Dear Sir: We returned to Meadville in four days, 
after parting with our friends in Buffalo. Shortly after 
our return I sent a man to explore the Conewango 
country, who has returned. His account is such as 
would induce a number of persons in this country to 
emigrate thither as soon as a beginning is made. My 
principal object in sending to that country was to 
examine for a mill seat. He reports that one may be 
forced at considerable expense on the Conewango 



2IO 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Creek about ten miles from its mouth. He believes 
the site will be near the northeast corner of township 
number two, tenth range, (Poland). In consequence 
of his report I will take one thousand acres at this 
place if you will make the terms easy. The land is not 
valuable for cultivation. The timber is the only in- 
ducement added to the seat for a sawmill. If your 
terms are such as will suit, will erect a sawmill there 
next summer. I will also take two or three hundred 
acres at the outlet of Chautauqua Lake, and will erect 
a gristmill with a sufficient lock in the dam or race as 
soon as one thousand bushels of grain is raised in the 
neighborhood. I also want six hundred acres near the 
middle of the lake on the northeast side of township 
two, range twelve. This piece of land is intended for 
a farm for an industrious man who will settle there in 
the spring. 

Dr. Kennedy's next letters were from Mead- 
ville. He wrote a long letter under date of 
March 15, 1804, from that place. On May 10th 
he wrote a letter of recommendation for James 
Dunn, "a man of some property and exten- 
sive connections." Mr. Dunn, who was the 
first settler of Poland, came from the Susque- 
hanna, at or near Great Island, August 3, 1804. 
Dr. Kennedy gave another letter of introduc- 
tion and recommendation for Alexander Mc- 
Intyre, who was about to leave Meadville to 
buy land from Mr. Ellicott. Mr. Mclntyre is 
the one who first settled at the head of Chau- 
tauqua Lake. Under date September 19, 1804, 
he wrote that his milldam at the Conewango 
"would be large and expensive, upwards of 
twenty rods long and in some parts between 
nine and ten feet high." 

Dr. Kennedy in 1805 began building a mill 
at Kennedyville to manufacture lumber. This 
was the first work begun of the settlement of 
Poland and the southern towns. Dr. Kennedy 
built a double sawmill at Kennedyville, and 
subsequently a gristmill, with one run of stone 
made of common rock. 

Under date of November 24, 1805, after men- 
tioning that a mail was established between 
Amsterdam (Buffalo) and Erie, he says: "It 
is my intention to say that boats of twenty- 
five or thirty tons may be navigated from the 
State of New York by way of Conewango 
creek, the Allegheny and the Ohio, and then to 
New Orleans, where I will find a good market 
for pine boards at twenty-five and thirty dol- 
lars per M." 

Dr. Kennedy refers in one of his letters to 
measures contemplated to render the shipping 
of salt practicable over the Conewango and 
the outlet of Chautauqua Lake. These are 
among the earliest suggestions relating to the 
transportation of salt through the county: 
"There are two men at this place who are 
largely engaged in the salt trade. I have men- 



tioned to them the route through the Chau- 
tauqua outlet and the east branch of the Cone- 
wango. They are anxious to know whether 
you will aid in clearing the navigation of one 
or both of these streams. I was at Chautauqua 
last summer and thought that three hundred 
fifty or four hundred dollars would make the 
outlet navigable for boats to carry one hun- 
dred fifty to two hundred barrels of salt to 
Cassadaga ; from thence there will be no diffi- 
culty." He says further that he has "ordered 
driftwood to be cut on the Conewango. A 
short distance above my dam dead water com- 
mences and continues for two days' paddle in 
the canoes, possible up to the Susquehanna 
road ; from thence to the mouth of the Catta- 
raugus it is said to be but sixteen miles. The 
price of transportation of a barrel of salt across 
is two dollars and fifty cents." In a letter 
dated May 12, 1807, Dr. Kennedy says: 
"Should you come to my mill I think you 
would best procure an Indian to conduct you, 
as you may possible mistake and take the path 
to Cassadaga Lake. You will be able to reach 
the mill in less than a day from the mouth of 
the Cattaraugus Creek." From Meadville he 
writes, September 29, 1807: "I have com- 
pleted a handsome bridge at Conewango, one 
hundred eighty-two feet long, handsomely 
framed and of the best material, and a barn 
forty by thirty-two feet. Work has built a 
good house twenty by thirty feet. Lamberton 
has been surveying. Mr. Work wishes me to 
inform you that he wishes to commence his 
location on the northeast side of the outlet, ad- 
joining Wilson, and on the other side as low 
down as opposite Culbertson, sixty or one hun- 
dred rods from the mouth of the Cassadaga, 
which will probably join the lot on which Fen- 
ton (Governor Fenton's father) lives, and to 
extend up that side six or eight lots." While 
the mills were being built, Edward Shillitto 
and his family resided there and boarded Ken- 
nedy's hands. He was the first settler of 
Poland having a family. The hands were 
merely transient workmen. Dr. Kennedy was 
never a resident of the town, but lived at 
Meadville until his death in 1813. 

Edward Work, between whom and Dr. Ken- 
nedy there existed a strong friendship and inti- 
mate business relations, superintended the run- 
ning of much of the lumber manufactured at 
this mill. At Pittsburgh the lumber was placed 
upon flat-bottomed boats, mostly made at Ken- 
nedy's mills, and run to New Orleans. The 
sale of the boards the first year was made by 
Mr. Work, who, in 1808, built sawmills on the 
outlet of Chautauqua Lake near the eastern 



TOWNS— POLAND 



boundary of Poland. When his mill was com- 
pleted he "run boards from his mill to New 
Orleans in the manner he had done from Ken- 
nedy's mills. A change, however, had taken 
place in the navigation of the Mississippi. 
When his boats arrived at Natchez he added 
to his lading bales of cotton, to the extent of 
the capacity of his boat, receiving a dollar per 
bale for freight to New Orleans for that car- 
ried under deck, and seventy-five cents for that 
on deck. The empty boats were sold at New 
Orleans for lumber for more than their cost. 
Work finished boards at his mill for seventy- 
five cents a hundred feet to finish the log 
houses of early settlers, and his little gristmill 
with common rock stones made excellent flour 
from good grain. When at home he was 
usually his own miller. 

In 1804 Kennedy and Work bought of the 
Holland Land Company land on both sides of 
the Cassadaga below Dexterville, also a tract 
of valuable timber land east of the Cassadaga 
and Levant along the Kennedy road. In 1808 
they opened a road from Kennedy's mills to 
Work's mills, and building the first bridge 
across the Cassadaga, about one-fourth of a 
mile above the present village of Levant. The 
road extended most of the way north of the 
present road to Kennedy and over much more 
hilly ground. All of these improvements were 
made in Poland before any assault was begun 
upon the forest of pines that stood tall and 
dense upon the site of Jamestown. Upon the 
division of the lands owned by Kennedy and 
Work after their decease, the heirs of Ken- 
nedy took the lands lying east of the Cassa- 
daga. The mill property at Kennedy was sold 
by them in 1831 to Richard P. Marvin, of 
Jamestown, and his brother Erastus of Dry- 
den. Erastus came to Kennedy and soon their 
father followed him. In 1832 Erastus and his 
father died. R. P. Marvin soon sold the plant 
to Guy C. Irvine and Robert Falconer, who 
built a gristmill there. It was subsequently 
rebuilt by Jones & Stillwell. It next passed 
into the hands of Seth W. Chandler, who sold 
it to Daniel Griswold and William T. Falconer, 
who rebuilt it in 1886, and sold it January 1, 
1871, to Wellington H. Griffith. It was burned 
within a year and a new one was erected on the 
same site by Mr. Griffith. 

Dr. Kennedy's mill on the Conewango stood 
on the site of the present mill at Kennedy, 
later owned by Ira C. Nichols, and the dam 
crossed the creek against the upper side of the 
mill. Some of the decayed timbers of the 
original dam are still found in the bank of the 
stream. Mr. Nichols cleared the channel of 



the creek where the dam stood and moved a 
large log and some spiles which disclosed how 
the original dam was constructed. This log, 
about forty feet long, was sunken across the 
bed of the stream and held in place by stakes. 
Piles about two inches thick by five to six 
inches in width and six to seven feet long, 
were driven at an angle and close together into 
the bed of the stream so that their upper ends 
rested against the faced side of this log, which 
held the stakes in line and in exact position 
and made a solid and close wall. On top of 
this bed sill other timbers faced to match were 
laid and held in place by being framed at their 
ends into long timbers reaching to the bank 
on either side. This timber dam was strength- 
ened and made tight by brush and soil and a 
waste passage constructed in it for the surplus 
water. A lock for the passage of boats fifty 
feet long was built against the left side of the 
stream at the south end of the dam. When 
Mr. Nichols rebuilt his mill he found the bed 
sills and other timbers of the original mill, 
built seventy-five years before, still quite 
sound. They all bore the ax marks of hewn 
timber. The mill irons were brought by boat 
from Pittsburgh. John Simpson, for many 
years a resident of Poland, said that in 183 1 he 
worked on the mill for Forbes and Runion. 
The mill was run night and day through the 
year, except about a month in the spring. The 
mill then cut about three million feet each 
year. In their last year the mill cut 3,660,000 
feet, which Mr. Simpson helped to measure. 
There were two upright saws in the mill that 
did this work with a full set of hands to each 
saw. This lumber was then estimated to be 
worth, in the raft at the mill, six dollars per 
thousand feet. 

Dr. Kennedy died at Meadville in 1813. His 
children and heirs were : Andrew E. Kennedy, 
a surgeon in the United States Navy, born 
1804, died at Batavia, Island of Java, 1833; 
Sarah Ann, born 1806, married Augustus Col- 
sen in 1825, died 1862; Samuel Ruston, born 
1807, died 1834; Thomas Ryland, born 1808, 
died 1832; Joseph C. G., born 1813, was ap- 
pointed superintendent of the census of 1850 
by President Taylor, and of the census of i860 
by President Buchanan. In 1853 he was ap- 
pointed a member of the Statistical Congress 
at Brussels and subsequently to that of Paris. 
In 1856 he was secretary of the United States 
at the World's Fair at London. His son, Jo- 
seph M. Kennedy, grandson of Dr. Kennedy, 
served as captain'and major in the Ninth Regi- 
ment, New York Cavalry, during the Civil 
War. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The mills of Kennedy and the lumber busi- 
ness first attracted settlers to Poland. Of the 
early purchases in 1808, Gideon Gilson bought 
on lot 51, James Culbertson, 58; in 1809, Ste- 
phen Hadley bought on 59, John Owen, 57; 
in 1810, John Brown, lot 57, Colt and Marlin, 
42. These lands were all in the southwest part 
of Poland. In October, 1813, Nathan Lasall 
bought near the center of the town, on 37 and 
45, Poland Center. In 1814 Aaron Forbes took 
up land on 57, James Hall, 54, Ebenezer 
Cheney, 58, James Herriot, 34. The same year 
Ira Owen, at Clark's Corners, and Ethan 
Owen near him, on lot 21. In 1816 Elias Tracy 
took up lands on lot 49 and in 1817 on lot 41, 
Nicholas Dolloff, 33, and Aaron Taylor, 26. 
Aaron Forbes settled on lot 57 in the south- 
west part of the town, where he resided at his 
death. Ezra Smith also settled on lot 57. He 
was born in Burlington, Otsego county, in 
1832, married Hannah Peck, of Ellicott. Mrs. 
Smith was born in 1810. Asa and Esther 
Smith, the parents of Ezra Smith, were born 
in Haddam, Conn. The former died in 1856; 
the latter at the age of 102 years and four 
months. Of Ezra's children were: William, 
Irwin, Emily (who became the wife of Sam- 
uel Halladay, and after her death, her sister 
Matilda became his second wife); Francis, the 
wife of T. F. Van Dusen, of Jamestown ; and 
Minerva, Mrs. A. D. Hunt. Among the early 
settlers in the southwest part were Luther 
Lydell, from Otsego county, about 1830, on 
lot 59, where he died. Elias Tracy settled on 
lot 49. His sons were Wayne, Elias and 
Hatch. Hannah, one of his daughters, married 
William H. Fenton, of Dexterville. Joshua 
Woodward, from Otsego county, came about 
1816 with his sons, Reuben, Royal, Lewis, 
Pierce and Hiram. Pierce Woodward was 
four years supervisor. Ira Kimball was also 
an early settler who did good work in de- 
veloping the town. B. B. Kimball is his son. 

Horace Hartson settled in the western part 
of the town, on lot 60, near Levant. He re- 
sided with his son William in Poland until his 
decease. Other sons were Orsell H. and 
George. Ephraim L. Nickerson, between 
Poland Center and Levant, manufactured brick 
with profit. 

In the northwestern part of the town, Amos 
Fuller settled upon lot 46. Jeremiah Gifford 
Hotchkiss, about 1830 on lot 55 ; Elihu Gifford, 
lot 55 ; David Tucker, lot 48. He married Miss 
Montgomery. His daughter, Nancy A., mar- 
ried Isaac Cobb, of Gerry. Mr. Tucker was 
several years supervisor of Poland. He died 
in Cattaraugus county in 1894. 



In the northern part of the town, Eliab 
Wheelock, from Oneida county, settled on lot 
39. He had sons: William, Orrin E. and 
Horace F. Norton B. Bill was a native of New 
England, came from Genesee county about 
1830, settled on lot 46, and died there. His 
daughter Emily married Harvey Forbes, and 
died in Poland. Malvina married Arad Fuller. 
Ruth married Darius Wyman. Amos married 
Artemisia Smith and lived on the homestead 
of his father. Julia married Emory Wood- 
ward, and Mary, Miles Tracy. 

In the central part of the town Charles F. 
Wolcott settled on lot 37; Ebenezer Cheney, 
about 1830, on lot 37. His son, Nelson E., 
married Hannah Merrill, of Carroll. Of their 
children, Emory was a physician. Nelson also 
was educated as a physician. Newell was a 
captain in the Ninth Cavalry and served in the 
Civil War. He has been supervisor of Poland, 
and in 1886 was a member of Assembly for the 
Second District of Chautauqua county. Nel- 
son E. Cheney was a resident of Poland Cen- 
ter sixty-two years. He died January 6, 1891, 
aged 97 years, one month and six days, his 
mental faculties unimpaired until the end. 
Addison H. Phillips settled on lot 28. 

In the eastern part of the town Amasa Ives, 
from Madison county, settled on lot 3 ; Obe- 
diah Jenks, from Essex county, lot 20. A saw- 
mill was built at Mud creek, now Clark's Cor- 
ners, by Isaac Young about 1820, and after- 
ward sold by him to Daniel Wheeler and by 
him to Henry N. Hunt and by Hunt to Albert 
Russell and afterward discontinued. Joseph 
Clark, a well known early settler, for many 
years kept a tavern near this sawmill on Mud 
creek. John Miller, about 1831, settled on lot 
5. Henry Nelson Hunt was born in Rutland 
county, Vermont, March 5, 1808, son of Elna- 
than Hunt and Sybil Lincoln. His father 
moved to Genesee county when Henry was 
three years old, and died there at the age of 73. 
Henry Hunt was twice married and reared a 
large family. He was engaged extensively in 
the lumber business for a number of years, but 
later gave his attention to farming. He served 
as supervisor of the town two terms, and held 
the office of justice of the peace for a number 
of terms. 

In the southeastern part of the town, Elihu 
Barber settled on lot 3. At an early day a 
sawmill and gristmill was built in the north- 
eastern part of the town of Waterboro. The 
gristmill was burned and the sawmill went 
into disuse. Josiah Miles and Daniel Wheeler 
built a sawmill near Conewango, which was 
rebuilt and owned by Charles Clark. John 



TOWNS— POLAND 



213 



Merrill built a sawmill on Mud creek on lot 
3. Nicholas Dolloff built a sawmill on the 
Conewango in the southern part of the town. 

Dr. Samuel Foote, brother of Judge E. T. 
Foote, is said to have been the first physician 
in Poland, and Dr. Nelson Rowe the next. Dr. 
William Smith came about 1840, and died at 
Kennedy. His son, Summer A., was druggist 
and postmaster at Kennedy, and served three 
years in the Civil War. His son Henry died 
in the war. Three other sons reside in the 
town. Later physicians were Drs. James H. 
Monroe, Ingraham, J. W. Button and Early. 
Many Swedes have settled in the town in re- 
cent years. 

The Kennedy Baptist church was organized 
January 30, 1836, with twenty-two members. 
Rev. B. Braman was first pastor. A meeting 
house was built in 1868. 

The Methodist Protestants were here early. 
In May, 1839, Rev. James Covell organized a 
society at the school house in district No. 4, 
and the next year Rev. O. C. Payne, from Fre- 
donia, formed one in district 11. For a time 
they were very flourishing. 

Poland Free Church at Kennedy, organized 
in 1856, built a church the next year. 

The Wesleyan Methodist Church at Levant 
was early organized by Rev. Emory Jones. A 
church was built in 1872. 

Ellington and Kennedy are united as a 
charge of the Jamestown district of the Erie 
annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. The combined membership is 210. 

Little is known of those who worked on the 
mills previous to about 1840. Edward Shillito 
with his family lived at the mills and boarded 
Kennedy's workmen while building the mill 
and for several years after. He then bought 
land at what is now Levant, where he after- 
wards resided. Potatoes and other vegetables 
were grown at the mills for table use. At the 
raising of the mill frame in 1805, men came up 
the Conewango in canoes from as far away as 
Warren and beyond. Meat, whiskey and other 
supplies en route by boat being delayed, Shil- 
lito killed a yearling heifer for the occasion. 
The whiskey arrived in time for the celebra- 
tion. No doubt Shillito lived in the house of 
hewn logs before mentioned and which in later 
years was known as the mill house. This 
house disappeared some years since. A well 
near the house still marks the spot. In 1823, 
when Seymour Saxton's family moved in and 
settled on Indian Run, about three miles from 
Kennedy's mills, a Mr. Penoyer was running 
the mills for the Kennedy heirs. From 1827 to 
1831 Forbes and Runion ran the mills. Abial 



Elkins moved from Canada to Levant about 
1828 and worked on the mills there two years 
for Alvin Plumb. He, about 1830, moved to 
Kennedy's mills, where he lived in the mill 
house and ran the mills until 1842, except two 
years. In 1837-38 Joseph Clark ran the mills 
for Guy C. Irvine and lived in the house built 
by Augustus Colsen. 

Augustus Colsen, who married the daughter 
of Dr. Kennedy, was the son of a Lutheran 
minister who emigrated from Germany in 
1810, and moved with his famliy to Meadville 
in 1815. Augustus was twelve years old when 
he came. In the early twenties he engaged in 
the mercantile business. In 1826, the next 
year after his marriage, he moved to take 
charge of the Conewango mills, where he built 
a frame house of two stories, on the lot where 
Delos Merritt now resides. About 1876 this 
house was moved back forty or fifty rods to 
the north on Langdon street, Mr. Colsen re- 
maining at the mills till the sale of the mills and 
lands to Richard P. Marvin, in 1832. Dr. Ken- 
nedy held his title by contract. The first deed 
to these lands was given by the Holland Com- 
pany to Richard P. Marvin. Mr. Marvin's 
father and mother moved into the house Col- 
sen had built, and his brother Erastus was 
associated with him in conducting the mills 
and also a store. The dam built by Dr. Ken- 
nedy had made a pond of water covering over 
one hundred acres. This pond was the cause 
of much malarial fever which, about this time, 
became very malignant. Mr. Marvin's parents 
and brother all died there that summer of 1832. 
These misfortunes changed the plans of Mr. 
Marvin, who had planned to buy more timber 
land and build up a town at his mills. Already 
there was a considerable population with two 
hotels, two or three stores, two small tan- 
neries, a blacksmith shop near the front of the 
present cemetery conducted by a Mr. Sawyer, 
father of Philetus Sawyer, afterwards United 
States Senator from Wisconsin, a chair shop 
conducted by Chester A. Lillie, and other in- 
dustries. Many laborers were employed on 
the mills and in cutting and hauling logs, some 
of whom had families living there. Keel boats 
came up from Pittsburgh and French Creek 
with merchandise, including flour, pork, dried 
fruits, sugar, whiskey, tobacco, cloth, glass, 
nails, etc., and some of them passing through 
the lock at the dam ran up the Conewango as 
far as Cherry creek. Settlers were moving in 
and clearing farms on adjoining lands. The 
place had become widely known as Kennedys 
Mills, with the prospect of growing into a 
large town. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The township of Poland was formed from 
Ellicott, April 9, 1832, the same year and 
month that Mr. Marvin bought the mills, and 
the first town meeting was appointed to be 
held at Kennedy's Mills the next March, 1833. 
In September, 1832, Mr. Marvin sold his mill 
property and lands to Beardsley and Morse, 
who sold in 1833 to Guy C. Irvine, Rufus 
Weatherby and Robert Falconer. These men 
held the title till about 1850. Many village 
lots had been laid out on the south side of the 
Conewango, a cemetery near the present resi- 
dence of Charles Akins' family, and a town 
hall built opposite the present residence of 
Alonzo Bain. Mr. Marvin held the title to a 
number of these lots after selling his mill prop- 
erty. 

The continuance of much sickness made the 
place unattractive and many thrifty farnilies 
moved away. The place gained a bad name as 
the residence and resort of criminals and men 
of bad reputation. The town meetings were 
moved to Poland Center, where they were held 
for twenty-five or thirty years. Among people 
of surrounding communities, feeling became 
so intense over the bad sanitary conditions 
caused by the great mill pond that in 1848 a 
number of men tore the dam away. In 1851 
Laurens A. Langdon and William T. Falconer 
succeeded to the ownership, Falconer by in- 
heritance from his father and Langdon by pur- 
chase from the Weatherby heirs. Mr. Lang- 
don moved with his family from Sugar Grove, 
Pennsylvania, made the Colsen house his resi- 
dence and proceeded to build a mill race of 
over a mile in length, with a head gate which 
did away with the dam and pond. Since that 
time the place has greatly improved. Besides 
the sawmill, a large flouring mill, a feed mill 
and a planing mill now use the water power. 
The white pine has almost entirely disap- 
peared, but the sawmill still does a large busi- 
ness in manufacturing lumber, largely from 
other kinds of timber. It is a safe estimate 
that this mill has cut one hundred million feet 
of lumber from the white pine of the town of 
Poland, near Kennedy, besides a large amount 
brought from Cattaraugus county, since the 
mill was built. About 1840 the name of the 
postoffice was changed to Kennedyville, 
though many of the early settlers still con- 
tinued to write and say Kennedy's Mills. In 
1852 Harry Abbott sold his farm in Busti and 
moved into the hotel at Kennedyville, where 
he kept a temperance house and was made 
postmaster. The name of the post office was 
then changed to Falconer in compliment to 
William T. Falconer, who then owned a half 



interest in the sawmill and a large tract of 
land adjoining the village, and to his father, 
who had been a prominent citizen of Warren, 
was then living in Sugar Grove and had owned 
large interests at Warren, Jamestown and 
Sugar Grove, as well as in the mill property at 
Kennedyville. When the railroad was built 
through in 1859, tne railroad station, at the 
request of William Reynolds of Meadville, was 
named Kennedy, and the name of the post- 
office soon followed. In place of canoes and 
keel boats propelled by hand, two railroads 
now furnished transportation and excellent 
passenger service. The village has grown to 
a population of about six hundred with tele- 
phone lines, rural mail delivery routes serving 
the thrifty farming communities who find here 
a market for their products and quick com- 
munication with the commercial world. The 
place still, most appropriately, retains the 
name of Kennedy from the accomplished Dr. 
Thomas Ruston Kennedy, who built the first 
mill here and established the first important 
commercial enterprise in Southern Chau- 
tauqua. 

Robert Falconer, of Sugar Grove, Pennsyl- 
vania, was the owner of a large tract of land 
in Poland. His son, W. T. Falconer, was a 
merchant, lumber dealer and one of the most 
influential citizens of the town. He was born 
in Sugar Grove, April 1, 1824, and came to 
Poland about 1850. He married Miss Jenny 
Daily, of Brocton, in 1867. 

Poland was set off as a separate town in 
April, 1832, and the first town meeting was 
held at the houses of A. McGleason and S. R. 
Gleason, March 5, 1833. Nathaniel Fenton was 
elected supervisor; Nelson Rowe, town clerk: 
Emory F. Warren, Henry M. Connell, Samuel 
Hitchcock and Melancthon Smith, justices. 

The supervisors have been: Nathaniel Fen- 
ton, 1834; Summer Allen, 1834-46-64; W. W. 
Chandler, 1843-44; Henry N. Hunt, 1845-54- 
55; David Tucker, 1847-48; Pierce Woodward, 
1849-50-57-58; Eliakim Crosby, 1851-52; M. 
W. Smith, 1853; Galusha M. Wait, 1856; Wil- 
liam M. Falconer, 1859-63; Daniel Griswold, 
1865-68; Harvey S. Elkins, 1869-72; Josiah 
H. Monroe, 1873-74-77-82; Amos Bill, 1875-83; 
Ira C. Nichols, 1884-86-88-90-93; Lyman F. 
Weeden, 1891 ; Newel Cheney, 1885-89; E. F. 
Rowley, 1894-95; John F. Anderson, 1896- 
1906-09; Charles N. Taylor, 1910-13; Ray G. 
Crandall, 1914-20. 

Of these supervisors the first, Nathaniel 
Fenton, was born in New England in 1763, 
came to Poland about 1823. Fanny, one of his 
daughters, married Gen. Horace Allen. An- 



TOWNS— POMFRET 



215 



other, Summer Allen, born in Otsego county, 
February 3, 1804, came to Poland in 1818. He 
was the son of Phineas Allen and brother of 
Gen. Horace Allen. Woodley W. Chandler 
was born in Virginia, February 14, 1800. He 
resided successively in Tennessee, New Or- 
leans and Cincinnati, and early came to Po- 
land. He married Phebe, daughter of Abra- 
ham Winsor; he died April 22, 1854. Eliakim 
Crosby was born in Oneida county, removed 
to Poland in 1829 and settled on lot yj, at 
Poland Center, where he kept a public house ; 
he held nearly every town office. Harvey S. 
Elkins was born in Poland, November 26, 1835. 
He was a merchant of Kennedy for five years, 
superintendent of the poor and supervisor four 
years. His wife was Maria Nichols. After 
her death he married Jennie Stratton. Daniel 
Griswold was born in Wyoming county, Feb- 
ruary 1, 1830, came to Poland in 1831 or 1832. 
In 1868 he married Martha, daughter of John 
Townsend. He was a lumberman, supervisor 
of Poland, Ellicott and Jamestown, and presi- 
dent of Chautauqua County National Bank. 

There are 22,447 acres in Poland, valued at 
$1,129,918. The assessed valuation of real 
estate in the town for the year 1918 was $886,- 
500. 

Pomfret — The survey of the Holland Land 
Purchase, begun in 1798, was so far completed 
that when in 1803 the first settler within the 
present limits of the town — Thomas McClin- 
tock, arrived, he was able to locate the land 
which he purchased in December, 1803 — lots 
8, 4 and 20 in township 6, now in Pomfret. 
Low Miniger was the next purchaser, in 1804, 
and in October, Zattu Cushing, the third pur- 
chaser in township 6, bought lots 28, 29 and 
33. Sales dropped off entirely for six years, 
but in the meantime township 5, range 12, was 
being taken up, Eliphalet Burnham buying lot 
6 in March, 1805, and the same year Zattu 
Cushing bought lot 16. In 1800 the first wheat 
was raised in Clarence Hollow, and it was then 
estimated that but twelve persons were living 
upon the Holland Purchase. In 1801 the first 
white child was born in Pomfret, Catherine 
Putnam Cushing, who married Philo Hull 
Stevens, all this antedating the coming of 
Thomas McClintock, the first settler within 
the limits of the present town, and the first 
purchaser of land in township 6. David Eason 
settled on the west side of Canadaway in 1804, 
and in 1805 Zattu Cushing came to now Fre- 
donia, moving with his wife and five children 
into a partly finished log house built by Low 
Miniger, the second purchaser of land in town- 
ship 6, now in Pomfret. At that time except- 



ing McClintock, the first settler, and David 
Eason, the Cushings' nearest neighbor was 
John Dunn on the west, and on the east the 
Stedmans, eight miles away. Seth Cole, the 
first actual settler in the town of Dunkirk, 
came from Paris, Oneida county, with Zattu 
Cushing, who sold Cole land at the mouth of 
the Canadaway, upon which he settled in Feb- 
ruary, 1805, the Cushings going on to now Fre- 
donia. Later in 1805, Benjamin Barnes, Sam- 
uel Gear, Benjamin Barrett, and Orsamus 
Holmes, settled near enough to be considered 
neighbors to the first comers, and in 1806 
came Hezekiah Barker, whose name is per- 
petuated in the beautiful park in Fredonia. 
The Risleys came in 1806, and in 1808 Elijah 
Risley opened at Fredonia the first store in the 
county. In 1807 Thomas McClintock sold his 
land to Zattu Cushing, and in 1808 came Dr. 
Squire White, the first educated physician in 
the county. He taught the first school in 1808 
in a log house in the present town of Sherman, 
reserving the right to dismiss school should a 
call be made for his professional services. 
Until 1807 all the county was the town of 
Chautauqua, with town meetings at the Cross 
Roads. Zattu Cushing rallied all the voters 
of his section of the county, and when town 
meeting day came around again it was voted 
to hold the next meeting at Fredonia. This 
act led to the erection of the town of Pomfret. 

In 1807 the Connecticut Baptist Missionary 
Society sent a missionary, Rev. Joy Handy, to 
preach the gospel. About the same time Rev. 
John Spencer, a Connecticut Congregational 
missionary, was sent to the Purchase. In the 
log cabins and beneath the trees they preached 
and performed the functions of their calling, 
their first burial service being held in 1807 
over the body of a little girl killed by a falling 
tree. As late as 1820 the Cushing barn was 
the most commodious place for a religious 
assembly in all northern Chautauqua. 

The town of Pomfret was formed from 
Chautauqua, March 11, 1808, and was the first 
division of the county after its organization. 
The town originally comprised the tenth and 
eleventh ranges of townships and all the area 
now included in the towns of Pomfret and 
Dunkirk. The town is drained chiefly by 
Canadaway creek, entering from the east near 
the southeastern corner of the town, and pur- 
suing a northerly and northwesterly course 
enters Lake Erie about two miles above Dun- 
kirk. From 1830 until 1859 Pomfret com- 
prised townships 5 and 6 in the 12th range. 
In 1859 Dunkirk (town) was formed, leaving 
two tiers of lots from township 6 attached to 



2l6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Pomfret. The village of Fredonia was princi- 
pally in township 6, and extended north into 
the second tier of lots. In order to keep the 
entire village in the town of Pomfret, an un- 
equal division of territory was necessary and 
unavoidable. Pomfret has an area of 28,899 
acres, Dunkirk, 6,632. 

The first three settlers in Pomfret — Thomas 
McCIintock, David Eason, and Low Miniger 
— in 1806-07 s °ld their lands to Zattu Cushing, 
who thus became the first settler to remain in 
the town, although the three settlers only 
moved to Westfield. Another buyer of their 
land was Hezekiah Barker. The early settle- 
ment of the town of Pomfret was chiefly on 
the north line of township 5, range 12. The 
greater part of the village of Fredonia is north 
of that line in township 6. The first town 
meeting in Pomfret was held at Elisha Manus' 
in 1808. Rev. John Spencer opened the meet- 
ing with prayer, and Ozias Hart was chosen 
moderator. The officers elected were : Super- 
visor, Philo Orton ; town clerk, John S. Bel- 
lows; assessors, Richard Williams, Justin Hin- 
man, John E. Howard ; highway commission- 
ers, Samuel Berry, Abiram Orton, John Mack; 
overseers of the poor, Zattu Cushing, Orsamus 
Holmes ; constable and collector, George W. 
Pierce. 

In the northeastern part of Pomfret in town- 
ship 5, range 12, the early settlers were Joel 
Harrington, Jonathan Hempstead, Thomas 
Kepple ; in the east part, Luther Frank, Eze- 
kiel Johnson, Ephraim Wilson, Haway Dur- 
kee, Orrin Ford, Joseph Rood ; in the south- 
eastern part, Abel Beebe and Otis Goulding; 
in the southern part Varnum Bacheller, Levi 
Risley, Eli Webster, Willard Blodgett ; in the 
western part several Websters settled, Jona- 
than Sprague, George Steele, Jonas Litch, 
Rowland Porter. Near the center of the town 
the early settlers were Benjamin Randall and 
Isaac Norton. Early settlers in part of town- 
ship 6, now a part of the town of Pomfret, 
were Daniel G. Gould, Oliver Barnes, J. Bald- 
win, D. G. Goulding, Justus Adams, Mar- 
tin Eastwood, John Sawin, Pearson Crosby, 
David Elliot, Nathaniel Pearson, Calvin 
Hutchinson, Henry Lassell, Todd Osborne, 
Irwin Osborne. 

The early settlers found the plats of Canada- 
way creek well timbered, the Canadaway fur- 
nished abundant water power, and soon saw 
and grist mills were in operation, although for 
a number of years the only articles sent to 
market were pot and pearl ashes. At Laona, 
named by Henry Wilson about 1820, the fine 
water power was utilized by Thomas and 



Hezekiah Bull to operate a flouring mill, either 
in 1810 or 181 1. A carding mill was built by 
Ebenezer Eaton in 1812; a cotton mill by 
Thomas Bull about 1817, which soon burned 
down; another cotton mill built by Thomas 
Bull and Orrin Ford in 1823, which was 
changed in 1854 to a paper mill. At different 
times about thirty factories have drawn their 
motive power from Canadaway creek, but 
now the little manufacturing done uses steam, 
electricity, or gasoline. The three Risley 
brothers, about 1830, established the Risley 
Seed Gardens in Fredonia. For a long time 
they were the most extensive in the United 
States, sending their products to every State 
and territory. In 1849 they sold onion seeds 
in California for the same weight in gold. 

Pomfret has the distinction of having first 
used natural gas as an illuminant; first in 1821, 
and the gas works established in Fredonia 
were the first in this country. Grapes are 
raised in great abundance, and the production 
of grape roots has grown into an immense 
business, a market being found in every State 
and Territory, and almost every nationality 
upon the globe. Manufacturing of fruit 
products, general farming, dairying, and fruit 
growing constitute other activities of the town. 

An important event in the history of Pom- 
fret was the founding of the Fredonia Acad- 
emy, in 1823. It was a plain, unpretending 
structure, but ample for its purposes, and im- 
posing, when nine-tenths of the people lived 
in rude log cabins. The original subscription 
is still preserved. Mortgages to the land com- 
pany, with unpaid interest, hung like a funeral 
pall over the the whole Western New York. 
Many mechanics did not receive for work five 
dollars in cash during the entire year. The 
subscription was drawn in such a form that 
every man might aid as he could, in labor, 
from his mill, his field, or his workshop. The 
whole cash subscription was $75, barely suffi- 
cient to procure glass and nails. To this Gen- 
eral Barker contributed $25, Dr. White $10, 
and others smaller sums. General Barker and 
Colonel Abell each contributed in some form 
$100, and Dr. White the next amount, $60. 
Every form of material for building is upon 
the subscription, besides cattle, rye, corn, 
chairs, cabinet work, shoes and hay. Solomon 
Hinchley gave $30 in pork, ten bushels of corn 
and ten bushels of rye, and three hundred 
pounds of beef. Lyman Ross subscribed 
twenty gallons of whiskey. When this Acad- 
emy was established, it was the "lone star" of 
the west, and soon exerted an influence be- 
yond the hopes of its founders. It not only 



TOWNS— POMFRET 



217 



drew scholars from all of Western New York, 
but in 1839 from the Canadas and the thirteen 
States and Territories. The second story was 
reserved perpetually for the Presbyterian 
church for a place of worship. For a commu- 
nity which so early established churches and 
schools it comes as a shock to learn that at an 
early period there were eighteen distilleries in 
the town, and the use of whiskey almost uni- 
versal. In the Washingtonian movement in 
1840, men awakened to the ravages of intem- 
perance. In every community some were 
snatched as brands from the burning. 

Churches were organized in Pomfret through 
the efforts of Rev. Joy Handy and Rev. John 
Spencer, and that other pioneer in Christian 
work, the Methodist circuit rider. The first 
church in the town, the Baptist, was also the 
second church in the county, its birth date, 
October 20, 1808. The Presbyterian church 
followed on September 29, 1810, the Methodist 
Episcopal church in 181 1, and Trinity Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church on August 1, 1822. 
The First Baptist Church, which became the 
Fredonia Baptist Church, May 25, 1859, really 
dates from a meeting held by nine people in 
November, 1805. The next recorded meeting 
is March 1, 1807, but on September 8, 1808, 
articles of faith and a covenant were adopted, 
and on October 20, 1808, sixteen persons were 
examined and a church organized. Rev. Joy 
Handy was pastor until 1822, and was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Elisha Tucker. A brick church 
valued at $20,000 was dedicated July 7, 1853. 
Among the noted pastors of this church are 
Rev. Arnold Kingsbury, Rev. Charles E. 
Smith, and Rev. M. J. Winchester. The pres- 
ent pastor (1920) is Rev. C. L. Rhodes. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Pomfret 
was organized September 29, 1810, as a Con- 
gregational, Rev. John Spencer, its founder, 
being a missionary of that faith from Connec- 
ticut. Eight men and six women comprised 
the first membership, thirteen members being 
added during the next four years. On Janu- 
ary 30, 1817, the congregation adopted a Pres- 
byterian form of government. The Presby- 
terian Society was incorporated in 1819, and 
in 1836 a church, sixty-five by fifty feet, was 
erected on the site of the present church. 
About 1875 that church was replaced by the 
present commodious structure. The first pas- 
tor was Rev. Samuel Sweezy, installed March 
13, 1817; the present pastor is Rev. George H. 
Allen, Jr. 

While the Methodist circuit rider followed 
closely upon the advent of the pioneer settlers 
in Chautauqua county, coming first in 1805, it 



was not until 181 1 that Rev. Elijah Metcalf, 
preacher in charge of the Chautauqua circuit, 
organized a class. The members of that his- 
toric class were: Justin Henman and wife; 
Daniel Gould and wife; William Ensign and 
wife; Jeremiah Baldwin and wife. A plain 
church edifice, forty by fifty feet, was erected 
in 1822. The eccentric but sincere minister, 
Lorenzo Dow, preached in that old church, 
which was replaced by a larger church at the 
corner of Center and Barker streets in 1839. 
In 1843 the annual conference, presided over 
by Bishop Joshua Soule, D. D., was held in 
that church, this his last to preside over as a 
bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church, he 
with others in 1844 seceding to form the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1867 
a site was secured fronting on Barker Com- 
mon (now Lafayette Square), and the present 
church structure, begun in 1868, finished in 
1869, was dedicated by Bishop Matthew Simp- 
son, assisted by Rev. Benoni I. Ives. John P. 
Hall Memorial Parsonage adjoining the church 
was erected in 1881-82, during the pastorate of 
Rev. J. A. Rummer. Among the noted pas- 
tors were: Rev. R. W. Crane, Rev. J. M. 
Bray, Rev. A. J. Merchant, Rev. J. A. Rum- 
mer, Rev. W. P. Bignell, Rev. Robert E. 
Brown, and Bruce S. Wright. The present 
pastor is Rev. S. L. Maxwell. 

Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church was 
organized August 1, 1822, and a church edifice 
dedicated in 1835. The first rector was Rev. 
David Brown, the first wardens, Michael Hin- 
man and Watts Wilson, Jonathan Sprague, 
Abiram Orton, Joseph Rood, Abraham Van 
Santvoord, Benjamin Douglas, Nathan Hemp- 
stead and Joseph G. Henman composing the 
first vestry. Noted rectors of the past have 
been Rev. W. O. Jarvis and Rev. John J. Lan- 
ders. The present rector is Rev. Henry Miss- 
ler. Other churches in Pomfret are an Evan- 
gelical church at Laona, a Free Methodist, a 
Lutheran, a Church of Christ (Scientist) Soci- 
ety, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic, St. An- 
thony's Italian Roman Catholic, and Penti- 
costal Mission. 

Original Purchases in Township 5, Range 12. 

1805 — March, Eliphalet Burnham, 6; Zattu Cushing, 
16; Samuel Perry, 8: April, Augustus Burnham. 7. 

1806 — June, Philo Orton, 4S; August, Philo Orton, 
40; September, Elijah Risley, 32, 33. 

1804 — June, Benjamin and Isaac Barnes, 40. 

1808 — April, Samuel Berry, 24; October, Thomas 
Bull, 17. 

!8o9 — January, Thomas Bull, 18; April, Thomas 
Warren, 55; June, Philo Orton, 39; August, Augustus 
Burnham, 1; September, James Morgan, 31: Jeremiah 
Rood, 31: Joseph Coates, 3; November, Cushing and 
Holmes, 63. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



1810 — January, Daniel Barnes and Oliver Wood- 
cock, 47; Philo Orton, Simeon Fox, 47; September 
Philo Orton, 56. 

181 1— March, Stephen Porter, 41; Ammi Williams, 
49; Israel Lewis, 13; April, William Hinds, 62; Au- 
gust, Joseph Webster, 61; November, Zattu Cush- 
ing, 25. 

1812 — December, Stephen Barrett, 3. 

1813 — February, Amos Sage, 54; May, Philo Orton, 
64; December, Erastus H. Clarke, 64. 

1814— June, Richard Kelly, 42; November, James 
Hale, 42. 

1815— January, Elisha Webster, 41; September, Ben- 
jamin Barrett, 16. 

1816— June, Abiram Orton, 5; July, Zattu Cushing, 
62; October, Benjamin Perry, 5. 

1817 — February, Thomas Bull, 15, 6; March, Thomas 
Clark, 13; April, Eli Webster, 34; May, James Nor- 
ton, 61, 64; Jonathan Sprague, 49; Ira Seeley, 34; 
Josiah Munger, 34; June, Standish Rood, 38; August, 
Luther Harmon, 53; October, Jonas Litch, 53; Mat- 
thew W. Cossity, 54; November, Rensselaer Crosby, 
52; Jonathan Sprague, 57. 

1818— January, Benjamin White, 60; July, Seth Ris- 
ley, 28; August, Allen Bills, 28; September, Robert 
Gardner, 52; October, Leverett Todd, 45; Reuben 
Bartholomew, 45. 

1819 — April, Asa Rood, 37; July, Parley Munger, 
42; September, John Hilton, 38; November, Edmund 
W. Barlow, 37. 

1821 — October, Benjamin Perry, 13; Robert Mellen, 
44 • 

1822 — February, Thomas A. Osborne, 29; July, Eze- 
kiel Johnson, 21; October, Isaac Bussing, 35. 

1825— December, Joel H. Johnson, 5. 

1826 — October, Marcus Miller, 35. 

1827 — February, Lemuel and Rowland Porter, 51 j 
March, Calvin Hutchinson, 57; May, Jacob Turk, 43; 
July, Samuel Barlow, 34. 

1828— March, Watts Wilson, 37. 

1829 — January, Porter S. Benjamin, 46; June, Orris 
Crosby, 43, 44. 

1831 — January, Leverett Todd, 45. 

Original Purchases in Township 6, now in Pomfret. 

1803 — December, Thomas McClintock, 8, 14, 20. 

1804 — August, Low Miniger, 26. October, Zattu 
Cushing, 28, 29, 33. 

1810 — May, Benjamin Barnes, Jr., 15. 

1814 — March, James Mark, 25. 

1815 — May, Justus Adams, 38. 

1816 — December, Sylvanus Marsh, 38. 

1821 — December, William Gates, 35; George D. 
Gates, 35. 

1822 — June, Pearson Crosby, 26; August, Thomas 
A. Osborne. 35; October, David Elliott, 30; Nathan 
Hempstead, 37; Alva Elliott, 34; Anson and Calvin 
Hutchinson, 34. 

1823 — September, Nathaniel Crosby, 31. 

1824 — October, Pearson Crosby, 26. 

1825 — August, Isaac A. Lovejoy, and others, 30; 
Zattu Cushing and others, 30; Stephen Wilson and 
others, 30. 

Supervisors — 1808-18, Philo Orton; 1819-22, 
Leverett Barker; 1823-25, Abiram Orton; 
1826-28, Benjamin Douglass; 1829, Leverett 
Barker; 1830-33, George A. French; 1834, 
Orrin McClure ; 1835, Elijah Risley, Jr. ; 1836, 
Elisha Norton ; 1837, Pearson Crosby ; 1838- 
39, Squire White; 1840-44, Elisha Norton; 



1845-46, Leverett Barker; 1847, Daniel W. 
Douglass; 1848-49, Rosell Greene; 1850, Wil- 
liam Risley; 1851-53, Alva H. Walker; 1854, 
Hiram P. Smith; 1855, Abner W. Camp; 1856, 
Elisha Norton; 1857-58, Edmund Day; 1859- 
6o, Elisha Norton; 1861-62, Orson Stiles; 
1863-64, Henry B. Benjamin; 1865, Orson 
Stiles; 1866, Horace White; 1867-68, George 
D. Hinckley; 1869, John P. Hall; 1870-72, 
Franklin Burritt ; 1873, Harmanus C. Clark; 
1874, Franklin Burritt; 1875, James D. Wells; 
1876-77, John S. Russell; 1878-79, M. M. Fen- 
ner; 1880, George S. Joslyn ; 1881-82, John S. 
Lambert; 1883-85, B. F. Skinner; 1886, Arthur 
R. Moore; 1887-88, Otis M. Hall; 1889-90, 
Warren B. Hooker; 1891, D. G. Pickett; 1892, 
James R. Adams; 1893-99, Willis D. Leet; 
1900-05, Gaius M. Tremaine, Jr.; 1906-13, Wil- 
liam S. Stearns (chairman, 1908-13); 1914-20, 
Edward N. Button. 

Although never an elected supervisor, Louis 
McKinstry, born in Fredonia, December 9, 
1844, died there March 5, 1919, was for fifty 
years in the clerical service of the county (not 
continuous), and year after year was unani- 
mously elected assistant clerk of the board of 
supervisors. He was the son of Willard Mc- 
Kinstry, who in 1842 bought the "Fredonia 
Censor," which he published until his death, 
then was succeeded by his son Louis, who 
continued editor and owner of "The Censor" 
until his death seventy-seven years after the 
paper came under the McKinstry ownership. 
Louis McKinstry attended the meeting of the 
supervisors at Mayville late in December, 1918, 
but owing to infirmities could not ascend the 
stairs leading to the board room. He did, 
however, attend the annual banquet of the 
board, and made a characteristic speech, which 
he regarded as his farewell to official county 
life, although he was continued assistant clerk 
as long as he lived. 

The village of Fredonia lies in the heart of 
the grape belt. The first settlement in Fre- 
donia by a white man was made in 1804, near 
the Beebe place, on Risley street. The Indians 
had named the stream which flowed by his 
cabin Gon-no-do-wao, meaning in the Seneca 
tongue, "flowing through the hemlocks ;" he 
pronounced it Can-a-da-wa, and this was the 
name of the little settlement beside the stream 
which flowed beneath the hemlocks, until the 
first newspaper, "The Chautauqua Gazette," 
appeared in 1817, dated at Fredonia. In 1829 
the village was legally incorporated, Fredonia. 
It then contained from 600 to 700 inhabi- 
tants and was the largest village in Chau- 
tauqua county. Concerning the name Fre- 



TOWNS— POM FRET 



219 



donia, the following is taken from Morse's 
"Universal Geography," published in Boston 
in 1812. The name Fredonia is not mentioned 
in the first edition published in 1789, nor in 
an edition published in 1804. This extract is 
from the sixth edition : 

Fredonia, a generic name proposed to be given to 
the territory now called by the descriptive name of the 
United States of America, including the annexed terri- 
tory of Louisiana. Its extreme length is upwards of 
2,000 miles. Extreme breadth 1,500 miles. It is esti- 
mated to contain two million square miles or about 
four-fifths as many as all contained in all Europe. 
It is twice the size of the Chinese Empire, which sup- 
ports upwards of 300 millions of inhabitants, and 
Russia excepted, is by far the largest territory on 
earth whose inhabitants live under the same govern- 
ment. 

The Mississippi river divides Fredonia nearly in the 
center from north to south. She has a sea coast of 
many thousand miles in extent, full of convenient har- 
bors. With the exception of New England, it is very 
sparsely settled. It contains upward of 7 millions of 
inhabitants, exclusive of Indians, more than a seventh 
of whom are in Slavery. 

In 1826 the Fredonia Academy was opened 
for students. The outside world heard of Fre- 
donia because of the use of natural gas for 
lighting public places in 1821. In 1839 Fre- 
donia was still the largest village in the county, 
and three hundred miles from a railroad. With 
the completion of the Erie railroad to Dunkirk 
in 1851, her supremacy ended. 

Fredonians are proud to enumerate the ideas 
which first developing in their village have 
been appropriated by the world at large until 
they have grown to be a mighty power in 
political and social life. Here was organized 
in 1868 the first subordinate grange, Fredonia 
No. 1, Patrons of Husbandry, an order which 
has been of inestimable advantage to the 
farmer and his family and has revolutionized 
the politics of several States. 

The first Woman's Crusade was inaugu- 
rated in Fredonia, and at the same time the 
organization of the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union was effected, an organization 
which has proved to an important factor in 
the sociological problems of the whole county. 

The Lake Shore railroad, now a part of the 
great New York Central system, was organ- 
ized at a meeting held in Fredonia, and the 
stock was subscribed for them. It has been 
said that Fredonia was the first village in the 
State to own a public building. The first acad- 
emy in Western New York was located here, 
and when Lafayette visited Fredonia in 1825, 
the village was illuminated as part of the cele- 
bration and natural gas was used for the pur- 
pose. 



Reference has been made to the Risley 
brothers being the first seedsmen in Fredonia. 
From a paper prepared and read by Louis Mc- 
Kinstry, of grateful memory, the following 
extracts are taken: 

The Risleys were our first seedsmen, starting the 
business in 1833. The seeds went in wagons painted in 
bright colors and labeled in large letters upon each 
side, Risley Brothers, Garden Seeds, Fredonia, N. Y. 
At every considerable town they would leave a box 
containing an assortment and the next year the store- 
keeper would pay for what he had sold and receive a 
fresh supply. Great fields of onions were in the rear 
of the Risley homes on the Risley flats and it used to 
be said that there was "a sixpence in every onion top." 
The business proved very profitable and when they 
sold out to U. E. Dodge in 1853, the three Risleys were 
the wealthiest men in Fredonia. 

Elijah Risley, father of the three seedsmen, came 
here with his family in 1807, arriving by ox-teams from 
Cazenovia, Madison county, N. Y., in April. He set- 
tled on West Hill, where Berry street has since been 
opened, built the first sawmill and gristmill at the foot 
of Main street, and died in 1841, aged 84. 

A description of the Risley cabin was written by 
William Risley, son of Elijah in 1873. He said the 
cabin was floored with large flat stones from the creek, 
to save splitting and smoothing logs. There was 
a hole in the roof to let out smoke, and when the fire 
was built upon the stones under it, the stones began to 
crack and pieces to fly, driving everybody out of the 
cabin. 

Elijah Risley, Jr., was our first storekeeper, opening 
a small grocery in 1808, west of the creek, on the east 
side of Main street, where the hill begins to rise. Yet 
when he was married to Nabby Brigham, a few years 
afterward, his wedding journey consisted of a trip with 
some young people walking through the woods down 
to the shore of Lake Erie, where they skipped stones 
on the water and had a picnic. His bride at that sim- 
ple wedding lived to see her husband sheriff 7 of the 
county, major-general of the militia of the region, and 
in 1848 elected to Congress. If you should see a large 
engraving of the scene in the United States Senate, 
when Daniel Webster delivered his famous reply to 
Hayne, of South Carolina, you will see the portrait 
of Elijah Risley in the foreground. 

All the Risley brothers were fine looking and men 
of high character. 

Said a banker: "I would as soon hand money to 
Levi Risley in the dark without counting as to give 
it to other men in daylight and take a receipt." 

John Jones, an architect and builder, came from 
England to New York, thence to Westfield about 1837. 
He built the Episcopal and Baptist churches, the 
Johnson House and three stately homes with tall pil- 
lars in front for Elijah, William and Levi Risley, all 
on Risley street. Two of those homes remain, but 
Levi Risley's home was destroyed by fire. 

The Risley brothers beautified their own home with 
shrubbery and flowers and also set out many of the 
trees which now adorn our village parks. When Wil- 
liam Risley was village trustee, he aided in securing an 
ordinance allowing a tax rebate for those who planted 
maple trees on the line of the streets. But the climax 
of style and elegance was reached when the three 
brothers had each a fine standing top carriage built 
and Mr. McKinstry says: "When the carriage, drawn 
by well groomed horses with silver-plated harness. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



drove in procession to church every Sunday morning, 
the sight filled my boyhood's eye with feeling akin to 



Not a Risley descendant now remains in 
Fredonia. 

The Fredonia of 1920 is a beautiful village 
of over 6,000 inhabitants, abundantly supplied 
with all the necessities, comforts and many of 
the luxuries of modern life. It is a village of 
churches and schools, of clean-living right- 
minded people proud of their village and its 
good name. Two banks serve as financial 
agents for the community. The Barker Li- 
brary affords book-lovers a pleasant retreat, 
while Barker Common, now Lafayette Park, 
faced by the City Hall, the Methodist, Bap- 
tist and Presbyterian churches on the west, 
Trinity Episcopal Church and Barker Library 
on the north, offers shade and rest to the 
passersby. A fountain, erected by the Wom- 
an's Christian Temperance Union in 1912 to 
the memory of Esther McNeill Crusader, 
adorns the southeast corner of the Common. 
Electric lines leave the village at frequent in- 
tervals and all points are covered by their con- 
nections. 

Fruit products and fruit juices are the towns 
only manufactures, although grape and fruit 
baskets are made. 

Much might be written of the literary side 
of Fredonia life, the village being noted as the 
one-time abode of many celebrities and for its 
cultured and refined society. 

The leading fraternal orders are well repre- 
sented, an active Young Woman's Christian 
Association pursues a course of work peculiar 
to that organization, Benjamin Prescott Chap- 
ter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 
offers patriotic inspiration and example, while 
nine well attended churches offer religious 
consolation. As the home of a State Normal 
School and high grade public schools, Fre- 
donia offers a full and free education to her 
sons and daughters, through courses of study 
which fits them for many avenues of occupa- 
tion or to enter higher institutions of learning. 
Truly the lot of Fredonians are "cast in pleas- 
ant places." The Shakespeare Club is a wom- 
an's organization of high merit, and is the lead- 
ing literary club of the village. Since the 
World War the Citizens' Club has not resumed 
its former activities. Pomfret bore her part 
nobly in that great struggle, about 325 men 
going into the different branches of the service 
from the town. Two of her men were killed 
in action, Louis Goth and Jay Zender; one, 
John H. Wilder, was killed in an airplane acci- 



dent ; and a nurse, Miss Annie Williams, died 
of disease at the front. 

Fredonia has the distinction of having been 
the first place in the United States whose 
buildings were illuminated with natural gas. 
The utilization of natural gas was begun in 
1821, when the fluid was introduced into a few 
of the public places, among them the hotel 
which then occupied the site of what was 
afterwards the Taylor House, and which was 
thus illuminated when Lafayette passed 
through the village. The gas works in Fre- 
donia were the first in this country. The gas 
on Canadaway creek was first discovered by 
the burning of driftwood lying over the water. 
Child's "Gazetteer and Directory" says that 
the first spring discovered, and from which 
gas was first used, was on the north bank of 
the creek, at the Main street bridge. The gas 
from this well, enough for thirty burners, was 
used alone until 1858, when Preston Barmore 
sunk another well on the creek, in the north- 
west part of the village. In the year men- 
tioned, Elias Forbes became interested in the 
well and formed a company. Three miles of 
mains were laid through which gas was con- 
ducted to the village, where it was used in 
stores. In 1859 the company put in a gas 
holder and supplied private houses. In 1871 
Alvah Colburn drilled a well, bought the Bar- 
more interest in the Gas Company and con- 
nected his well, since which time the supply 
of natural gas available has partially met the 
demand. 

Wells have been sunk and gas found in the 
towns of Pomfret, Sheridan, Hanover, Port- 
land, Westfield, and Dunkirk, wells in Han- 
over, Sheridan, Dunkirk and Pomfret being 
yet good producers. 

About the year 1900, William H. Frost came 
to Pomfret and later became interested in the 
production of gas and in its sale as a com- 
mercial enterprise. He sank his first well in 
1906 on Professor Freeman's farm at Fredonia, 
that well supplying several families of the 
neighborhood. Later in the face of much com- 
petition, Mr. Frost received a franchise from 
the village, stipulating a price to consumers 
not to exceed thirty-two cents per M. feet and 
agreeing to furnish not less than sixty families 
the first year. 

Mr. Frost organized the Frost Gas Com- 
pany, Inc., and continued drilling for gas until 
he had sunk fifty-three wells, and was supply- 
ing consumers (house and factory) in Brocton, 
Portland, Cassadaga, Lily Dale and Stockton. 
He also sold gas to the amount of $2,000 
monthly to the Brooks Locomotive Works in 






TOWNS— PORTLAND 



Dunkirk, although the South Shore Gas Com- 
pany supplied Dunkirk and the northern lake 
towns and villages. Mr. Frost continued the 
active executive head of the Frost Gas Com- 
pany, Inc., until January, 1917, when he trans- 
ferred his interest to Henry L. Doherty & 
Company, who continue business under the 
original charter and corporate name, The 
Frost Gas Company, Inc. In 1892 Mr. Frost 
drilled a well on the estate which is yet his 
home in Fredonia, that well yet supplying the 
house with gas for both light and heat, al- 
though it has never been uncapped since be- 
ginning to flow. 

Portland — The act erecting the original 
town of Portland was passed April 9, 1813, but 
the town as originally created did not long 
continue. An act, passed March 1, 1816, erect- 
ed the town of Ripley as at present consti- 
tuted, and in addition took from Portland all 
of the present town of Westfield lying west of 
Chautauqua creek. Friction arose between the 
people of the village of Westfield and Port- 
land, which finally resulted in an act erecting 
the town of Westfield, passed March 19, 1829. 
This brought Portland down to smaller pro- 
portions than the other towns of the county, 
save Kiantone and Dunkirk, its assessed area 
20,510 acres, including roads, and a real area 
of 20,749 acres. The town borders Lake Erie 
along its entire northern border of more than 
eight miles, Pomfret forming the eastern 
boundary, Chautauqua and Stockton the 
southern, and Westfield the western boundary. 
The town has few streams, and these in sum- 
mer dwindle to mere rivulets, yet in rare cases 
the rainfall has been sufficient to keep the 
streams full and the source of considerable 
water power. Slippery Rock creek is the prin- 
cipal stream, rising in the southern part of the 
town, flowing north and northwest to Lake 
Erie. Springs abound in profusion and fur- 
nish an abundance of pure water. Natural gas 
was found in Portland as in the entire lake 
region from Erie, Pa., to Cattaraugus creek, 
and sulphur springs have been found in vari- 
ous parts of the town. 

The first in the town of Portland was Capt. 
James Dunn, who came from near Meadville. 
Pa., in 1804, and located about 1,100 acres near 
the center of the town, not yet surveyed into 
lots. In 1805 he built a log cabin on lot 31, 
town 5, and with his wife and six children 
moved in. This was the actual beginning of 
the town population, a town which one hun- 
dred and ten years later reported a population 
of 3,352. The first year (1806) Nathan Fay, 
Elisha Fay, Peter Kane, John Price, Benjamin 



Hutchins, David Eaton and Nathaniel Fay 
came; of these, Elisha Fay was the last sur- 
vivor. In 181 1 Deacon Elijah Fay came, and 
to him Chautauqua county owes the great 
grape industry of which Portland is the center. 

Original land purchases in Portland Township 5. 

1804 — May, James Dunn, 25, 30, 31, 34, 35- 

1806 — June, Benj. Hutchins, 37, 41; July, David 
Eaton, 37; Nathan Fay, 25; October, Peter Kane, 38. 

1808 — February, Thos. Klumph, 37, 41. 

1805) — June, Rufus Perry, 33; July, John Price, 39; 
Peter Ingersoll, 41; October, Philo Hopson, 27, 33; 
November, Jere. Klumph, 19; December, Martin Pot- 
ter, 12; Robert Sweet, 21. 

1810 — February, Absalom Harris, 33 (sold to Jere. 
Potter); Rachel Perry, 33; March, Daniel Barnes, 3, 4; 
June, Nathan Fay, 12. 

181 1 — May, Elijah Fay, 20; July, Wm. Hutchins, 41. 

1813 — December, Hollis Fay, 13. 

1814 — September, John R. Gibson, 13; November, 
Roe Goldsmith, 5, 6. 

1815 — April, Moses Sage, 2, 6, 4, 14, 21; Jethro 
Gerry, 32. 

1816 — January, Aug. Soper, 12; February, Wm. 
Corel!, 36; May, Samuel Geer, 8; July, Wm. Dunham, 
27: Calvin Barnes, 32; Isaac Baldwin, 36; October, 
Solomon Coney, 42; Lewis Hills, 3; Elijah Fay, 42. 

1S17 — March, Oliver Spafford, 22; Simon Burton, 22; 
Elijah Fay, 40; May, Isaac Baldwin, 40; June, Martin 
Smith, 45; July, Asa Brooks, 2; Jewett Prime, 16; Sep- 
tember, Zadoc Martin, 2, 3. 

1818 — April, Geo. A. Hitchcock, 16; May, James 
Bennett, 32; Moses Titcomb, 16. 

1820 — January, Jewett Prime, 21. 

1821 — October, Wm. Harris, 18; Jos. Harris, 18; 
Wm. Harris, Jr., 18; David Hurlbut, 18; Sylvester An- 
drews, 18. 

1822 — February, Sophia Williams, 24; Wolcott Colt, 
17; September, Seth Shattuck, 10; December, John 
Corning, 14, 15; Wm. Corning, 14; Joshua Crosby, 14. 

1823 — September. Isaac Howe, 10. 

1824 — Januarv, Rufus Moore, 11; February, Sam- 
uel Anderson, Jr., 28; October. Jos. Gibbs, 42; Hollis 
Fav, 42; November, Amos C. Andrews, 1. 

1825 — November, Joshua S. West, 17. 

1826 — April, Isaac Denton, 1. 

1827— July, Samuel Thayer, Jr., 23. 

1828 — September, David Dean, 2; December, James 
Bennett and others, 11; Isaac Sage and others. 11; 
Frederic Comstock and others, 11. 

1825) — February, Oliver Elliot, 28; March, Henry 
Mumford, 15. 

1830 — September, William Case, 13; Lewis Cham- 
berlain, 13. 

1831— May, Lemuel Thayer, Jr., 23. 

Original Land Purchases in Township 4. 

1810 — March, Jerry' Bartholomew, 63; April, Leon- 
ard Vibbard. 62: Perry Hall, 62. 

r 8u — March, Benj. Hutchins, 62; September, Wilder 
Emerson. 55. 

1812 — November, Josiah Gibbs, 14. 

^15 — March, Perry Hillard, 61; May, Wm. Stetson, 
55: John T. Mclntvre, 55; Ethan A. Owen, 54. 

1816— March, Jona. Burtch, 62; May, Calvin Hutch- 
ins, 46: June, jere. Klumph, 47; Arch. Ludington, 45; 
Thos. Klumph, 47: July. Jacob W. Klumph, 47; Octo- 
ber. Jos. Babcock, 48; November. Benj. Hutchins, S4; 
James Barnes, 54: Asa Fuller, 48; Timothy Carpen- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



1817— February, Reuben B. Patch, 61; Jedediah 
Thayer, 61; Stephen Smalley, 48; April, Elisha Rogers, 
60; Wm. Cotton. 47; Gideon Jones, 45; May, James 
Lee, 47; August, Lewis Macomber, Stephen B. Macom- 
ber, 38; October, Erastus Andrews, 40; November, 
Brewer Hubbell, 40. 

1818 — July, Zuriel Simmons, 31; August, Reuben B. 
Patch, 60. 

1S19— January, Perry Hall, 39; August, Aaron Hall, 
60. 

Settlement of the town went on rapidly, and 
at the outbreak of the War of 1812 there were 
thirty families. By 1823 scarcely a corner un- 
explored, and log cabins were everywhere. On 
May 11, 181 1, Elijah Fay located all of lot 20, 
township 5, which included all of the west por- 
tion of Brocton, and erected his log cabin. 
Hollis Fay, on December n, 1813, located 160 
acres, including the east part of Brocton, 
cleared a few acres, and built a log cabin. The 
purchases of James Dunn, 1804, Calvin Barnes, 
1816, Abner B. Beebe, 1822, covered the whole 
plot of Centreville, the site of the village a 
dense forest through which no road was laid 
out until 1815. 

The first post office, Chautauqua, was estab- 
lished, and the first postmaster, James Mc- 
Mahan, appointed in 1806. The second post 
office in the county was Canadaway, four miles 
east of Fredonia, established June 18, 1806, 
Deacon Orsamus Holmes, the first postmaster. 
The third postoffice was established at now 
Fredonia, May 6, 1809, Samuel Berry the first 
postmaster. Mayville private postoffice was 
established July 1, 1812, Casper Rouse post- 
master. Portland postoffice, December 7, 
1814, Calvin Barnes the first postmaster, his 
commission dated December 13, 1814. He 
held the office continuously until September 
2, 1829, when the office was discontinued. At 
the time this office was established, Portland 
included all east of Chautauqua creek to the 
Pomfret line, and the Portland postoffice was 
the first within the bounds of the present town 
of Portland. North Portland postoffice was 
established September 3, 1828, Moses Sage, 
postmaster. He moved to Fredonia in 1830, 
and with the appointment of his successor, 
John R. Coney, the name was changed to Port- 
land. Salem Cross Roads postoffice was estab- 
lished February 16, 1835, the village and post- 
office retaining that name until September 7, 
1857, when it was changed to Brocton. D. 
Howell was the first postmaster at Salem 
Cross Roads. 

The first school in the town was opened in 
the spring of 1810, in a small log building near 
the dwelling of Capt. James Dunn, who owned 
the cabin, and was at first attended only by 



his children. Soon a few others were allowed 
to send their children, each contributing to the 
expense of maintaining the school. Later the 
same year a school house was built by volun- 
tary effort, that first school house standing in 
District No. 3, opposite the site of the later 
"old stone school house." Miss Anna Eaton 
taught the first school in town at Capt. Dunn's. 
Augustine Klumph taught the first and only 
school in the new school house in the winter 
of 1810-11, for the location proving incon- 
venient, it was abandoned after that first win- 
ter. With the introduction of the modern pub- 
lic school system, Portland fell in line and 
with pride and good judgment erected suitable 
houses in all the districts and a standard of 
education has been maintained most credita- 
ble to the town. The Portland Library was 
organized November 9, 1824, and $100 sub- 
scribed for the purchase of books. 

The first religious service in Portland was 
at the home of Capt. James Dunn, in 1810, Rev. 
John Spencer the preacher. The first regular 
meetings for worship were instituted in 1814 
at the log house of Peter McKenzie. Those 
meetings were usually conducted by Amasa 
West, a teacher at the Cross Roads, now West- 
field, who later became a preacher. The first 
Congregational church was formed January 
3, 1818, by Rev. John Spencer, with eighteen 
members. 

Methodism was introduced in 1816 by Wil- 
liam Dunham, who held meetings in his home, 
a class being formed June 9, 1817, by a circuit 
rider, Rev. Mr. Goddard. A church was organ- 
ized in 1822; it was reorganized February 3, 
1834, as The First Methodist Episcopal Society 
in Portland. A church was built in 1868, 
although a parsonage was built at Portland 
Center in 1843. The Methodist church at 
Brocton, a part of the original church, was 
organized in 1853, and a church edifice erected 
the same year. 

The first Baptist church was organized Sep- 
tember 20, 1819, with eleven members, in- 
creased the first year to sixty-three. On April 
6, 1822, this was organized as the First Bap- 
tist Society of Portland, and in 1834 a house 
of worship was erected near the center of the 
village of Brocton, the lot on which it stood 
donated by Deacon Elijah Fay, one of the first 
trustees. A brick church was dedicated De- 
cember 18, 1867. The West Baptist Church 
in Portland was set off June 22, 1842, and a 
brick church erected the next year. In 1867 
a parsonage was built. 

A Universalist Society was formed Septem- 
ber 21, 1821, by fourteen persons, at the house 



TOWNS— PORTLAND 



223 



of Simon Burton. On September 24, trustees 
and a clerk were chosen. About a year later 
a church was formed with thirty-five members 
and regular services were practiced for a num- 
ber of years. On March 24, 1824, the First 
Universalist Society in Portland was incor- 
porated, but no property was acquired and the 
church later ceased to exist. A Roman Catho- 
lic church was built at Brocton Station in 1873. 
The Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed 
in 1872. with a Swedish congregation, and a 
house of worship dedicated in 1883 at Brocton. 

The Brotherhood of the New Life, com- 
monly known as The Harris Community, was 
founded by Rev. Thomas Harris of Amenia, 
Dutchess county, in October, 1867, with about 
2,000 acres of farm lands in Portland, mainly 
along the lake. About seventy-five people 
formed the community, which apparently pros- 
pered, several industries having been estab- 
lished — haypressing and shipping, a general 
nursery business, pure native wines, in addi- 
tion to general farming and grape culture. A 
hotel and restaurant were conducted at Salem- 
on-Erie, as the village on the Lake Shore & 
Allegheny Valley railroad was called. The 
members, men and women, were of high char- 
acter, absolutely unselfish, but the enterprise 
was badly managed, and in 1883 the commu- 
nity was disrupted, a few going with Harris to 
near Santa Barbara, California, while the 
others secured what they could of the property 
and turned to other pursuits. 

Sawmills were found on every stream, the 
Dunham and Sage mills, built in 1816, being 
the first. Simon Burton built a gristmill at the 
mouth of Slippery Rock creek in 1817, and 
other gristmills were Coney's, on the same 
creek ; Godfrey's, on Correll creek ; Van Cov- 
en's, the Brocton, Portland Center, and the 
Harris Brotherhood Mill. James Parker built 
the first tannery in 1807, and a carding machine 
was put in operation at Portland Center in 
1825 by Orrin Ford, the first proprietor of the 
Laona woolen factory, which later was con- 
verted into a paper mill. Luther Crosby was 
the first blacksmith, also a gunsmith. Colton 
Nash, the first settler of Centerville, was the 
first wagon-maker, David Eaton the first shoe- 
maker. 

There were sixteen taverns in Portland 
prior to 1839, the first kept by Capt. James 
Dunn, at his home in 1808. Peter Ingersoll 
opened a tavern in 1809 on the McKenzie farm. 
Daniel Barnes and William Berry in 181 1, 
David Joy, 1814; Martin Smith, 1815; John R. 
Coney, 1822; Moses Sage, 1824; and Martin 
Coney, 1828, were all early tavern keepers. 



Dr. Lawton Richmond was the first physi- 
cian in the old town of Portland, coming in 
1809 — the second licensed physician in the 
county. Other early practitioners were Drs. 
Fenn Deming, Silast Spencer, Marcius Simons, 
Carlton Jones, and Daniel Ingalls. 

The first store in the present town of Port- 
land was in a small room in the log house of 
Augustus Klumph, the proprietor in 1817, 
Thomas Klumph, the Klumph home standing 
on lot 37, township 5. Abial and Frank Silver 
opened the second store in 1830. The Klumph 
store was small, worthy of mention only as 
being the first attempt at merchandising in the 
town. The Silvers had a good trade, but only 
operated for two years, when they sold out 
to William Curtis and E. Tinker. 

Dr. Daniel Ingalls and Joseph Lockwood 
opened the first store in Brocton in 1830. 
Thomas Klumph. the first merchant in the 
town, was also the first merchant in Center- 
ville, opening a store there on Main street in 
1832. 

When considered in the light of a fruit 
growing community, Portland takes high rank. 
It was in here that grape culture was first 
introduced in the county, all but a very small 
portion of the town being well adapted to 
grape growing, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, 
plums, strawberries and raspberries are grown 
extensively. The first orchard in the town 
was set out by Capt. James Dunn, who 
brought a small bundle of young apple trees 
from his Pennsylvania home in 1807. David 
Eaton planted a nursery in 1807, using seeds 
brought from Massachusetts. In 1809 he 
planted a dozen young apple trees, and the 
same year pear seeds, which bore fruit thirteen 
years later, David Eaton's pears being famous. 
Elisha Fay planted seeds brought by him from 
Massachusetts in 1807, and later set out an 
orchard. There were later nurseries, and in 
1824-25 fruit trees of various kinds were intro- 
duced from a Long Island nursery. Lincoln 
Fay, a lifelong market fruit grower, raised and 
sold trees for many years. Cherries and plums 
came soon after the apple and pear; peaches 
were grown from pits planted in 1807, but 
have never been a standard crop. Strawberries 
were first grown in 1855, and raspberries in 
i860. 

The greatest crop the town produces is 
grapes, the growing of that fruit having been 
established in 1818 by Deacon Elijah Fay. 
From a small beginning, grape culture has 
spread all over the town, and is a great source 
of wealth. Wine was first manufactured in 
Portland by Deacon Fay in 1830, and the few 



224 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



gallons he made was the first made in Western 
New York from cultivated grapes. Each year 
saw an addition to the amount of wine made, 
and in 1859 the wine house of Fay, Ryckman 
& Haywood was built and put in operation, 
2,000 gallons being made the first season. 
There are many large and innumerable small 
vineyards in the town. 

According to the census of 1915 (State), W. 
E. Dudley was manufacturing grape baskets at 
Portland, and the Naboth Vineyards were 
manufacturing grape juice. Other industries 
are the Paul De Laney Company, Inc., manu- 
facturers of fruit products ; The Brocton Fruit 
Juice Company, manufacturers of fruit juices, 
both located in the village of Brocton; the 
Brocton Furniture Company and the Crandall 
Panel Company. 

Two newspapers are published in the town, 
"The Mirror" and "The Grape Belt." There 
are now three postoffices in the town — Broc- 
ton, Portland and Prospect. The railroads are 
all trunk lines — the Lake Shore & Michigan 
Central, the New York Central, and the Penn- 
sylvania, stations being established at Vine- 
yard, Brocton, Portland and Prospect. 

Brocton was made an incorporated village, 
March 20, 1894. The first village election was 
held April 17, 1894, Garrett E. Ryckman being 
the first president of the village. In 1915 Broc- 
ton reported (State census) a population of 
1,292. 

The State Bank of Brocton was organized as 
a private bank in 1886 by Dean & Hall, reor- 
ganized as a State bank in February, 1892, 
with $30,000 capital, Ralph A. Hall, president. 
The Brocton Land and Improvement Com- 
pany bought the remaining property of the 
Harris Community, about five hundred acres, 
which was later parceled out in vineyard tracts 
of five and ten acres. 

Both Brocton and Portland are prosperous 
communities, and in them are found oppor- 
tunities for self-culture through library, soci- 
ety and club. The fraternal orders are well 
represented and the mercantile establishments 
are in keeping with the demands made upon 
them. 

Dr. Horace C. Taylor practiced medicine in 
Brocton for half a century until his death, De- 
cember 21, 1903. He wrote a history of the 
town of Portland, which was published in 
1873 — an authority on town history, and has 
been freely drawn upon in all subsequent his- 
tories. 

In 1829 the assessed valuation of real estate 
in the town was $99,485; in 1871, $703,815; in 
1918, the full value was $3,735,387, the assessed 



value, $3,175.0/9. equalized value, $2,930,676. 
The population of the town in 191 5 was 3,352, 
of whom 219 were aliens. 

Portland has furnished men for every war 
waged by the United States since its settle- 
ment in 1812, when Col. McMahan led his 
Chautauqua regiment to Buffalo. Portland fur- 
nished 137 men to the army and navy during 
the Civil War, besides others credited else- 
where. Aid was furnished soldiers direct and 
through hospitals and commissions by three 
ladies' associations of the town — The Baptist 
Sewing Circle, Soldiers' Aid Society of Port- 
land, and The Universalist Social. The Ahira 
Hall Memorial Library of Brocton will have 
attention in the special chapter on libraries. 

John McMahan, the first supervisor of the 
old town of Chautauqua, was elected in April, 
1805, 1806, 1807, meeting with the board of 
Genesee county at Batavia. Arthur Bell, the 
second supervisor, a veteran of the Revolution- 
ary War, was elected in 1808. The first super- 
visor after the division of the town was elected 
in 1809. and was the first supervisor of the old 
town of Portland elected in 1814. David Eaton, 
the second supervisor, served from the old 
town of Portland in 181 5, for the second town 
of Portland in 1816-17, and for the present 
town in 1833-34-35. Thomas B. Campbell was 
supervisor nine years, and chairman of the 
board 1820-25. 

Supervisors — 1814, Thos. Prendergast ; 1815- 
17, David Eaton; 1818-26, Thos. B. Campbell; 
1827-29, Elisha Arnold; 1830, Nath. Fay; 1831- 
32, Elisha Arnold; 1833-35, David Eaton; 1836, 
Asa Andrews; 1837-39, Timothy Judson ; 1840, 
Asa Andrews; 1841-43, Timothy Judson; 1844, 
Elisha Norton; 1845, J onn R- Coney; 1846-47, 
Timothy Judson ; 1848, Ebenezer Harris ; [849, 
Timothy Judson; 1850, Asa Blood; 1851, John 
R. Coney; 1852-53-54, Timothy Judson; 1855, 
Chas. A. Marsh; 1856, Darwin G. Goodrich; 
1857, Ralph D. Fuller; 1858, Darwin G. Good- 
rich; 1859, Horace C. Taylor; i860, Gurdon 
Taylor; 1861-62, Horace C. Taylor; 1863-64, 
Albert Haywood; 186S-66, Joseph B. Fay; 
1867-68. Albert Eaton; 1869, Joseph E. Harris; 
1870-77, Theo. S. Moss; 1878, Horace C. Tay- 
lor; 1879, J. A. H. Skinner; 1880-84, Herman 
J. Dean: 1885-86, Elisha H. Fay; 1887-88, 
Theodore C. Moss; 1888-90, Brewer D. Phil- 
lips; 1891, Aug. Blood; 1892, Brewer D. Phil- 
lips; 1893, Oscar L. Porter; 1894-97, Chas. O. 
Furman ; 1898-99, Theodore C. Moss ; 1900- 
1905, Charles F. Crandall; 1906-07, William H. 
Fay; 1908-09, Dr. B. S. Swetland ; 1910-19, 
Geo. R. Pettit ; 1920, Charles F. Crandall. 




i'.ii;i>seye view mf vi i.u.r ;i: < >f sn «:kt 






^el}v 



*Wf? 




HEM US I'OINT 



TOWNS— RIPLEY 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Towns : Ripley — Sheridan — Sherman — Stockton — Villenova — Westfield. 



225 



Ripley — One of the towns of the "Grape 
Belt" of Chautauqua county. Ripley's 31,110 
acres are largely devoted to the grape indus- 
try, and in the village of Ripley the Randall 
Grape Juice Company is located, that concern 
constituting one of its most important indus- 
tries. Ripley is the extreme western town of 
the county, bordering on Lake Erie, and until 
1817 was a part of the town of Portland. The 
town was set off in that year and named in 
honor of Gen. E. W. Ripley. The village of 
Ripley (originally Quincy) is the principal 
settlement of the town, others being South 
Ripley, Lombard and Ripley Crossing. The 
population of the town (State census of 1915) 
is 2.414 citizens and 68 aliens. Ripley is a sta- 
tion on the New York Central railroad, the 
Lake Shore & Michigan Central also passing 
through the town, following the lake shore. 
One of the natural features of the town is 
Johnson's Falls, a spot of great natural beauty. 

The survey of the town into lots was irregu- 
lar, and the shape of the town is somewhat 
odd. Besides the usual dimensions of an ordi- 
nary township, six miles square, containing an 
average of 22,000 acres, there is a tract nearly 
triangular in shape, being nine miles long east 
and west, and from less than one mile to nearly 
four miles in width, containing about 9,000 
acres. James McMahan in 1801, before the 
survey of the township into lots, bought 4,074 
acres, and most of the early settlers bought 
from him. The tract bought by Mr. McMahan 
extended from the lake two miles southward, 
and from the east line of the present town of 
Ripley, west to within about half a mile of 
Quincy, including the old Brockway farm. The 
south line of the tract runs nearly parallel with 
the lake shore, and with the two roads which 
pass through the tract from east to the west 
line. The tract is about three miles long and 
two miles wide, having acute angles at the 
northeast and southwest corners. To give a 
square form to the lots and farms, the lines 
forming the boundaries at the east and west 
sides of the lots were run at right angles from 
the lake on the southern boundary of the tract. 
This plan of survey was carried through by 
the Holland Land Company to the Pennsyl- 
vania line. Of the three tiers of lots in the 
McMahan tract, the one along the lake is nar- 
rower than the others. The number of lots 
in the town is eighty-nine. Colonel McMahan 
also bought from his brother John lot 13, ex- 



tending east to the old "cross roads," where he 
settled, about three-quarters of a mile west of 
Chautauqua creek. Colonel McMahan was 
one of the prominent and influential pioneer 
citizens of Chautauqua county. The uplands 
of the town were not settled as early as the 
lands nearer the lake. 

At the first town meeting held in Ripley, in 
1816, the following were chosen, only a part of 
the record being available: Supervisor, Amos 
Atwater ; town clerk, Moses Adams ; commis- 
sioners of highways, Alexander Cochran, Bur- 
ban Brockway, William Bell ; commissioners 
of schools, Elijah Hayden, Stephen Prender- 
gast. The full ticket elected in 1817 follows: 
Supervisor, Thomas Prendergast ; town clerk, 
Moses Adams ; assessors, Alexander Cochran, 
Stephen Prendergast, Amos Atwater; over- 
seers of the poor, Burban Brockway, Alexan- 
der Cochran ; commissioners of highways, 
James McMahan, Francis Dorchester, Charles 
Forsythe ; constable and collector, Moses E. 
Stetson ; commissioners of schools, Moses 
Adams, Amos Atwater, William B. Dickson ; 
inspectors of schools, Gideon Goodrich, James 
Montgomery, William Bell. Early justices of 
the town were Perry G. Ellsworth, Burban 
Brockway, Asa Spear, Elijah Hayden. These 
men settled west of the McMahan tract on the 
Erie road. 

Original Purchases of Lands in Ripley. 

1804 — October. Alex. Cochran, 10, II. 

1805 — September, Nathan Wisner, 13: Samuel Harri- 
son, 12. 

1806 — -March, Asa Spear, 14: Josiah Farnsworth, 19; 
Wm. McBride, 15; May, John Akers, 14; August, Wm. 
Crossgrove, 10. 

1807 — October, Stephen Prendergast, 16. 

r 8o8 — June, Perry G. Ellsworth, 20; October, An- 
drew Spear, 20. 

i8 09 _October, Hugh Whitehall, 8; Noah P. Hay- 
den, 8; Basil Burgess, 15. 

1810 — April, Jared and Solon Benedict and Elkanah 
Johnson, 17; July, Richard W. Freeman, 9. 

181 1 — September, Wm. Benson, 35. 

1815 — February, Gideon Goodrich, 24, 26; Alex. 
Cochran, 86, 87. 

1816 — February, Robt. Dickson and William A. Judd, 
45; March, Oliver Hitchcock, 46: May, John Benson, 
44; Samuel Truesdell, 89; James Taylor, 89; July, 
Thos. Burch, 44; November, Wm. Burch, 43; Pliny 
Colton, 88; December, Gideon Goodrich, 69. 

^17 — February, John Rowley, 62; Reuben Ellis, 12; 
May. Benajah Rexford, 52; July, Benajah Rexford, 
37; August, John Squire, 37; November, Jedediah F. 
Bates, 81. 

1818 — September, Abner Sprague, 81: November, 
Phineas Royce, 36; December, Chandler Wattles, 59. 



226 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



iSiq — April, John Gage, 64; November, David 
Royce, 36. 

1820 — April, Ansel Edwards, 60. 

1821 — October, Layton Bentley, 50, 51, 58; Henry 
Briggs, 60; November, Eli Shove, 36; Benj. C. Ams- 
den, 36; David Jenkins, 51; Gordon H. Wattles, 51. 

1822 — January, Alex. Berry, 28; October, John 
Haight, 34. 

1824— March, Aaron Aspinwall, 85. 

1825— February, Farley Fuller, 43; June, David 
Jenkins, 57; August, John C. Hunaford, 35; Daniel 
Shove, 35; November, Israel Palmer, 52. 

1826 — May, Admiral Burch, 45; Albert Scott, 20; 
Henry Adams, 31; Lorenzo Palmer, 32; August, John 
H. Board, 44; Israel Palmer, 53; September, Luman 
Hopkins, 85; Joseph Thornton, 44. 

1827— January, Chas. Winter, 56; June, David Lom- 
bard, 34; July, Henry Adams, 30; August, Jos. Hum- 
phrey, 70; Robt. Dickson, 45; September, Oliver Stet- 
son and others, 32. 

1828— March, Peter Burch, 33; August, Judd W. 
Cass, 36. 

1830 — May, Allen Parker, 30. 

183 1 — January, James Macomber, 42; February. John 
Thorp, 72; April, Samuel Barnes, 43; May, George 
Ellis, 79; June, Wyman Hill, 53; Gamaliel Parker, 53; 
Hiram Winter, 48; Walter S. Burgess, 40. 

The village of Ripley was first called Quincy, 
but the origin of the name is obscure. The 
Buffalo, and Erie road, known as the Ellicott 
road and now as the Main road, was surveyed 
in 1804. Later the lake and sidehill roads, 
parallel with the main road, were laid out. 
Many of the larger farms were divided to suit 
purchasers who desired to engage in the grape 
industry. 

In 1803 Robert Dunlap, of Otsego county, 
contracted for lands with Col. McMahan. He 
afterwards went to Louisiana. William Alex- 
ander, a native of Ireland, in 1804, bought over 
five hundred acres of this land, and planted the 
first orchard in town, for many years con- 
sidered the best in the county. A stone "tomb 
table" marking the grave of his brother, Camp- 
bell Alexander, still exists on the farm which he 
sold to David Boyd (1902). Campbell Alexander 
was a lieutenant in the War of 1812. William 
Alexander was one of the first associate judges 
of Chautauqua county. The first settler in the 
west part of the town was Alexander Cochran, 
who came in 1804. Josiah Farnsworth settled 
in 1S06, near the present village of Ripley; he 
also bought lands of the McMahan tract, and 
was the first settler who paid cash down for 
his land. He traveled from his home to the 
office of the Holland Land Company in Bata- 
via, and made his payments there. 

In 1805 William Crossgrove settled near Mr. 
Cochran. He married Rachel Cochran, and 
they reared a large family. William Wisner 
bought a tract of land on the south side of the 



main road where is the present village of Rip- 
ley. Josiah Farnsworth and Jonathan Par- 
sons were the first purchasers of lands on the 
north side of the road here, and others who 
came early were Perry G. Ellsworth, Asa, 
William and Andrew Spear. Charles For- 
sythe, from Connecticut, settled on the Mc- 
Mahan tract in 1808. He established sawmills, 
and made cider and cider brandy. He lived in 
the village until i860 and built the first brick 
house there. In 1809 Basil Burgess, from 
Maryland, bought lands which he sold to Rob- 
ert Dickson from Cherry Valley, and Moses 
Adams from Dutchess county. Mr. Burgess 
settled on adjoining lands; Jonathan Adams 
settled near him ; Oliver Loomis settled on 
land which he bought of Perry G. Ellsworth, 
and sold to Thomas Prendergast soon after, 
west of Quincy. In 1809 Silas Baird settled 
on the western part of the McMahan tract, 
and the next year sold to John Dickson, who, 
in 181 1 was killed by a falling tree. Burban 
Brockway, from Ontario county, bought the 
farm in 1814. Among early settlers were Far- 
ley Fuller, Oliver Hitchcock, Asahel Peck, 
Silas Baird, Basil Burgess and Andrew Spear, 
all active in establishing a Methodist society. 
Robert and Hugh Cochran settled on the Main 
and Lake roads, near the Westfield line. John 
Post bought a farm at East Ripley, and built 
a house which was kept as a tavern ; he also 
built the first tannery. Near Mr. Post's place, 
Samuel and David Dickson built and con- 
ducted a distillery. Gideon Goodrich, from 
Saratoga county, settled on the Lake road at 
an early day, and his sons, Anson and George, 
bought on the Main road, near the village, 
built a tannery, and engaged in making shoes. 
After 1820 Henry Fairchild owned consider- 
able land in Ripley. Orren Willis bought land 
in town, but sold to his brother Anson, who 
engaged in the manufacture of horn combs. 
Oliver Stetson, who served in the War of 1812, 
and Elijah Hayden, were early settlers. Caleb 
O. Daughaday moved from Maryland to Penn- 
sylvania, where he bought mills and later re- 
moved to a farm adjoining that of William 
Crossgrove. He lived in the village from 1836 
to 1872, when his death occurred. He was an 
associate judge of the court of common pleas, 
and a man greatly respected. 

Israel Palmer built the first wagon road 
over the hills toward the south in 1817. He 
was from Vermont, and had bought land and 
built a log cabin three miles south of the Main 
road. In 181 6 the summer was so cool that 



TOWNS— RIPLEY 



227 



there was a failure of crops and the pioneers 
and their families suffered much hardship in 
consequence. 

Samuel Truesdale kept the first tavern at 
State Line, beginning in 1805. Afterwards 
James Truesdale, his brother, built a tavern, 
I called the State Line House, the main building 
| standing in Pennsylvania, but the outbuildings 
m New York State. The Wesleyan Metho- 
dists subsequently built a small church on the 
site of the tavern, which had been torn down. 
Perry G. Ellsworth and Oliver Loomis were 
early tavern keepers. Elihu Murray and Asa 
Spear kept inns at Quincy, the last named 
where the Presbyterian church was afterwards 
built. After the Second Presbyterian Church 
bought the property, the old tavern was re- 
moved and became a part of the Union Hotel. 
Henry Fairchild built a tavern and sold it to 
Henry Shaver, Sr. ; later it was bought by 
Daniel Bryant, who built a dwelling on the 
site. David Royce and John Post were early 
keepers of taverns at East Ripley. 

Sawmills were built about 1817 on Twenty- 
mile creek and other streams. George Mason 
and Orson Kingsley built the first steam saw- 
mill in 1827. Among the early proprietors of 
sawmills were Brockway & Miller, at the vil- 
lage, and Joseph Miller, south of the State line 
in the west part. Gristmills were early built. 
Silas Baird, John Akers and Henry Fairchild 
formed a company for the manufacture of 
brick, and continued the business many years. 

Kinsey & Manning built the first woolen 
mills in Ripley, at Gage's Gulf, and the prop- 
erty was afterwards purchased by Hezekiah 
Mason, who conducted the mills for years. The 
first creamery in Ripley was built in 1874, by 
F. Dingley and others from Stockton. 
_ Hugh Whitehill, Noah P. Hayden and Wil- 
liam McBride, early settlers, owned the lands 
on which the village at the State line was after- 
wards built. Buffalo people opened the first 
store here. At Quincy the first store was kept 
by Rappole & Keeler, and the same men built 
the first ashery. Other asheries were built 
soon after. 

The postoffice in Ripley was established 
about 181 5. Robert Dickson was postmaster, 
and the office was kept in his house. Burban 
Brockway was next, and the office was re- 
moved to his house. Moses Adams was the 
third, and he likewise kept the office at his 
home. 

The first framed school house was built in 
Ripley in 1817, the inhabitants referring to it 
as the "school house on the corner." In 1818 
a frame school house was built at East Ripley, 



and one in the district west of the village. A 
large brick school house was finally built near 
the central part of the village, and in 1858 a 
large two-story school house was built east of 
the Presbyterian church. The lower rooms 
were used for the district school, the upper 
rooms for the "Quincy High School." Prof. 
Alanson Wedge was the first teacher. Later 
the Ripley Union School was established, and 
in 1888 a large brick building was erected on 
Lake street. At East Ripley and in the dis- 
trict west of the village, all wooden buildings 
used as school houses were replaced by brick 
years ago, and the town has both good schools 
and good school buildings. 

Baptist missionaries preached in this vicin- 
ity, but the first sermon preached in Ripley of 
which there is record was by Rev. Samuel 
Wisner, in 1806. A Baptist society was formed 
in 1825, and later a church was built west of 
the village. The society was reorganized at 
Wattlesburg, where a church was built, which 
later came into the possession of the Metho- 
dists. In 1891 the society was again reorgan- 
ized in Ripley village as the First Baptist 
Church and Society of Ripley, Rev. G. Wood- 
bury, pastor. 

The first Methodist class was formed in 
181 1, Farley Fuller, Basil Burgess, Andrew 
Spear, their wives and others, among the mem- 
bers. Meetings were held at the house of Far- 
ley Fuller at East Ripley, at Andrew Spear's 
in the village, at the school houses after the 
congregations had grown considerably, and 
later in the first house built by the Baptists. In 
January, 1842, a church building was dedicated, 
which was used for more than thirty years. In 

1873 a large brick edifice was built a short dis- 
tance east of the first. It was dedicated in 

1874 by Rev. Benoni Ives of Auburn. A par- 
sonage was built in 1891, and about that time 
a church was built at South Ripley. The 
church at State Line stands within the State of 
Pennsylvania, but is connected with the Ripley 
circuit. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Ripley 
was formed in 1818 at East Ripley. The 
meetings were held in the school house. Rev. 
Giles Doolittle was the first pastor. A church 
building begun in 1828 was struck by light- 
ning and burned after it was nearly completed. 
Another building was erected in 1829. Revs. 
J. B. Preston, Gillett, Harris and Samuel G. 
Orton were pastors after Mr. Doolittle, in the 
order named. Mr. Orton continued from 1839 
until the division of the society in 1853. The 
Second Presbyterian Church and Society of 
Ripley was organized, and a brick church was 



228 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



built in 1853 at the village, which was dedi- 
cated in May, 1854, by Rev. Reuben Tinker, of 
Westfield. Meetings were held in the two 
churches until 1871, when a union was effected 
under the name of the First Presbyterian 
Church and Society of Ripley. The old build- 
ing at East Ripley was sold in 1881 and re- 
moved to permit the desired extension of the 
cemetery. 

A Universalist Society was organized in 
1872, with Rev. I. George as pastor, who was 
succeeded by Rev. A. G. Laurie. The meet- 
ings were held in the town hall. There are 
people of the Universalist faith in Ripley, but 
the society has not had a regular pastor. 

The first cemetery, one acre of ground, was 
given in 1815 by Robert Dickson. Quarries at 
Ripley and North East furnished the stone for 
many of the headstones. In 1858 the Rural 
Cemetery grounds were bought by the Ceme- 
tery Association and laid out in lots. Exten- 
sive additions have been made to both ceme- 
teries. 

The Ripley Literary Club was organized in 
1893, through the influence of Mrs. Mary E. 
Wethy, who was elected the first president and 
remained in office five years. The main object 
of the club was to keep the women and the 
girls beyond school age in touch with the 
events of the day, and to develop the study of 
history, art and literature. The club started 
with a membership of thirty-five, with the 
active membership limited to forty, but as the 
associate membership is not limited, there are 
now sixty members. Every year a new pro- 
gram of work and study is arranged by a com- 
mittee of four or five members, and by this 
method a great many women in our village 
have received benefit in an educational way. 
The club has presented pictures to the school, 
adopted a French orphan, prepared and sent 
out Christmas gifts to the needy, and has taken 
full charge of the Memorial or Decoration 
Day services for a number of years. The pres- 
ent officers are: Mrs. Lillian P. Mason, presi- 
dent; Mrs. Clara Stebbins, vice-president ; Miss 
Julia Conley, recording secretary ; Mrs. Arley 
N. Taylor, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. Ella 
A. Mahle, treasurer. The club is a member of 
the Western New York Federation, and two 
of its club members, Mrs. Harriet M. Randall 
and Mrs. Ella A. Mahle, have held the office 
of treasurer of the Federation. 

Mrs. Mary E. Wethy was also instrumental 
in organizing the Ladies' Auxiliary Cemetery 
Association, in March, 1894, for the purpose 
of improving the Ripley Cemetery. The first 
work was to hire a landscape gardener for two 



summers to lay out the grounds according to 
a plot drawn up years before, which consisted 
of walks, drives and a circle. This required 
grading and terracing of the ground, lowering 
monuments, and straightening headstones. 
The association purchased two carloads of fer- 
tilizer and seed to produce a good lawn ; pur- 
chased an iron fence ; had the city water piped 
into grounds ; furnished hose and hydrants to 
water lawn, flower beds and urns, also lawn 
mowers and all tools ; helped pay off an old 
debt, and hired a caretaker every season. All 
these expenses were paid by money raised by 
the ladies in their yearly dues to the associa- 
tion of fifty cents, in having a bazaar each 
year, rummage sales, and entertainments of 
various kinds carried out by local talent. The 
officers are: President, Mrs. Mary E. Wethy; 
vice-president, Mrs. Charles Shaver ; record- 
ing secretary, Mrs. Effie Hildred; correspond- 
ing secretary, Mrs. Ella Mahle ; treasurer, Mrs. 
Ada McGinnies; chairman flower committee, 
Mrs. Harriet Randall. 

There is another organization in the town 
of Ripley doing the same splendid work, — the 
East Ripley Auxiliary Cemetery Association, 
organized April 1, 1901, and which has for its 
purpose the beautifying of the East Ripley 
Cemetery. The members are going through 
the same arduous tasks in earning money for 
this cause. The officers are: President, Mrs. 
Ella Kolpien ; vice-president, Mrs. Cora Pitt; 
recording secretary, Mrs. Horace Parker; cor- 
responding secretary, Mrs. Emma Collins ; 
treasurer. Miss Ollie Jones. . 

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
has a membership in Ripley of fifty-five, and 
the officers are : President, Mrs. Cora Pitt ; 
vice-president, Mrs. Effie Hildred ; secretary 
and treasurer, Mrs. Harry Goodrich, corre- 
sponding secretary, Mrs. Emma Rickenbrode. 
The union meets one afternoon every two 
weeks, and a certain period of each meeting is 
given over to the study of legislative laws and 
civics. They have a flower mission day for 
sending flowers, jellies or other dainties to the 
sick or needy. They have also adopted a 
French orphan. 

Supervisors — 1816, Amos Atwater; 1817-25- 
27, Thomas Prendergast ; 1826, Ebenezer 
Ward; 1828, Moses Adams; 1829-32, Henry 
Fairchild ; 1833-34, Orrin Willis; 1835-36, Gor- 
don H. Wattles'; 1837-38, Ethan Sawin ; 1S39- 
40-52-57-64-68-77, Chas. B. Brockway ; 1841-42, 
Hezekiah Mason; 1843-45-48-53, Moses A. 
Tennant; 1846, Matthew S. McClintock ; 1849- 
50, Stephen Prendergast; 1851, George Good- 
rich; 1854, Selden Marvin; 1855, Caleb O. 




LAND OFFICE VAULT AT MAVVII.l.lv STILL STANDING 



TOWNS— SHERIDAN 



229 



Daughaday; 1856-58-61-63, Simeon Collins; 
1862, Henry A. Prendergast, 1869-72, Addison 
Mason; 1870-71, Lucius G. Hamilton; 1873-76, 
Erban C. Wattles; 1878, Nathan J. Horton ; 
1879-80, Lyman Bennett; 1881-82, John A. 
Tennant; 1883, Fred B. Brockway ; 1884-88, 
William L. Stanton; 1889, Fred B. Brockway; 
1890-91, Lyman Bennett; 1892-93, Fred N. 
Randall; 1894-95, Charles R. Brockway; 1896- 
1920, Joseph A. McGinnies. 

Mr. McGinnies was also elected clerk of the 
board in 1905, and has held office continuously 
until the present (1920). 

Ripley is essentially a town of one industry 
and around the famous Chautauqua grape its 
prosperity is built. The town is a vast vine- 
yard; grape juice is manufactured in large 
quantities and the manufacture of grape bas- 
kets is carried on extensively. The principal 
manufacturing concern of the town is the Ran- 
dall Fruit Juice Company, that company hav- 
ing a large vineyard acreage in Ripley as well 
as their manufacturing plant. 

William B. Rickerobrode is a large manu- 
facturer of grape baskets in Ripley. The vil- 
lage of Ripley has a gravity system of water 
works, and is a rural community in which it is 
pleasant to dwell. 

The assessed value of Ripley's real estate in 
1918 was $1,890,879, the full value of the same 
being placed at $2,415,309. 

Sheridan — Sheridan, with Hanover on the 
east, Arkwright on the south, Pomfret and 
Dunkirk on the west, and Lake Erie as the 
northern boundary, is beautifully located, a 
view of the lake to be had from almost any 
point in the town. The surface is nearly level 
except in the southeast part, which rises in 
places to a height of 500 feet above the lake 
level. It is well watered, and was once heavily 
timbered. There were plain evidences of for- 
mer Indian occupation at the time of the first 
settlement, and some are discernable now. On 
the farm now owned by J. G. Gould, lot 35, 
was a fort in the form of a horseshoe, and a 
burying ground, from which in 1875 Daniel 
Sherman, at that time Indian agent, exhumed 
a quantity of bones and sent them to the 
Smithsonian Institution for the purpose of 
throwing some light on the history of the 
mound builders. On the farm of George I. 
Button, lot 67, was a circular embankment in- 
closing a space about twenty rods across, with 
an eastern elongation extending to a small 
creek. The main road ran through this en- 
closure, and the embankment could be readily 
traced as late as i860. Mr. Button collected a 
quantity of arrow heads, stone axes, stone ham- 



mers, and other implements evidently for skin- 
ning deer and dressing their skins. There are 
other stones nicely dressed into shape, but for 
what use cannot even be conjectured. 

The first purchases of land by settlers were 
made in 1804 — Francis Webber and Hazadiah 
Stebbins on lot 17, William Webber on lot 27, 
Abner Holmes on lot 43, and Alanson Holmes 
on lot 53. In 1805 Gerald Griswold located on 
lot 35, Orsamus Holmes on lots 44 and 60. 
Joel Lee on lot 52, John Walker on lot 67. 
John Hollister on lot 66, Thomas Stebbins on 
lot 18 and Simeon Austin on lot 52. Purchases 
continued until in 1830 there were about one 
hundred homes in the town and approximately 
1,000 people. The town is still a rural com- 
munity and, according to the State census of 
1915, has a population of 2,077, °f whom 124 
are aliens. The villages of the town are Havi- 
lah, a station on the New York Central, and 
Sheridan on the Erie, which crosses the town 
from east to west. There are 22,675 acres in 
the town, valued in 1918 at $3,497,238, upon 
which the assessment for the same year was 
$2,743,832. 

The first tavern was kept by Orsamus 
Holmes on lot 60, on the Usher property. Mr. 
Holmes was born in Pembroke, Mass., Octo- 
ber 11, 1757; was a soldier in the Revolution; 
was taken prisoner and carried to Canada, and 
escaped. In 1804 he selected land in Sheridan, 
and in 1805 his family took possession. He 
was postmaster many years, and at the age of 
seventy-six removed to Holmer county, Ohio, 
and died there in 1835. 

William Griswold kept the first tavern at 
the Center, where he located in 1805 ; it was 
discontinued in 1837. At what was afterward 
known as Robert's Corners, one Pryor kept an 
inn as early as 181 1 or 1812. This was burned, 
and in 1815 he had a house containing only 
two small rooms, which with the farm, he 
traded with Benjamin Roberts for the Haskin 
farm on lot 53. Benjamin Roberts came from 
Madison county in 181 1, settled on lot 34, 
afterwards on the Haskin farm, lot 54, north 
of the Main road, and in 181 5 moved to the 
location yet known by his name, and into the 
small dwelling erected by Pryor. This was 
added to until it became quite a spacious hos- 
telry; was kept by him until his death in 1836, 
then by his son Abner until 1848, and by other 
parties until 1852. After his trade with Rob- 
berts, Pryor built another tavern on lot 53, 
south of the Main road. This he sold to one 
Taylor, and in 1824 Taylor sold to Enoch Has- 
kin ; Mr. Haskin came from Rensselaer county 
in 1818. He had a fine span of horses and was 



230 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



employed by Colonel Abell to plow for the first 
time the grounds now known as the Barker 
Common, in Fredonia. In 1819 he moved to 
Sheridan, onto what is now known as the Har- 
ner farm, and in 1824 to the Taylor inn, which 
was burned in 1833, rebuilt by him, and kept 
until 1850. Mr. Haskin also kept the Orrington 
post office from 1824 until 1839. He moved 
to Minnesota, and died there in 1866. The 
Kensington tavern was probably established 
as early as 1812, as there was a store and post- 
office there in 1816. It changed landlords 
more times than any other tavern in town, was 
discontinued about 1850, and torn down about 
1865. .Huyck's Tavern was first established on 
the south side of the Main road by one Good- 
win between 181 5 and 1820. Afterward he 
built on the north side of the road. Richard 
Huyck came from Delaware county in 1831, 
and bought of Mr. Goodwin on the south side 
of the road, and in 1834 the tavern also ; he kept 
it until 1851, and died in 1869. The Kensing- 
ton and Huyck taverns were about one mile 
apart, with a fine stretch of gravel road be- 
tween them, which was often used as a race 
course, many horses famous for their speed 
being brought here to make an exhibition be- 
fore the people who assembled in large num- 
bers to witness the racing. 

John I. Eacker came from Herkimer county 
in 1835, and bought Edmund Mead's store 
building, at the Center, in 1837. This he moved 
to the northeast corner, kept it, the post office 
and a tavern until the stages stopped running 
in 1852. He died in Illinois, in 1877. William 
Ensign came from Delaware county in 1814, 
bought a farm one mile east of the Center in 
1815, and commenced keeping a tavern in 1825. 
The house of brick was burned in 1847. It 
was rebuilt, but the tavern was discontinued. 
Kensington post office, with Dr. Terry as post- 
master, was kept here for a few years. A tav- 
ern was kept at an early day in a log house on 
the hill in the south part of town by Nathaniel 
Loomis ; it was replaced by a frame building. 
There were for many years seven taverns in 
the town, but emigration attained such pro- 
portions, that it was often impossible to fur- 
nish accommodations for all who wished. 

Elisha Grey is said to have kept the first 
store, a little east of the Haskin tavern, on the 
Main road. Allen Denny kept groceries for 
sale at his residence on the John Spencer farm 
near Newell's Corners. William Holbrook 
kept a store at Kensington in 1816. Edmund 
Mead kept the first store at the Center. He 
was born in New York City in 1809, and came 
to Sheridan in 18^0. His father, who was a 



merchant in New York, sent on a stock of mer- 
chandise, which Mr. Mead put into a store built 
on land owned by Israel C. Holmes on lot 44, 
about half a mile south of the Center. One 
year later he moved the building to the north- 
west corner at the Center, where he built a 
commodious residence. The store building 
proving too small, was sold and moved away 
for a dwelling house. A new building suc- 
ceeded it, that was used by Mr. Mead until 
1834, when he sold the goods to Leroy Farn- 
ham, who kept the store until 1837, when the 
building was sold to John I. Eacker, who 
moved it to the northeast corner and used it 
for a tavern, store and post office. It burned 
in 1871 while occupied by Arthur Gifford, but 
was rebuilt in 1872. 

P. H. Shelley bought the old Presbyterian 
church at the Center in 1874, remodeled it, 
added a public hall, and kept a grocery and the 
Sheridan post office. 

The first marriage was Thomas Barris to 
Betsy Stebbins, a sister of Thomas and Haza- 
diah Stebbins, in 1807 or 1808. They settled 
in Hanover, where some of their descendants 
yet reside. The first death was that of Origen, 
son of Orsamus Holmes, January 1, 1806, aged 
eighteen years. It is stated in Young's His- 
tory that Joel Lee built the first frame house. 
The first frame barn was built on the farm of 
Otis Ensign, lot 65, about 1809. The last log 
house used as a dwelling was occupied by 
Hiram Fessenden, Sr., until his death in 1886, 
after which it was torn down. 

This town of Sheridan was formed in April, 
1827, by taking thirty-two lots from the town 
of Pomfret, and thirty-five from Hanover. 
Nathaniel Grey, John E. Griswold and Haven 
Brigham made the journey to Albany in the 
winter and lobbied the Legislature until they 
succeeded in their mission. William E. Gris- 
wold, an elder brother of John E., contributed 
fifty dollars toward the expenses. Mr. Grey 
was a great admirer of the poet Sheridan, and 
proposed that his name be given to the newly 
formed town. His proposition was adopted 
and the name clung. 

The first town meeting was held at the house 
of William Griswold, Tuesday, May 8, 1827, at 
which time the following were elected : Super- 
visor, Lyscom Mixer; town clerk, Enoch Has- 
kin ; assessors, Haven Brigham, Otis Ensign 
Sheldon Stanley ; collector, Rodolphus Simons ; 
commissioners of highways, Nathaniel Loomis, 
William Ensign, John N. Gregg; overseers of 
the poor, Otis Ensign, Jonathan S. Pattison ; 
constables, Rodolphus Simmons, Orlow Hart ; 
commissioners of schools, Benjamin Brownell, 



TOWNS- -SHERIDAN 



Royal Teft, Lyscom Mixer; inspectors of 
schools, Elisha Mason, Nathaniel Grey, Sam- 
uel Davis. 

The first post office in the town and the 
second in the county was established in June, 
1806, at the Holmes Tavern, with Orsamus 
Holmes postmaster, the office bearing the name 
Canadaway ; but not the Canadaway, a name 
given later to the settlement which was the 
beginning of the present Fredonia. The next 
post office was at Hanover, afterward Kensing- 
ton, established December 7, 1816, William 
Holbrook postmaster. In 1829 South Sheri- 
dan postoffice was established at the residence 
of John E. Griswold, who was appointed post- 
master. In 1824, Canadaway postoffice was 
moved to the Haskin Tavern, and the name 
changed to Orrington ; Enoch Haskin, post- 
master. In 1839 Sheridan postoffice was 
established at the Center, with John I. Eacker 
postmaster, and Kensington, Orrington and 
South Sheridan offices were discontinued. 

The first religious meeting was held at the 
house of Orsamus Holmes, in 1807, conducted 
by Rev. John Spencer, who afterward located 
near Newell's Corners. He had been a soldier 
in the Revolutionary War, and held a commis- 
sion as lieutenant in Captain Peter Van Rens- 
selaer's company, Colonel Marinus Willets' 
regiment, New York Levies, which was or- 
ganized at Fort Herkimer, October 7, 1781. 
He died in 1826 and was buried in a plot of 
ground contributed by him from his farm to 
the town for burial purposes. A frame for a 
church was erected by the Presbyterians at the 
Center in 1828, but was never enclosed, and 
was soon torn down. Worthy Allen, Joel 
Spencer, Haven Brigham and others, built a 
house of worship at Newell's Corners in 1822. 
In 1849 it was sold to Newell Usher, who 
moved it onto his farm and used it for a barn. 
In 1832, Jonah Howe and others erected a 
church at the Center. Mr. Howe also built a 
pipe organ for the church, and taught his 
daughter to play it. This church was used 
until about 1870. Later it was converted into 
a store, for which purpose it was used by its 
owner, P. H. Shelley. A Methodist Episcopal 
society was formed at the residence of Stephen 
Bush, one-half mile east of the Center in 1809. 
This is said to have been the first Methodist 
preaching place, and the first class formed in 
the county. This society built a church at the 
Center in 1834 ; it was remodeled in 1854, when 
Mrs. Eliza Mead, of New York City, presented 
the society with a bell. The church is still 
used as a meeting house, and presents a neat 
attractive appearance. 



A Baptist society was organized in the south 
part of town in 1844, Martin Cary, Hiram Ran- 
ney and Ira Fuller among its first members. 
A church was erected in 1845, an d services 
were held irregularly until i860 or 1861, when 
the society was disbanded and the church 
building was used for a barn on the Week's 
place. Rev. Levi Wright, a Wesleyan Metho- 
dist minister, was instrumental in building a 
small church on the farm of Baxter Dodge 
about 1855. After about five years, services 
were discontinued and the church turned into 
a dwelling. 

The first school was kept by William Gris- 
wold in his house at the Center in the winter of 
1807-1808. There are now ten school houses in 
town, with a well attended school in each. The 
first tannery was built by Haven Brigham on 
Beaver creek in 181 1. The next was estab- 
lished where Beaver Creek crosses the Main 
road, by Enoch Haskin and Nathaniel Grey, 
in 1820. It was sold to Perry Gifford, who 
continued the business, and also a shoe shop, 
until his death in 1850. William Doty, who 
came from Delaware county in 1820, built a 
tannery near the Ensign Tavern in 1836. A 
shoe shop was added to the business, but both 
were discontinued in 1847. The first and only 
gristmill in town was built by Haven Brigham 
on Beaver creek in 181 1, where he also built a 
sawmill and tannery. 

A lime kiln was built about 1845 by George 
Robinson and Alanson Denny, near the lake, 
on Denny's farm. It had a capacity of about 
five cords of stone, from which could be made 
four hundred bushels of lime. The stone was 
brought in schooners from Kelley's Island and 
Canada. In 1854 Orlando Elmore was the 
owner and it was discontinued in 1864. 

A rope walk, fourteen by one hundred sixty- 
five feet, was built in 1833, by Thomas Chap- 
man, who emigrated from Jefferson county in 
1810, and settled on lot 15 in 181 1. Rope was 
made from flax and hemp. Previous to the 
erection of the rope walk some rope had been 
made by spinning it in the house and twisting 
it out of doors. Mr. Chapman was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, and was at the burning of 
Buffalo. He died in 1846. He had eleven sons 
and three daughters, all of whom lived to an 
adult age. 

A brick kiln was established at a very early 
day by William Ensign and Jonathan S. Patti- 
son, on the farm of the latter, on lot 16, and 
was operated periodically until about 1855, 
when it was discontinued. The house on the 
Pattison homestead, and the Baptist church 
at Forestville, were built of brick from this 



232 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



kiln. The main thoroughfare between the east 
and the great west made a large amount of 
business for taverns and stages, but upon the 
completion of the Buffalo & State Line rail- 
road in 1852 the stages ceased to run and the 
taverns lost most of their custom. The facili- 
ties for travel increased rapidly from the com- 
pletion of the New York & Erie railroad in 
185 1 down to 1892, when the Dunkirk & Sil- 
ver Creek railroad was built, a double track 
line, afterwards incorporated into the Lake 
Shore & Michigan Southern. The Nickel Plate 
and the Pennsylvania were completed in 1882 
and the old Lake Shore double tracked in 1872. 
A telegraph line was built along the Main road 
in 1847 — two wires twisted together like fence 
wire. Another line was built along the north 
side of the same road in 1848. There are now 
over five hundred miles of telegraph wire in 
the town of Sheridan alone. The New York 
& Pennsylvania Telephone was built along the 
Lake road in 1889, and in 1892 a loop was 
built by public subscription to the Center. The 
Hanover line comes from Silver Creek and the 
Home line from Fredonia. 

During the great oil excitement in Western 
Pennsylvania in 1864, a good many farmers 
sold their land for fabulous prices and came 
to Chautauqua county, and invested their 
money in some of the best farms. Among those 
who came to Sheridan, was Samuel A. Patter- 
son from near Titusville, who purchased about 
one thousand acres for which he paid $109,000. 

Sheridan, although not having a lake port, 
has been very prolific of sailors. More than 
twenty have been masters of some of the finest 
and largest vessels on the lakes. Probably 
the first was Captain Zephaniah Perkins, who 
was attached to the lake marine in the War of 
1812. He was captain of the schooner "King- 
bird," running between Buffalo and Dunkirk 
in 1815. In 1831, George Reed, at the age of 
twenty-five, was captain of the schooner "Bea- 
ver." In 1836, Almon Robinson, when twenty- 
six, was master of the schooner "Luther 
Wright ;" Hiram Chapman, at thirty, was mas- 
ter of the schooner "Atalantic ;" in 1837 Joseph 
Ferry, at thirty, was master of the schooner 
"Juliaette;" in 1842 John Reed, at thirty-five, 
was master of the schooner "John Grant ;" in 
1844 Reuben Rork, at twenty-eight, was mas- 
ter of the schooner "Alps;" in 1844 Theron 
Chapman was at twenty-eight, master of the 
schooner "Aetna;" in 1851 Joseph C. Doty, at 
thirty-one, was master of the schooner "Wil- 
liam Buckley," running between Buffalo and 
Conneaut ; in 1840 David Fisk, at thirty-five, 
was master of the schooner "Henry Roop," 



and A. W. Reed in 1859, at twenty-four, was 
master of the schooner "Richard Mott," run- 
ning between Buffalo and Chicago. In 1861 
M. M. Drake, at twenty-five, was master of 
the propeller "Genessee Chief," between Buf- 
falo and Erie, and Henry H. Reed, at twenty- 
six, master of the bark "Levi Rawson," be- 
tween Buffalo and Chicago; also A. B. Drake, 
at twenty-six, of the propeller "Owego," be- 
tween Buffalo and Toledo. In 1872 Walter 
Robinson, at twenty-eight, was master of the 
propeller "Olean," between Buffalo and De- 
troit, and B. F. Borthwick at twenty-six, mas- 
ter of the schooner "F. A. Georger," between 
Buffalo and Chicago ; also Delos Waite in 1881 
was master of the steamer "Empire State," 
between Buffalo and Duluth. In 1883 Will 
Borthwick, at twenty-eight, was master of the 
propeller, "George S. Hazzard," between Buf- 
falo and Chicago, and Nelson Robinson, at 
thirty-four, was master of the steamer "M. M. 
Drake," between Buffalo and Chicago ; also 
Frank B. Huyck in 1895, at thirty-six, was 
master of the steamer "New York." 

Supervisors have been: 1827-30, Lyscom 
Mixer; 1831, Nathaniel Grey; 1832, Lyscom 
Mixer; 1833, Nicholas Mallet; 1834, Leroy 
Farnham ; 1835, Nathaniel Grey ; 1836-37, Jon- 
athan S. Pattison; 1838, Nathaniel Grey; 1839- 
42, Willard W. Brigham ; 1843, John I. 'Eacker ; 
1844, John N. Gregg; 1845-49, Harry Hall; 
1850-52, Edmund Mead; 1853, John I. Eacker; 
1854, Edmund Mead; 1855, Newton P. Smith; 
1856, Edmund Mead; 1857, Newell Gould; 
1858-59, William O. Strong; 1860-62, John C. 
Cranston; 1863-67, Buell Tolles ; 1868, Joseph 
C. Doty; 1869-70, Buell Tolles; 1871-72, Joseph 
Doty; 1873, George W. Eacker; 1874, Stewart 
T. Christy; 1875, Henry J. Cranston; 1876, 
George Cranston; 1877-78, George W. Eacker; 
iS-g^Asahel C. Brace; 1880-81, George W. 
Eacker; 1882, Asahel C. Brace; 1883, George 
Cranston; 1884, Harvey M. Bailey; 1885-90, 
William R. Miner; 1891-96, Edgar J. Gris- 
wold; 1897-1900-05, George E. McLaury ; 1906- 
17, William J. Doty; 1918-20, B. O. Schlender. 

On the farm owned by John Collins, at what 
was formerly Kensington, a monument was 
unveiled on the lot on which Francis Webber 
built his house, the dedication of the monu- 
ment being a part of Sheridan's centennial 
celebration, held August 31, 1904. This monu- 
ment marks the spot on which was the first 
white man's habitation within the town of 
Sheridan. The inscription reads: "Site of 
First Settlement in Town of Sheridan, by 
Francis Webber, Aug., 1804. Erected Aug. 
25, 1904." The monument rests on a sub- 



TOWNS— SHERMAN 



233 



stantial base and is enclosed by an iron railing. 
Addresses were made by George E. McLaury, 
W. J. Doty, Obed Edson and S. Frederick 
Nixon at the monument, and Sheridan's cen- 
tennial was properly celebrated. 

Sherman — It was not until April 7, 1832, that 
the town of Sherman began its separate exist- 
ence, having previously been a part of the town 
of Mina. The town comprises the second town- 
ship and fourteenth range as described in the 
Holland Land Company's survey ; covers an 
area of exactly 36 square miles and is bounded 
on the north by the town of Chautauqua, east 
by Harmony, south by Clymer and west by 
Mina. The Pennsylvania railroad crosses the 
town north and south ; Sherman, an incor- 
porated village with a population of about 
1,000, being the only settlement of consequence 
in the town and the only railroad station. The 
population of the town in 1915 (State census) 
was : Citizens, 1,695 > aliens, 37. French creek, 
soon after taking its rise in Harmony, enters 
Sherman and crosses the town in a westerly 
direction to the village of Sherman, then turns 
and flowing a southwesterly course passes into 
the town of Mina on its way to the river. 
Chautauqua creek rests in the northwestern 
part of Sherman and soon passes into the town 
of Chautauqua on its northward way to Lake 
Erie. 

Original Land Purchases. 

182.3 — March, Jona. R. Reynolds, 32; April, David 
Fuller, 24; June, Joel D. Cornish, 47; October, Otis 
Skinner, 24. 

1S24 — February, Alanson Weed, 31; April, Lester R. 
Dewey, 19; May, Ransom Felton, 63; September, Hiram 
N. Gleason, 24. 

1825 — January, Joshua LaDue, 34; February, Osmond 
Hall. 36; April, Hazard Wilcox, 64; May, Loren Park, 
59; Cyrus Pitts, 59; Elisha A. Eades, 33; Dearing Dor- 
man, 22; June, Larry Wilcox, 48; James Ottaway, 62; 
Sampson Vincent, 20; Charles Hawley, 29, 37; Wm. 
Williams, 29; September, Jedediah and Elliot B. Smith, 
37; George Sampson and Phineas Efeiley, 60; Major D. 
Reynolds, 16; November, John C. Wilcox, 56. 

1826 — September, Barney Bratt, 29; Eliab Skeels, 
61: Wm. Buss, 61; October, Lansing Buck, 25; Novem- 
ber, Julius Willard, Jr., 13; Wm. Mayborn, 61; Rufus 
Ransom. 51. 

1827 — March, Isaac Willard, 10; Josiah Wait, 11; 
Warren Hannum, 26; Harvey W. Goff, 22; October, 
James Bates, 5; John Miller, 7; November, Jesse 
Newell. 25. 

1828 — March, Gershom Wait, 11; September, Thad. 
Tibbals, 5; December, Loren Stebbins, — ; Josiah 
Wait, 11. 

The Holland Land Company's books contain 
no records of later sales in this town. The un- 
sold lands passed in 1836 to the new pro- 
prietors, W. H. Seward and others. 

The settlement of this region, once begun, 
was rapid. Tradition says that the first settler 



was Dearing Dorman, with his wife Huldah 
(Perkins) Dorman, and little son Amosa. In 
1823 Mr. Dorman built a log house twelve by 
sixteen feet, with a roof of elm bark, on the 
town line road, on land later owned by Theo- 
dore Skinner. There, November 28, 1823, the 
first white child was born, Archibald Dorman. 
Mr. Dorman, with Elisha Eades, built log 
houses, Eades' being across the road in the 
town of Chautauqua. They returned to Ba- 
tavia, one hundred eighteen miles, by the route 
they had to travel, and were moved with an 
ox-team. Mr. Dorman raised the first acre of 
wheat in the town, thirty bushels to the acre. 
He planted his corn by cutting into the earth 
and pressing the soil down upon the kernels, as 
the Indians did. 

Alonzo Weed built the first sawmill, on land 
owned by Lester R. Dewey. The first mar- 
riage was Lester R. Dewey, Sr., and Fanny 
Patterson, Otis Skinner, the first justice of the 
town, officiating, March 23, 1825. 

There is a question regarding the first death. 
It is said a Mrs. Arnold was the first to die, and 
was buried on the farm later owned by James 
Upton. The general impression is that the first 
death was that of an Englishman who died at 
Elliott Smith's. On Smith's lot in the Sherman 
cemetery is a grave, and on the headstone these 
words, "John Walling, a native of England, 
died July, 1832, supposed to be about thirty 
years of age." The first doctor was Thomas 
Green. 

In the winter of 1828-29 Otis Skinner taught 
school in his house. There is no record of any 
school prior to this. About this time Lydia 
Tanner taught summer school in a log cabin 
near now Willard street in Sherman village. 
The first church was the Congregational church 
(now Presbvterian), June 23, 1827, and was 
called the First Congregational Church of Mina. 
Meetings were held at the homes of William 
Williams, Dennis Hart, Elisha Woodruff, and 
other convenient places. The church was built 
on what is known as Presbyterian Hill, on land 
given by Charles Hawley, Sr., and was dedi- 
cated March 7, 1833; sermon by Rev. D. D. 
Gregory. The first pastor, Justin Marsh, came 
from Connecticut, and was installed in Octo- 
ber, 1828. In the fall of 1845 the church was 
moved to Sherman Village. 

The first Baptist church was formed August 
29, 1827, two and one-half miles south of the 
village, Rev. Orange Spicer officiating. Meet- 
ings were held in dwellings and schoolhouses 
until about 1842, then in the unfinished church 



234 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



in the village, which was completed in 1844. 
Rev. Orange Spicer was the first pastor. 

The Free Baptist Church of Waits Corners, 
in the southeast part of the town, was organ- 
ized about 1835. First pastor was Rev. Levi 
Rexford, first clerk Dexter Stebbins, and first 
deacon Loren Stebbins. 

The Methodists had a class in 1832, and the 
first sermon was delivered in the home of Otis 
Miller, by Rev. Darius Williams. The Miller 
home was their meeting place till 1836, when 
they occupied a room in Kipp & Miller's card- 
ing mill. Their church was built in 1848. 

The first Universalist church of Sherman 
was organized in 1842. The first pastor was 
Rev. Linus Paine. Selling their church, which 
was moved away, the members built their pres- 
ent church in 1868. 

The first gristmills were Aldrich's and 
Treat's. Aldrich's was on French creek, two 
miles below Sherman village. Treat's was on 
Chautauqua creek, about one-half mile from 
where Murray Harrington later lived. About 
1838 Benjamin H. Kipp, Otis and Elijah Miller 
built the gristmill later owned by Bates and 
Hillburg in the village. Josiah R. Keeler had, 
it is thought, the first store, about three miles 
south of the village, on his farm, later owned 
by Susan Hemstreet. James Barker had at an 
early date a store in a small wooden building 
where the Hotel Sherman now stands. Jere- 
miah Fields kept, it is thought, the first tavern, 
in the house later owned and occupied by James 
Wood. 

The first town meeting was held in 1833. 
Otis Skinner was the first supervisor, and he 
held the office during the years 1833-35-38. 

Of the early settlers, Dearing Dorman was 
born in New Haven, Conn., December 20, 1797, 
came to Batavia in 1804, and to Sherman about 
1823; married Huldah Perkins in 1818; had 
twelve children. Mrs. Dorman died in 1866, 
and he married the widow of Addison Elder- 
kin, maiden name Mary Hunter. 

Lester R. Dewey, Sr., was born in Herkimer 
county, July, 1802, married Fanny Patterson, 
March 23, 1825, settled in Sherman in 1824; had 
eight children. His wife died and he married 
again. He was supervisor in 1850. Hiram N. 
Gleason, born in Farmington, Conn., April 17, 
1800; married Sarah Root; settled in Sherman 
in 1824. His wife died, and he married Abigal 
Hill, of Mina. Had seven children by first wife, 
two by second. Richard Buss, born in Eng- 
land, settled in Sherman in 1826, died in 1861 ; 
had seven children. Charles Hawley, Sr., born 
in Connecticut, April 10, 1778; married Clara 
Allen, October 8, 1812; settled in Sherman in 



1825; died December 11, 1844; had three chil- 
dren. Benjamin H. Kip, born in Johnstown, 
New York, April 27, 1797; married Esther Mil- 
ler, at Newark, New York, February 23, 1823; 
settled in Sherman in 1832 ; four children. Wil- 
liam Mayborn, born in England, May 19, 1786; 
settled in Sherman in 1825. His wife died April 
24, 1827, leaving six children. In 1828 he mar- 
ried Harriet Palmer, of New York City. He died 
in 1874, leaving twelve children. Loren Park, 
born in Wells, Vermont, 1804; settled in Sher- 
man in 1825. His first wife, Adaline Heath, 
died, leaving him nine children. His second 
marriage was to the widow of Benjamin Ross, 
maiden name Samantha Heath. Ruel Pelton, 
born in Oneida county, New York ; settled in 
Sherman in May, 1827. Both he and his wife, 
of the same age, died in 1851. They had four- 
teen children. Otis Skinner, born in Norwich, 
New York, October 20, 1799; married Sylance 
Randall, June 9, 1822; settled in Sherman in 
1823. They had ten children. Loren Stebbins, 
born in Conway, Mass., October 27, 1804; set- 
tled in Sherman, 1828; married Eunice Willard, 
in Livingston county; six children. Joel D. 
Cornish, born in Otsego county ; married Cath- 
erine Van Allen ; settled in Sherman, January, 
1826; seven children. 

Samuel T. Hawley, who had a business career 
of sixty years in Sherman, sold out to Henry 
Taggart. He survived two fires and was con- 
ducting business in the principal block in the 
village. He was handicapped by deafness. His 
two boys and two girls were reared and edu- 
cated, his sons engaging in mercantile business 
in Kansas. "Uncle Sam," as he was affection- 
ately called by the townspeople, was eighty -one 
years old when he retired. 

The Union Sepulchral Society of Sherman 
and Chautauqua was organized in 1836. Later 
in the same year Alanson and Polly Weed 
deeded to the society ninety-eight square rods 
of land, being the northeast corner of the pres- 
ent cemetery. A few burials were made there 
before the purchase. In 1848 Lester R. and 
Fannie Dewey conveyed 123 6-10 rods to the 
society, and again in 1860-61 additions were 
made through conveyance by Mr. Dewey and 
Joseph Skinner. Additions and improvements 
have been made since as required. 

In August, 1865, a great flood damaged the 
town. Two dams above and one at the end of 
the village went out, and nearly every bridge 
in the town. A more destructive flood, the 
worst in its history, swept the town in the eve- 
ning of August 24, 1892, the iron railroad bridge 
and all the bridges from the head of French 
creek to the Mina line, except an iron one at 



TOWNS— SHERMAN 



235 



Sherman Center. Much damage was done to 
business and private property. 

In May, 1832, Benjamin H. Kip and Otis and 
Elijah Miller bought the land where Sherman 
village now stands, built a sawmill, and in 1833 
a carding and cloth-dressing mill. Otis Miller 
built a blacksmith shop and a tannery. These 
three men were the founders of the village first 
called Millerville, and afterwards Kipville ; later 
the name was changed to Sherman. The heads 
of the first twelve families were: Benjamin H. 
Kip, Elijah Miller, Otis Miller, James Barker, 
George Vaness, Lucius Cook, George Hart, 
Kiler Dean, Alanson Patterson, Pitts Simmons, 
Hiram A. Case and Dr. Thomas Green. 

Sherman is a prosperous town, and the vil- 
lage rivals the town in its enterprise and prog- 
ress. Three-fourths of the land area of the 
town is under cultivation and perhaps 75 miles 
of wagon road, traverse the town. There are 
in Sherman five principal factories and ten 
small ones. The important industries are C. E. 
Cobb, lumber; Klein & Co., evaporated apples; 
the Mohawk Condensed Milk Co. ; the Pow- 
dered Milk Co., of America, and the Sherman 
Canning Co. (canned vegetables). The village 
stores are modern and with those modern utili- 
ties, electric lights and telephones, a strong 
bank, the fraternal orders, social societies and 
churches, life in Sherman is very pleasant. The 
village is well built and far above the average 
in the number and size of its brick blocks. 

The first newspaper in the village was the 
"Western New Yorker," started in 1853. The 
"Chautauqua News" was established March 22, 
1876, by E. W. Hoag, and bought in December, 
1879, by C. E. Sheldon, who conducted it until 
October 16, 1918. At that time "The News" 
was sold to the Dorman Printing Company 
(M. L. and L. B. Dorman) and consolidated 
with the "Sherman Advance." "The Advance" 
was founded October 6, 1916, by the Dorman 
Printing Company and successfully published 
until October 16, 1918, when the two papers 
were consolidated under the Dorman owner- 
ship. 

Sherman was incorporated a village, Septem- 
ber 8, 1890. The first municipal election was 
held October 3, 1890, the first officials being 
J. L. Thayer, Francis A. Ellis, Charles E. Cobb, 
trustees ; Henry F. Young, treasurer ; John Mc- 
Kean, collector; Thomas J. Newell was ap- 
pointed village clerk. 

In 1865 a disastrous fire swept away the post- 
office, town clerk's office and all town records. 
In 1869 many business buildings on Main and 
Miller streets were destroyed, brick blocks then 
succeeding the wooden ones burned. 



The supervisors of Sherman since the erec- 
tion of the town are : Otis Skinner, 1833 ; B. H 
Kip, 1834; Otis Skinner, 1835; Loren Peck 
1836-37; Otis Skinner, 1838; Piatt S. Osborn 
1839 ; Lucius Cook, 1840-42 ; George Hart, 1843 
Piatt S. Osborn, 1844-45 ; John P. Hall, 1846- 
47; B. H. Kip, 1848-49; Lester R. Dewey, 1850 
Loren Park, 1851 ; Lewis Sperry, 1852-53; B. J 
Coffin, 1854; Loren Park, 1855; William Green 
1856-57; Miles J. Clark, 1858-59; Henry Bliss, 
1860-61; Henry W. Sperry, 1862-65; Sylvanus 
H. Myrick, 1866; Henry Sheldon, 1867; Henry 
W. Sperry, 1868 ; Alfred W. Benson, 1869 ; John 
T. Green, 1870-72 ; Virgil A. Fenner, 1873 ; John 
T. Green, 1874; Jerome J. Dean, 1875-76; 
Enoch Sperry, 1877-78; Albert B. Sheldon, 
1879-81; Chas H. Corbett, 1882-83; Enoch 
Sperry, 1884; Benjamin J. Coffin, 1885-91 ; Ed- 
gar O. Buss, 1892; Morris L. Edmunds, 1893- 
97; Frank E. Miller, 1898-99; Warren B. Whit- 
ney, 1900-01 ; Albert B. Sheldon, 1902-08; Wil- 
liam W. Benjamin, 1909-13; Harry M. Keith, 
1914-19; Irving O. Ottaway, 1920. 

The leading societies and orders of Sherman 
are the Masonic lodge and chapter of the East- 
ern Star ; lodge of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, 
the Maccabees, Ancient Order of United Work- 
men, Patrons of Husbandry, Grand Army of 
the Republic, Woman's Relief Corps, Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union and many church 
and benevolent organizations. 

The assessed valuation of real estate in the 
town (22,980 acres) for the year 1918 was 
$938,762; its full value, $1,195,875. 

Stockton— The town of Stockton, formed 
from Chautauqua, February 9, 1821, was named 
in honor of Richard Stockton, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence. In 1850 the 
township was enlarged by the annexation of a 
tier and a half of lots, twelve in number, from 
the northern part of Ellery. Stockton includes 
also one tier of lots taken from township 4, 
range 13, on its west side, and contains an area 
of 29,037 acres. Its surface is a rolling upland. 
The soil is a loam, clay in the upland and sandy 
in the valleys. The principal part of Cassadaga 
Lake lies in the northeast corner of Stockton. 
Bear Lake is partly in Stockton, also, about 
three miles west of Cassadaga Lake, and both 
extend north into the town of Pomfret. Their 
outlets are Cassadaga and Bear creek, respec- 
tively, which come together in the southeastern 
part' of the town, continuing southeasterly 
across the northeast corner of Ellery, and form, 
just within the west line of Gerry, a junction 
with Mill creek. Cassadaga creek, thus aug- 
mented, pursues a crooked course through parts 
of Gerry, Ellicott and Poland, and gives its 



2 3 6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



waters to the Conevvango creek in the south of 
Poland. Thence the stream is known as the 
Conewango river, which flows southward into 
Pennsylvania and empties into the Allegheny 
river. 

The scenery at Cassadaga Lake is inexpressi- 
bly beautiful and fascinating and in its pure 
free air a sanitarium has been established. The 
waters of Bear and Cassadaga lakes are well 
stocked with fish and a large deposit of shell 
marl underlies the ancient bed of Cassadaga 
Lake. The Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pitts- 
burgh railroad traverses the town with stations 
at Cassadaga Village and Moons. Other vil- 
lages are Stockton, formerly Delanti, Denton, 
Centralia, Burnhams and South Stockton. 

Original Purchases in Township 4, Range 12. 

1809 — November, Hezekiah Vial, 38. 

1810 — May, Jos. Green, 49; Bela Todd, 33; Benjamin 
Miller, 39; June, Lawrence Scofield, 50. 

1811— April, Eben. and Salmon Tyler, 33; Silas 
Gates, 24; Hezekiah Vial, 32; Henry Walker, 49; Au- 
gust, Benj. Miller, 31; October, Shadrach Scofield, 50, 
58; November, Zattu Gushing, 32. 

1812 — June, Abel Thompson, 29, 37. 

1S15 — April, Calvin Nelson, 29; Alfred Trow, 29; 
May, Frederic Sprague, 25; James Haywood, 28, 36; 
Geo. Porter, Jr., 34; Aaron Jones, 48; Bela Todd, 11; 
June, Levi C. Miller, 40; August, Jesse Higgins, 37; 
September, Samuel Crissey, 40; Jos. Sackett, 23; Octo- 
ber, Thos. Curtis, 19, 20; Zaheth Higgins, 37. 

1S16 — May, Hiram Lazell, 21; Calvin Hitchcock, 19; 
Edward Ellis. 21; July, Aaron Smith, 13; Sawyer Phil- 
lips, 15; Stephen Williams, 41; September, Gould Cris- 
sey, 45; October, Adam McNitt, 13; Jos. Sackett, 14; 
David Sackett, 11; December, Elijah Nelson, 45; Philip 
Phillips, 15. 

1817 — April, Jeduthan Smith, 15: Eben. Smith, Jr., 
6; June, Aaron Lyon, 12; Calvin Smith, 20. 

1818— March, Alva Lazell, 27; May, Lewis C. Todd, 
10. 

181 9 — May. Gilbert Putnam, 33; Aretus Rogers, 43, 
44; July, Calvin Warren, 40; Levi C. Miller, Parley 
Munger, 40. 

1821 — October, Philip Phillips, 6: Stephen Crane, 44; 
Jona. Clark, 22, 23; Hiram Jones, 22; Robt. Belding, 
22; Nathan Smith, 22, 23: Israel Smith, 22. 

1822 — May, Wm. A. Glisson, 3; July, Ebenezer 
Smith, Jr., 5; September, Zeph. Rogers, 43. 

1823— February, Stephen Crane, 35; March, Harvey 
Gibbs, 54. 

1824— March, John Russell, 2; April, Thos. Todd, 62; 
May, Robt. Padden, 62; Bela Todd, 11; June, Daniel 
Johnson, 61; Franklin Blackmer, 61; Alvin Crissey, 31; 
September, Stephen Crane, 53; Ely F. Munger, 31; 
October, Ebenezer Smith, Jr., 14. 

1825 — May, Elam Todd, 64; September, John Brown. 
60. 

1826 — January, Chauncey Goodrich, 52; October, 
James Morrill, 51. 

1827 — February, Thomas Francis, 51; James Francis, 
51: June, Wm. Weed, 51: August, Andrew Putnam, 25; 
Russell Reed, 51: September, Abraham Bennett, 35; 
October, Thos. Carlisle, 35. 

1828— March, Alanson McClary, 43; Nath. Getchell, 
51; William Sabin. 43; June, Edwin Francis, 59; July, 
Wm. P.. Brooks, 59; August, James Duncan, 55; George 



Dye, 35; September, David L. Getchell, 35; Jesse 
Wells, 4'- 

1829 — January, Eph. Sanford, 43: February, Abel 
White, 10; March, Wm. Weed, 51; Eliakim Lindsey, 
59; Bela Tracy, 1, 2; July, Josiah Richardson, 5; Au- 
gust, John Scovel, 10; September, Abraham Eddy, 26; 
October, Mason Tower, 10; David L. Hills, 64; Joel 
Rogers, 64; December, Heman Padden, 60; November, 
Foster Mitchell, 55. 

1830 — March, George Cipperly, 4; April, Fordam 
Pease, 60; May, Titus Johnson, 60; Eleazer Flagg, Jr., 
25; October, Henry H. Haner, 2; James Jones, 27; 
Elisha B. Rossiter, 64; November, Waterman Ells- 
worth and others, 42; Adna Lamson, 3; Andrew Put- 
nam and others, 42; Samuel Palmer, 58; David Hills, 
64. 

1831 — January, Abraham Bennett, 44; May, Nathan 
Brown, 63; Charles Brown, 55. 

Township 3, Range 12. 

1S09 — November, John Fish, -?2. 

1810— March, Timothy Russell, 64. 

181 1— April, Ebenezer Tvler, 48; Jonathan Bugbee, 
Jr., 40. 

1817 — February, Amos Inman, 40; Philander Brun- 
son, 15: July, Newell Putnam, 32. 

1822 — August, John O. Harris, 10. 

1830 — September, Justus Jones, 56; November, Sam- 
uel Jones, 23; December, Horace Br 



Township 4, Range 13. 

181 1 — June, Roswell Ladd, 2: August, Thomas Smith, 
4: James Dyer, 1; David Waterbury, 1; Pelig Sco- 
field, 7. 

1826 — February, Almon and Heman Barber, 5: Sam- 
uel S. Jones and Abel J. Parker, 6. 

Jonathan Bugbee, a young man, left Madi- 
son county in 1809, and alone and on foot made 
a tour to the wilderness of central Chautauqua. 
Amos Adkins, a member of a surveying party, 
gave him advice, and young Bugbee finally se- 
lected a claim at what is now known as Cen- 
tralia, in the southern part of Stockton. He 
started a clearing and gathered material for a 
log house, and at Batavia, on his way home, 
received a writing entitling him to a deed of 
205 acres of land at $2.50 an acre, if paid within 
a specified time. Bugbee returned in the win- 
ter of 1811, with his parents and brothers, Wy- 
man and Simeon. The Bugbees cut a road 
through the woods for three miles to the place 
where Jonathan had begun a clearing. About 
1821 Jonathan opened a hotel. 

Previous to the return of the Bugbees, and 
in 1810, clearings were started by John West, 
Bela Todd and Joseph Green, of Herkimer 
county, half a mile west of Bugbees, while two 
miles west David Waterbury, Shadrach Sco- 
field and Henry Walker from Saratoga county 
had formed a settlement. In 1814 a log school- 
house was built. Dexter Barnes built a black- 
smith shop, and supplied the settlers with axes 
and other tools. Henry Walker, who was ap- 
pointed justice of the peace by the Governor, 



TOWNS— STOCKTON 



conducted himself with great dignity, attired 
in an official dark mantle and treble capes. In 
1814 Bela Todd started a log tavern, Dr. E. P. 
Steadman administered to the sick, and Lewis 
Bump opened a small store, receiving supplies 
by the way of Tinkertown (now Dewittville). 

The "State Gazetteer" says that the first set- 
tlement was made in 1S10, in the south part of 
the town. The names, however, of as many as 
ten early purchasers were entered in 1809, the 
first that of John Silsby on lot 48. Henry 
Walker's name appears as purchaser of lot 49, 
in township 4, range 12, May, 181 1, and that of 
Scofield as a purchaser of lots 50 and 58, Octo- 
ber, 181 1. Waterbury appears only as pur- 
chaser of lot 1, township 4, range 13, now a 
part of Stockton, but his name was entered on 
the land company's plat of township 4, range 
12, as owner of the west part, and Shadrach 
Scofield of the east half of lot 57, though neither 
appears on the sales book as purchaser of any 
part of that lot, which is the southeast corner 
lot of that township. 

In Mr. Crissey's historical sketch of Stock- 
ton, he says that Ebenezer Tyler and Solomon 
(Salmon) Tyler, from Greene county, John 
West, Joseph Green and Bela Todd, from 
Herkimer county, settled on the town line 
(south line of township 4, range 12), about 
March 1, 1810. Their contracts are dated in 
May that year. West appears as purchaser on 
the sales book in the town of Chautauqua, lot 
29, in November, 1810. The contract of the 
Tylers, however, bears date April, 181 1. In 
October, 1810, Samuel Woodbury, Shadrach 
Scofield and Henry Walker, all from Saratoga 
county, settled in the western part of the town. 

The sketch says further that Dexter Barnes 
and John Aker came from Herkimer county in 
181 1. In June, that year, Barnes, a blacksmith, 
built the first blacksmith shop in town, on the 
south side of the road, east of the residence of 
Henry Alden. In March, 1814, John Ecker (or 
Aker) bought a part of lot 41, though this is 
probably the person who came in 181 1. He 
was the first fiddler in town and his services 
were appreciated, as many of the settlers were 
fond of dancing. In 181 1 Comfort and Elisha 
Morgan located about a mile north of Shadrach 
Scofield, on lot 58, one of two which Mr. Sco- 
field had previously bought, and adjoining that 
on which he resided. In 1812 the war with 
Great Britain began, and from the Stockton 
region went Shadrach Scofield, Dexter Barnes, 
Bela Todd, Comfort Morgan, Elisha Morgan, 
Nathan Bugbee and Wyman Bugbee. In 181 3 
all returned. They had been up to Buffalo, 
which was burned by the red coats and In- 



dians ; Comfort Morgan brought back with him 
a bullet in his knee, and Wyman Bugbee a 
bullet hole in his hat. Great fears were enter- 
tained of a visitation by a hostile band of In- 
dians, but it was not long before the enemy 
was routed in the struggle for the possession of 
Fort Erie, and, as there was no more trouble 
with the British and Indians, the pioneers re- 
sumed the pursuits of peace. 

The first settlement in Bear Creek Valley 
was by Benjamin Miller, from Oneida county, 
in 181 1, with an ox-team and hired help, and 
built a shanty of poles and hemlock boughs 
three-fourths of a mile north of Delanti. After 
two years he went back to Oneida county, 
where he remained until the war danger was 
over, when he returned to his farm, where he 
resided till his death in 1857. 

His children were William O. and Linus W., 
farmers, and Laura, who married Origen Cris- 
sey ; Elvira, who became Mrs. John L. Kazer, 
and Irene, who married Royal L. Carter. 

Abel Thompson came from Sangerfield, New 
York, in June, 1812, and bought 100 acres of 
land from lot 29 and 178 acres from lot 37, in- 
cluding the farm owned later by Truman Todd, 
and extending west beyond the creek and north 
to and including a small part of the village of 
Delanti, where he was the first settler. His 
house was a square log pen and the floor was of 
split logs. In the spring of 1813, while the 
snow was yet deep and covered with a crust, he 
brought his family with an ox-team. Thompson 
unloaded his goods at Mr. Miller's on the snow. 
It required two days to break a road to Thomp- 
son's house, three-quarters of a mile distant. Mr. 
Thompson died in 1831. He had several sons, 
including Horace and Newell C. The little 
settlement where Thompson lived was early 
known as Bear Creek Corners. Among those 
who soon followed were Eaton Ford, Samuel 
Crissey, Gould Crissey, Christopher Smith, 
John Mitchell, Levi C. Miller, Truman Todd, 
Hiram Lazell, shoemaker, Carlton Jones, physi- 
cian, and Mr. Hines, a carpenter. James Hay- 
wood opened a store in 1817, and the same year 
a Baptist church was organized by Revs. Joy 
Handy and Asa Turner. Early in 1812, Othello 
Church settled at the outlet of Cassadaga Lake, 
followed soon after by Ichabod Fisher, Elmer 
Wood, Nehemiah Woodcock, Nathaniel Smith, 
Abner Putnam, Philip Phillips and others, all 
from the eastern counties of New York, except 
one or two families from New England. A 
few settled west of Cassadaga creek. 

Hiram Lazell, a shoemaker, and Elijah Nel- 
son, were prominent in the early settling and 
building up of Delanti. They came in 1815 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



from Massachusetts, and went back for the 
purpose, it would appear, of getting married, 
for they returned in November, 1817, and not 
alone. Hiram Lazell, at the first town meeting 
in 1821, was made an assessor, collector and 
constable ; so he could assess taxes, go out in 
another official capacity to collect the tax he 
had imposed, and finally enforce the collection 
as constable. 

Samuel Shepard, Aaron Lyon and Ira Jen- 
nings came from Massachusetts in 1819. Mr. 
Shepard was the first justice in the town. Mr 
Lyon was an early settler on the west side of 
Cassadaga Lake, on lot 48, near the town line, 
where Franklin, his son, afterwards resided, 
though he appears as an original purchaser of 
lot 12, in June, 1817. Mary Lyon, founder of 
the Holyoke Female Seminary, in Massachu- 
setts, was his sister. He had two sons and 
eight daughters. Five of the girls married 
ministers, and Lucy and Freelove were the first 
and second wives of Rev. Mr. Lord, a mission- 
ary to China, and missionaries themselves. Mr. 
Lyon was for a long time a justice in Stockton 
and supervisor for several terms. 

In 1816 Ichabod Fisher kept tavern in Cassa- 
daga, Henry Walker was a storekeeper, Grove 
Page attended to the physical ailments of the 
people, and Ammi Richard mended their shoes. 
James Beebe was the first postmaster. The 
first religious society was the Baptist church, 
organized December 1, 1833. 

Resolved W. Fenner, a native of Rhode 
Island, came from Madison county, New York, 
in November, 1819, and bought land from Abel 
Brunson, a part of lot 15, township 3, range 12. 
He was a farmer, and also a cooper. Washing- 
ton Winsor, a Baptist minister who preached 
at Stockton and Carroll, and afterwards at Cas- 
sadaga, where he died in 1840, was a native of 
Rhode Island, who came from Otsego county, 
New York, and settled near Delanti in 1827. 

Amos Brunson, born in Connecticut, was 
said to have been one of a hundred of the first 
settlers who were able to pay for their lands 
according to contract. In 1824 he built a frame 
house and opened a tavern, in 1838 a sawmill, 
which failed from lack of water. He married 
Sallie Love in 1809; they had twelve children. 

John West, a native of New Hampshire, came 
in 1810, and with Dexter Barnes helped clear 
the site of the county poor house. They and 
Peter Barnhart took a contract from William 
Peacock, agent of the Holland Land Company, 
to cut a road from the fourteen mile stake, east 
of the land office, to the Cattaraugus line, and 
then seven and one-fourth miles beyond to the 



old Indian road leading from Cattaraugus to 
the Allegheny river. 

Stephen Messenger, a blacksmith, was an 
early settler, in whose family an extraordinary 
number of deaths occurred in a few years. Abel 
Beebe moved from Buffalo to Stockton in 1809, 
cutting his way through the woods from Laona. 
Beebe, Joel Fisher and Othello Church were 
the only persons who spent the winter of 1809- 
10 in the neighborhood. 

The first white couple married in Stockton 
were John West and Miss Barnhart, at the 
home of Samuel Waterbury, December 31, 1812. 
Jonathan West later opened a log tavern which 
was succeeded by a frame hotel which he con- 
ducted about twenty-five years. The first birth 
in Stockton is said to have been that of Wil- 
liam Walker, August 25, 181 1. The first school 
was taught by Abigail Durfee, in the south part 
of town, in the summer of 1815. Ichabod 
Fisher kept the first tavern at Cassadaga in 
181 r, and Elijah Nelson the first one at Stock- 
ton. James Haywood kept the first store at 
Stockton ; McClure & Holbrook, Aaron Wad- 
dington and John Z. Saxton, also early mer- 
chants, but of a later period. Dr. Carleton 
Jones settled in Stockton in 1818, later doctors 
being E. P. Stedman, Waterman Ellsworth, 
George S. Harrison, Humphrey Sherman and 
Justin Thompson. Dr. Thompson was a sur- 
geon in the Union army during the Civil War, 
and made his escape from a southern prison 
pen. 

Origen Crissey was the first wagon maker. 
Levi Holmes many years later built a wagon 
and carriage shop. Hiram Shaw, a cabinet 
maker, established a shop about 1830. Seth 
Duncan succeeded him, and carried on a busi- 
ness for some thirty years. 

A gristmill and a sawmill were built about 
1817 or 1818, where now the village of Stock- 
ton is, by John Hines. Hiram Lazell and Eli- 
jah Nelson. Obed Taylor, Samuel Shepard 
and David Sacket subsequently became inter- 
ested in it; Sacket later built a gristmill, which 
was sold to Joseph S. Sacket, Truman Todd 
and Milton Smith. David Sacket and Aaron 
Lyon built a gristmill and a sawmill about 
1821 at Cassadaga Lake, constructing a dam. 
Bela Todd built a sawmill on the creek, five 
miles from the lake, about 1829, which he sold 
to Charles D. Cooper, who also built a carding 
and cloth dressing establishment. Benjamin 
Miller built a sawmill about 1826, three-fourths 
of a mile above the village. Dascom and New- 
ton Taylor built a steam sawmill about 1868, 
which thev sold to Harrison Price and Oren 



TOWNS— STOCKTON 



239 



Miles. Later planing and shingle mills were 
attached. A steam sawmill was begun three or 
four miles from Stockton, in 1850, and com- 
pleted by Philip Lazell ; it was burned in 1854. 
On the Bugbee brook, near the site of this mill, 
a sawmill was built in 1830 and burned in 1835. 

R. W. Fenner and his son Christopher built 
a sawmill on Cassadaga creek in 1824. R. W. 
Fenner and Forbes Johnson built the first grist- 
mill in that part of the town in 1827. About 
1835 these mills were bought by Henry Love. 
After his death they became the property of 
Forbes Johnson and John A. Fenner. In 1839 
the sawmill was torn down, and a new one 
built about forty rods east of the first. About 
1856 E. J. Spencer, Osmand Johnson and John 
A. Fenner became owners of the gristmill and 
put in machinery for planing and matching 
boards. In 1868 a gristmill with modern im- 
provements was built in place of the old one 
by Osmand Johnson and E. J. Spencer. In 
1869 Spencer sold his interest. Forbes John- 
son and his sons, Owen and Edwin, who owned 
the mill in 1869, exchanged it with James Aus- 
tin for a dairy farm in Ellery. This mill is said 
to have turned out 750,000 feet of lumber in a 
year, besides large quantities of pine and hem- 
lock shingles, lath, etc. 

In 181 1 the Holland Land Company began 
opening a highway from Mayville eastward to 
the Genesee river, through the town of Stock- 
ton. The road was soon traveled quite exten- 
sively and half a dozen different landlords 
opened taverns. Ample frame buildings in 
some cases replaced the log cabins which were 
first opened as hotels. James Dyer, James 
Colby, Henry K. Gravit were early innkeepers, 
besides several in addition to those previously 
mentioned. 

Stockton is a leading dairy town of Chau- 
tauqua county and scattered through the town 
are many butter and cheese factories. The 
present village of Stockton was formerly known 
as Delanti, a name adopted at a meeting of 
citizens held in January, 1833. Amos Crane 
presided at that meeting, Milton Smith was 
secretary and Loraine Dantforth, a teacher, se- 
lected the name. Dr. Waterman Ellsworth was 
the first postmaster at Delanti. 

The population of the town of Stockton as 
reported to the New York State census enu- 
merators in 1915 was 1,805 citizens and 25 
aliens. The principal manufacturing enter- 
prise of the town is the grape basket factory of 
Fredericksen & Bussing, located at Cassadaga 
Lake, where there are two other smaller fac- 
tories. The Chautauqua Cement Company 



was organized in 1890 and began manufactur- 
ing near Cassadaga. 

The Cassadaga Navigation Company incor- 
porated in 1827, with a capital of $20,000 to 
improve the navigation of the Cassadaga to its 
junction with the Conewango, and the naviga- 
tion of the Conewango to the State line. Wal- 
ter Smith conceived the idea of opening the 
Cassadaga and Conewango to keelboats. A 
boat twenty-five feet long was constructed, 
which brought a load of salt up the Conewango 
and Cassadaga to Cassadaga Lake, went back 
with a light cargo and again ascended the 
streams part way, but the water in the Cassa- 
daga lowered after the channel was cleared, 
and navigation was found impracticable. 

Baptists formed a church in 1808, near Chau- 
tauqua Lake. This was divided in two in 1817, 
one of which in April, 1821, became the Baptist 
church of Stockton, and in October, 1821, the 
First Baptist Congregational Society was in- 
corporated and received a grant of fifty acres 
of land offered by the Holland Land Company 
to the first two churches. The settlers of Bear 
Creek Valley organized in 1817 at Delanti the 
Third Baptist Church of Chautauqua. Cassa- 
daga Baptist Church was organized May 8. 
1834. A Congregational church was organized 
in 1815. The church at Oregon was organized 
in 1839 or 1840. The Christian Church was 
formed at Delanti in 1825. The Universalists 
and United Brethren have had societies since 
1850. 

The Methodist Episcopal church has been 
established in the town since 1825 and has a 
congregation in the village of Stockton of 181 
members, including the branch at Centralia. 
Villages of the town are Stockton and Cassa- 
daga, both with good schools and churches, the 
latter a popular summer resort. Other villages 
are Burnhams ; Moons, a station on the Dun- 
kirk, Allegheny Valley & Pennsylvania rail- 
road ; Denton, Centralia and South Stockton. 

The Empire State Degree of Honor, an im- 
portant organization having its home office in 
Stockton and claiming to furnish life insurance 
on "the most simple and equitable plan," was 
incorporated May 26, 1886. Henry W. Sey- 
mour was a leader in its founding, and for a 
number of years its secretary. The design of 
the association is to meet the wants of a large 
class of people, both men and women, who 
desire to carry life insurance at a reasonable 
expense. The association has 7,894 policies and 
$6,740,750 insurance in force; has paid out on 
death claims, $2,131,207.14, and holds as a re- 
serve fund, $382,923.77. Officers, 1920: Amos 



240 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



E. Hall, president; B. O. Taylor, vice-presi- 
dent; C. G. Warren, secretary; M. T. Wake- 
man, assistant secretary ; C. E. Olson, J. W. 
Henderson, medical examiners; Benjamin S. 
Dean, attorney. For many years L. W. Lazell 
was treasurer, holding until his death in 1919, 
when he was succeeded by C. E. Olson. 

Supervisors — 1821-22, Calvin Warren; 1823- 
25, Henry Walker; 1826, Calvin Warren; 1827, 
W. Ellsworth; 1828, Aaron Lyon; 1829-30, 
Hiram Lazell; 1831-32, W. Ellsworth; 1833, 
John Grant; 1834, John Lyon; 1835, John 
Grant; 1836-37, Calvin Smith; 1838-39, Chaun- 
cey Warren; 1840-41, Delos Beebe; 1842, Philip 
Lazell ; 1843-44, Thomas Rolph ; 1845, Chaun- 
cey Warren ; 1846, Eleazer Flagg, Jr. ; 1847, 
Chauncey Warren; 1848-49-50-53, Milton 
Smith; 1854, George S. Harrison; 1855, Judge 
L. Bugbee; 1856, Ebenezer Moon; 1857-58, W. 
P. Burdick; 1859, Judge L. Bugbee; 1860-61, 
Philip Lazell; 1862-63, Merrill Crissey ; 1864- 
65, Harlow Crissey ; 1866-67, Eliphalet Mitchell ; 
1868-69, Chauncey Warren; 1870-71, Walker 
Parkhurst; 1872-73, Joseph E. Batchellor; 1874- 
79, Lucian C. Warren; 1880-81, Charles W. 
Chapman; 1882-83, Jay A. Flagg; 1884, Darius 
G. Pickett; 1885, P. M. Miller; 1886-89, New- 
ton Crissey; 1890, Lucian C. Warren; 1891, 
Charles D. Payne ; 1892-97, C. Frank Chapman ; 
1898-99, Michael C. Donovan ; 1900-03, Lucian 
C. Warren ; 1904-05, Michael C. Donovan ; 1906- 
07, Clayton S. Putnam; 1908-09, Lucien C. 
Warren; 1910-11, Everett J. White; 1912-20, 
Charles D. Payne. 

The full value of town real estate in 1918 was 
placed at $1,243,810, the assessed valuation for 
the same year being $975,857. 

Villenova — Villenova, meaning new village, 
originally the southern part of Hanover, was 
taken off as a separate town by an act of Janu- 
ary 24, 1823. Its area is 22,826 acres. In the 
north part the surface is hilly, the highest lands 
having an altitude of 1,400 feet above tide 
water. The inhabitants follow agricultural 
pursuits, including dairying to a considerable 
extent, to which the surface and soil are 
adapted. The two branches of the Conewango 
creek join near the southeast corner of the town, 
and they receive the waters of a number of 
small streams which arise in the northern up- 
lands and of the outlets of Mud Lake and East 
Mud Lake. The last named body of water is 
within Villenova, while the possession of Mud 
Lake is divided with Arkwright. In the south- 
ern part of the town the surface is rolling 
rather than broken and hilly, with soil of clay 
and a gravelly loam. The town is a great pro- 
ducer of apples. Villenova has felt the effects 



of the disposition of the rising generations of 
people, since the pioneer days to leave the rural 
regions, especially in this part of the country, 
as it has had a net loss in population since 1835. 
In that year the population was 1,453. The 
population (State census of 1915) 1,148, in- 
cluding 26 aliens. It must be remembered, 
however, that Villenova is an inland town with- 
out railroads. There are four villages in the 
town, Balcomb, Hamlet, Villenova and Wango. 
The value of real estate in the town in 1918 was 
placed at $593,135 ; the assessed value, $465,357. 

Original Purchases in Township 5, Range 10. 

1809— October, Ezra Puffer, 19, 27, 36; John Kent, 
2; Daniel Whipple, 3. 

1810 — March, John Kent, Jr., 3; April, Reuben 
Wright, Jr., 22; June, John Arnold, 19; July, Benj. 
Sweet, II, 18; October, Chas. Mather, 4. 

1815 — June, Eldad Corbett, Jr., 11. 

1816 — March, Villeroy Balcom, 10. 

1817 — May, James Congdon, 14; November, Augus- 
tus Wright, 52. 

1S18 — March, Daniel Wright, 20; April, Enos Matte- 
son, 64; May, Sylvanus Wright, 20. 

1819 — May, Auren G. Smith, 43. 

1S20 — May, Nath. Warner, 36. 

1821 — October, Nath. Warner, 35. 

1822 — March, Noah Strong, 64; June, Nath. Warner, 
Jr., 43; October, Wm. J. Straight, 58. 

1823 — May, Arad Wheeler, 14; June, James H. Ward, 
IS- 

1824 — December, Phineas T. Judd, 27. 

1825 — -April, Samuel Geer, Jr., 48; Thos. White, 48; 
Josiah H. White, 24; Wheeler B. Smith, 24. 

1826 — January, Henry Waters, 33; August, John 
Pope, 62; December, Thomas Howard, SO. 

1827 — October, Villeroy Balcom, 17; Nathaniel War- 
ner, 63. 

The early settlers were largely of New Eng- 
land stock — people of sturdy strength and ster- 
ling character. Villenova comprises townships 
5, range 10, in which purchases of land were 
made as early as 1809. John Kent, a native of 
Royalton, Vermont, came from Cortland 
county that year, and aided Daniel Whipple 
and others to locate desirable lands. Mr. Whip- 
ple, John and Eli Arnold, natives of Great Bar- 
rington, Mass., came in 1810 with their families. 
In 181 1 came William and Benjamin Barrows 
and Roderick Wells, and about that time, also, 
Charles Mather, Captain Sweet and Nathaniel 
Bowen. Bowen served in the War of 1812 and 
was killed in the battle of Buffalo in 1813. Ezra 
Puffer, who came in 1S12, a native of Sudbury, 
Mass., was a cultured man, of literary and 
scientific tastes. He was a first-class surveyor, 
and ran many of the lines, laid out the early 
roads, was the first justice of the peace and 
drew the legal papers called for in the early 
days. He moved to Indiana in the early forties. 
Villeroy Balcom, who for years held the first 



TOWNS— VILLENOVA 



241 



office of the town, and Ezra Corbett, both from 
Massachusetts, came in 1815, as did .William 
Pierce and Eldad Corbett, Jr. Charles Wright 
came from Herkimer county the next year. 
His four brothers, Augustin, Lewis, Daniel and 
Sylvanus, all settled in town, the first two 
named in 1S17, and Daniel and Sylvanus in 
1818. Numerous descendants of these pio- 
neers live in the town. The business settle- 
ment to which the name of Villenova was 
finally given was formed at the cross roads on 
lot 19, near the line of 20. At first it was called 
Wright's Corners. Grover & Norris established 
the first store in 1828, and V. Balcom an inn in 
1829. Mr. Balcom was the first postmaster, as 
well as justice and supervisor. James Cong- 
don came in 1817, with sons, Amos, Ichabod 
and Lewis. Auren G. Smith and his brother in 
1819 bought lot 43, and developed the power at 
Hamlet, where they built a sawmill later 
known as Orton's Mills. Allen L. Brunson, 
who came in 1838 from Cherry Creek, was con- 
stable for twenty-three years. Gamaliel Col- 
lins was for many years a justice. George Wil- 
son, a wagonmaker, was an early settler at 
Hamlet, and justice many years. Noah Strong 
bought lot 64 in 1822, and made it his home for 
life. The Crowells, early settlers, were a nu- 
merous family. Benjamin Vincent, a black- 
smith, came early to Villenova. 

Auren G. and Nathaniel Smith built a saw- 
mill, as already noted, at Hamlet, and a grist- 
mill was begun by Stephen Landers and com- 
pleted by Crowell & Shepard. Kent's mill on 
the Conewango was said to be the head of navi- 
gation in the busy days. Nathan Worden built 
a sawmill a mile and a half from Hamlet. In 
1828 the Holland Land Company sold all the 
lands then held by it in ranges 10 and II, and 
in township 1, range 12, excepting the town of 
Gerry, to the Cherry Valley Company, com- 
posed of James O. Morse, Levi Beardsley and 
Alvin Stewart. Of this, 5,246 acres were in 
Villenova. On a contract with the Holland 
Land Company, John and John P. Kent cut a 
road through the forest from Kent's mill, Vil- 
lenova, to Kennedyville, through Cherry Creek, 
for the very reasonable compensation of ten 
dollars a mile. They also cut a road from the 
same point southwest to Sinclairville soon after 
1812. Gardner Crandall and Isaac Curtis set- 
tled on this road in 1816. 

The first white person born in town was 
Electa, daughter of Daniel Whipple, May 5, 
1812. James Moffitt and Mary Dighton were 
the first couple married, in 1812. Mrs. Battles 
in 1815 taught the first school, near Wright's 

Chau— 16 



Corners. For more than seventy years Hamlet, 
on the west branch of the Conewango creek, 
has been the principal business center. 

The first town meeting in Villenova was held 
in 1823, when these officers were elected : Su- 
pervisor, Ezra Puffer ; town clerk, Milton Foot ; 
assessors, Daniel Wright, Isaac Martin, Ville- 
roy Balcom ; collector, Charles Wright ; over- 
seers of poor, Alvah Simons, Nathaniel War- 
ner; commissioners of highways, Nathaniel 
Smith, Stephen P. Kinsley; constables, Auren 
G. Smith, Charles Wright; commissioners of 
schools, Daniel Wright, Alvah Simons, John 
Weaver ; inspectors of schools, Hiram Kinsley, 
Ezra Puffer, Milton Foot. 

James L. Brown built the first carding and 
cloth dressing establishment at Hamlet, where 
afterwards was a gristmill. Carding was also 
done at the southeast part of the town, on the 
Conewango. 

An iron foundry was built about i860 by 
Hickev & Howard, which afterward was owned 
successively by James Howard, Martin Crowell, 
Crowell & Shepherd, Lemuel Hickev and 
others. A planing mill, propelled by the same 
power, was owned by Martin Crowell. 

In 1S10 ten Methodists formed a class con- 
sisting of the families of John Kent, John Ar- 
nold, and Eli Arnold. John and Eli Arnold 
were preachers. The class sent to the Genesee 
Conference at Lyons, asking for preaching. 
Three preachers were sent, including "Billy" 
Brown, a man of peculiarities, of great pray- 
ing powers. Elijah Metcalf, preacher over a 
long route, from Villenova to Warren, Pennsyl- 
vania. John Arnold's wife died in 1813, and 
Mr. Arnold devoted his life thereafter to 
preaching. Eli Arnold preached for over sixty 
years and led an exemplary Christian life. Rod- 
erick Wells, an early settler, was a man of piety 
and zeal. Religious services were held in pri- 
vate houses, most frequently at Daniel Whip- 
ple's. The Methodists formed the first church 
in 1812. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Hamlet 
resulted from a class formed December 25, 
1823. by Elder Daniel Prosser. The members 
were Obediah Warner, Rebecca Warner, Polly 
Smith, Taylor Judd, Polly Judd, Lewis and 
Maria Barmore, Lura Nunn, Diadema Warner, 
Polly Baker, Hiram Kingsley, Milton and Lois 
Foot and Brinty Congdon. Earlier than this 
a class was formed at Wright's Corners, which 
was embraced in the society at Hamlet. John 
P. Kent, Richard Wright, John Bull and James 
Ayres were among the early circuit preachers. 
Dwellings, and sometimes barns, were used for 



^42 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the holding of meetings. A church building 
was built in 1836. 

A Wesleyan Methodist church was organ- 
ized in 1858, with twenty members. Rev. Mr. 
Sibley was the first pastor. 

The Freewill Baptist church was organized 
in 1826, by Rev. Thomas Grinnell. The first 
members were : Enos and Mrs. Bronson, Judah 
and Mrs. Warner, Russell O. Smith and wife, 
Mrs. Stevens, and Amy Blackmar. A church 
was built in 1839 and the first parsonage in 
1867. Rev. Washington Shepard was an early 
pastor of this church and served many years. 
The educational advantages of the town are 
good and many teachers of excellent qualifica- 
tions have served as educators in the town. 

Supervisors — 1823-24, Ezra Puffer; 1825-30, 
Villeroy Balcom ; 1831, Daniel Wright; 1832, 
Villeroy Balcom ; 1833. Henry Allen ; 1834-36, 
Austin 'Pierce; 1837, John C. Dibble; 1838, Lu- 
ther Pierce; 1839, Austin Pierce; 1840, Nathan 
Gurney; 1841, Daniel Wright; 1842-43, Joseph 
G. Hopkins; 1844, Nathan Gurney; 1845-47, 
George Hopkins; 1848, Villeroy Balcom; 1849, 
Austin Pierce; 1850-51, Timothy G. Walker; 
1852, Martin Crowell ; 1853, Hiram Cornell; 
1854-55, Martin Crowell; 1856-57, James 
Wright; 1858-59-60-62, Martin Crowell; 1863, 
Horace Burgess; 1864, M. S. Corey; 1865-67, 
Martin Crowell ; 1868-69, Tyler H. Searl ; 1870, 
Horatio G. Pope ; 1871, Rollin L. Shepard ; 1872- 
73, Tyler H. Searl ; 1874, Julius A. Terry ; 1875- 
76, David S. Bennett; 1877, Rollin L. Shepard; 
1878, Tyler H. Searl; 1879, Manley M. Ses- 
sions; 1880, Tyler H. Searl; 1881, Eugene A. 
Dve; 1882, Horace Sanderson; 1883-84-85-86, 
Hamilton B. Parker; 1887, William E. Judd ; 
1888-89, Frank M. Waite ; 1890-91, Hamilton B. 
Parker; 1892-93, Austin P. Jay; 1894-95, Al- 
bert P. Libby ; 1896-97, Blair F. Simons ; 189S- 
99, Andrew N. Warner; 1900-01, Andrew H. 
Libby: 1902-04, Wallace J. French; 1905, An- 
drew N. Warner ; 1906-09, Elbert J. Bronson ; 
1910-11. Andrew N. Warner; 1912-17, Charles 
D. Clement; 1918-19, John D. Butcher; 1920, 
Charles D. Clement. 

Westfield — While Westfield is eighth in size 
among the towns of Chautauqua county, its 
area 29,341 acres, it is fourth in population, 
and among the incorporated villages of the 
county Westfield village is second in size only 
to Fredonia. About two-thirds of the area of 
the town is comprised in the gently rising 
plain sloping back from Lake Erie, and in 
Chautauqua's famous "grape belt." The south- 
ern part of the town is hilly and devoted prin- 
cipally to dairy farming. The soil is produc- 
tive and many thousands of Westfield's acres 



are devoted to grape culture, the town's great 
industry. Westfield is peculiarly shaped. Lake 
Erie is its northern boundary, and its western 
a range line running directly south ten miles 
to the town of Sherman. The east line runs 
due north from Sherman two and three-tenths 
miles to Chautauqua creek, which forms the 
boundary until about two miles south of the 
village of Westfield, where the line leaves the 
creek and runs nearly parallel to the shore of 
Lake Erie to the Portland line, thence due 
north to Lake Erie. Chautauqua creek in this 
town forms a gorge with steep, rocky sides 
towering upward in places to the height of 
sixty feet. Little Chautauqua creek unites 
with this stream about a mile south of the vil- 
lage of Westfield and there are smaller streams, 
all aiding in creating a picture of scenic beauty. 
The drive between Mayville and Westfield is 
particularly pleasing, and from the hills com- 
manding a view of the lake the prospect is 
charming. In Westfield, as in other towns of 
the county, there are relics left by a prehistoric 
race and Indians were here in plenty after the 
white man came. Wild animals, whose flesh 
furnished food and whose fur clothed the pio- 
neers, once inhabited the heavy growth of tim- 
ber along the streams and elsewhere. 

James McMahan, a Pennsylvanian, was 
destined to play an important part in the early 
development of Westfield. He first visited the 
region in 1795 and in 1801, in company with 
Andrew Smith, he visited the lake region and 
made a contract for his brother John to buy 
township 4, in range 14, which included all the 
village of Westfield and parts of the towns of 
Westfield and Chautauqua. The lands were 
bounded north by Lake Erie, east by the pres- 
ent town of Portland, south by a part of the 
present towns of Chautauqua and Westfield, 
and west by Ripley, and contained 22,014 acres 
of unsurveyed lands, for which $2,050 was to 
be paid, $1,035 being paid down. James also 
bought for himself 4,074 acres in the present 
town of Ripley. He selected for himself out of 
his brother's township, lot 13, which extended 
east to the old "Crossroads," or crossing of the 
trail between Buffalo and Erie by the old Port- 
age road. Here he settled about three-fourths 
of a mile west of Chautauqua creek, and built in 
1882 the first home erected in Chautauqua 
county. For this purpose he had cleared ten 
acres of land, where he proposed to build a vil- 
lage to be called Northumberland, in honor of 
his native county in Pennsylvania. He sur- 
veyed the first road of the county in 1805, estab- 
lished the county's first postoffice, also Chau- 
tauqua in 1806, and served as postmaster. Ed- 




•nil-: m.mahax ]!■ >.\i l-is'i'i: \ i • ni:vi: wkstkiki.h 




WHERE LAFAYETTE WAS ENTERTAINED, PREDONIA 



TOWNS— WESTFIELD 



243 



ward McHenry settled next to McMahan in 
1802, and opened the first tavern in the county ; 
he was drowned in 1803. The history of West- 
field before 1829 is that of Portland and Ripley, 
the parent towns. The first settlers were im- 
mortalized with an inscription of their names 
on the west side of the monument at "The 
Crossroads." This monument of Berea sand- 
stone, with base, is a stone five feet high, two 
feet nine and one-half inches wide. At the ends 
of the base are two millstones used in the first 
gristmill in the county. 

Purchases from John McMahan of lands in 
the tract bought by him from the Holland Com- 
pany: 1801 — November, John Allen, lot 4. 
1802 — May, James McMahan, 13; W. and A. 
Murray, 25 ; July, Abram Frederick, 7 ; W. and 
A. Fisher, 19; Martin and Nath. Dickey, 16; 
November, James Brannan, 3 ; David Kinkaid, 
14. 1803 — January, Arthur Bell, 3 ; John Chris- 
topher Dull, 27, 30; John Henry, 12; Jere. 
George, 3; James Morehead, 30; July, James 
Montgomery, 6; September, Andrew Straub, 
26 or 17. 1804 — July, Jacob George, 6, 13; 
September, Laughlin McNeil, 6; John Lyon, 
30. 1805 — June, John Degeer, 18; November, 
Alex. Montgomery, 2 ; Geo. Whitehill, 18. 1806 
— June, Hezekiah Barker, 12. 1807 — January, 
David Eason, 18; Low Miniger and John Dull, 
18. 

The following named persons bought of Mc- 
Mahan by deed : 1806 — February, Samuel 
Frederick, 7; Low Miniger, 26. 1809 — Septem- 
ber, Nathan S. Roberts, 17. 

The number of acres in these several pur- 
chases was 6,185. 

Original Purchases in Township 4, Range 14. 

1810 — April, James McMahan, 12; September, Rob- 
ert Sweet, 25; Isaac Sweet, 25; John Allen, 4; Laugh- 
lin McNeal, 6; John Lyon, 30; Isaac McClurg, 13; 
Fred. Rogers, 18; James Montgomery, 6; Arthur Bell, 
3; John Moorhead. 30: Thos. Gray, 12; Jacob George, 
6, 13: Nich. George. 3; Sarah Perrv, 13, 18; James Mc- 
Mahan, 15; Geo. Whitehill, 18; David Eason, 18; Wm. 
Lowry, 13; December, Hugh Whitehill, 18. 

1811 — February, David Eason, 18; May, John Eason, 
25; Andrew Kelsey, 30; John Smith, 31; Thos. McClin- 
tock, 17; December, John Fay, 31. 

1814 — August, Jona. Nichols, 2. 

1815 — May, Harmon Culver, 2; Joel Loomis, 4; Rob- 
ert Cochran, 2d, 4: June, Luther Thayer; October, Re- 
becca McNeil, 6; Stephen Rumsey, 4; November, David 
Knight, 25; Absalom Peacock, 8. 

1816 — July, Eben. Harris, 29. 

1817 — March, Jona. Cass, 32; Gilbert Dean, 1; Calvin 
E. Macomber, 31; James McMahan, 6, 20. June, Moses 
Hurlbut, 20: December, Hugh Whitehill, 19. 

1818 — January, Dyer Carver, 20; February, Jesse 
Holley, s; July, Charles Stanton, 5; October, Daniel S. 
Bouton, 33. 

1819 — February, John House, 29. 

1821 — Ju'y, Dolphus Babcock, 37; Eben. Harris, 29; 



August, John Shipboy, 3; James McMahan, 6; Robt. 
Cochran, 4. 

1823 — January, Lyman Harrington, 16; March, Wm. 
T. Howell, 15; Wm. Sexton, 15; May, John Winchell, 
29; Matthew McClintock, 10; Charles C. Tupper, 16. 

1824— July, John Chamberlain, 29; October, Thomas 
B. Campbell, 18. 

1826— October, Isaac Sweet, 25; Henry Abell, 18. 

Original Purchases in Township 3, Range 14. 

'Si/ — April, Harmon Culver, 40; Benjamin Amsden, 
40. 

1S21— October, Timothy Parker, 57, 58. 

1822— April, Joel Loomis, 48; October, Henry A. 
Haight, 63. 

1823— June, Norman Rexford, 46; Silas and Alex- 
ander Poor, 63; Ebenezer P. Poor, 62; July, William 
Tickner, 50; Samuel Adams, 61; Jacob Orcutt, 57: Sep- 
tember, Hazelton Winslow, 47. 

1824 — March, Levy Harrington, 53; Cyrus Bickford, 
46; April, Ezra Bickford, 59; June, Larkin Harrington, 
38; August, Moses Lancaster, 55; October, David Stan- 
ton, 59; Udney H. Jacobs, 52: November, Cyrus Dun- 
bar, 55, 56. 

1825 — February, Henry Mulliner, 41; March, Asabel 
Root, 52; April, Udney S. Jacobs, 44; May, Stephen 
Hoxie, 37; June, Allen Parker, 57; August, Allen W. 
Ingraham, ^y; September, Herbert McLeod, 59; Octo- 
ber, Moses Porter, 51; November, Russell Rogers, 52; 
Elijah Porter, 44; December, Joseph Lyon, 42. 

1S26 — January, William P. Adams, 60; April, John 
Parks 49; William Pickard, 49; Mrs. Isaac Coon, 54; 
Walter Strong, 50; June, Isaac Porter, 55; July, David 
Y. Stanton, 51; September, Charles Granger, 42; Zal- 
mon Ames, 64. 

1S27— April, Frederick Fox, 64; May, Selah Lanfear, 
40. 

Schools were early established, William 
Murray teaching in the town as early as 1803. 
There was a school open for several months in 
1806 and Anna Eaton taught in 1807. These 
were the first schools in Chautauqua county. 
Town meetings were held in 1805-06-07 at the 
inn of Widow Sarah McHenry, at Portland 
Crossroads, the landlady becoming Mrs. Perry 
in 1807. Life was strenuous during those early 
years and hardship was a common lot, but set- 
tlers came rapidly after the first few years and 
as the forests retreated before the fields, grain 
became plenty. The settlers cleared, built and 
cultivated, but at the same time built saw and 
grist mills, carding mills and mills for the 
dressing of cloth. The first marriage in the 
town was celebrated June 30, 1805, James 
Montgomery and Sarah Taylor the happy 
couple. The first white child born in the town 
was John McHenry, who died in 1879. Dr. 
Lawton Richmond, a Methodist preacher, came 
to the crossroads in 1812, being the second 
physician in the county, and. furthermore, is 
said to have been the first Methodist to preach 
in the county. He came to Chautauqua in 1809 
and had a large medical practice until 1834, 
when he moved to Pennsylvania. 



244 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Dr. Ferrin Deming, a surgeon of the War 
of 1812, opened the first drug store in 1814. 
Other doctors who practiced in the community 
were Silas Spencer, a soldier and physician of 
high repute ; Carlton Jones, Daniel Lee, Fred- 
erick Bradley, Kimball Henn, William S. Stock- 
ton, Oscar F. Jones, George A. Hall, Charles 
P. Graves and John Spencer, a commissioned 
army surgeon who served as president of the 
village of Westfield and member of the school 
board for several years. 

After Colonel McMahan and Edward Mc- 
Henry, there came from Pennsylvania many 
settlers with families previous to 1815. Arthur 
Bell was a Revolutionary soldier. He and his 
son William were prominent Presbyterians. 
So also was James Montgomery (1803). 
Thomas McClintock (1807), was a tavern 
keeper. David Eason (1807) was first sheriff, 
and State Senator (1823-24). James McClurg 
was the first merchant and a man of financier- 
ing ability. Asa Hall, and sons George and 
Asa were soldiers of 181 2. Jonathan Cass 
(181 1), first tavern keeper of the village and 
merchant. Elizur Talcott (1812), cloth dresser; 
Jonathan Nichols, Revolutionary soldier ; Amos 
Atwater (1813), wool carder, cloth dresser; 
Eber Stone (1813), miller; Reuben Wright 
(1814), cloth dresser; Allen and Reuben G. 
Wright, his sons, prominent business men; 
Col. Nathan Bird (1815), a soldier of the Revo- 
lution, foremost in public enterprises of the 
county, originator of the Buffalo and Erie line 
of stages. He kept for years a "free tavern" at 
his house for emigrants. Every year valuable 
pioneers arrived. Thomas B. Campbell (1817) 
was a stirring business man, county clerk, 
judge. A great many who came following the 
pioneer period were New Englanders or of 
New England descent, from the eastern part of 
the State, while some were "Pennsylvania 
Dutch" from the Keystone State. Thomas 
Norton, who came in 1819, is said to have been 
the first cabinet maker in Westfield. For a few 
years beginning in 1824, Young says West- 
field received considerable new blood from 
Warsaw. Oliver Lee (who afterwards moved 
to Silver Creek), John McWhorter, Augustus 
U. Baldwin, merchants; Aaron Rumsey, tan- 
ner ; Daniel Rockwell, hatter ; Larned Gail, 
hotel keeper; James D. Carlish, tailor; Calvin 
Rumsey, tanner ; Lorenzo T. Phelps, harness 
maker, etc. 

Westfield was erected a town March 29, 
1829, being taken from both Portland and Rip- 
ley. 

The first town meeting in the newly formed 
town was held at the Westfield Hotel, April 7, 



1829, Asa Farnsworth then and for many years 
thereafter the proprietor of that hotel. The 
officers elected were : Supervisor, Amos At- 
water ; town clerk, Daniel Rockwell ; assessors, 
Hiram Couch, Robert (2) Cochran, Jonathan 
Cass ; collector, Lyman Reddington ; overseers 
of the poor, Low Miniger, William Bell ; high- 
way commissioners, Seth G. Root, William Sex- 
ton, James Montgomery ; school commission- 
ers, Robert Dickson, Warren Couch, William 
Bell ; school inspectors, Russell Mallory, Austin 
Stone, Abram Dixon ; constables, Robert P. 
Stetson, Lyman Reddington ; fence viewers, 
Isaac Mallory, Low Miniger, Gervis Foot; 
poundmaster, James McClurg. It will be noted 
that there was quite a plentitude of officers, 
and here again is an opportunity for naming a 
large proportion of the prominent settlers, some 
of whom held several offices each. Austin 
Smith, a young man of sterling qualities, a law- 
yer who was destined for a long and useful life 
came here in 1830. Abram Dixon, lawyer, had 
at that time lived in the town quite a number 
of years ; his buildings were of brick, his house 
on the south side of Main street. Hon. David 
Hall and Joseph White were the other two 
lawyers ; they were able men. John G. and 
Watson S. Hinckley, of Massachusetts lineage, 
practiced law in later years. John M. Keep 
was a teacher and an able lawyer. Zadoc C. 
Young was a lawyer. Sextus H. Hungerford 
made himself prominent and popular about 
1837. In 1841 Hon. George W. Patterson came 
to town as agent for the Chautauqua land office 
and passed a long life of great usefulness, both 
as public official and private citizen. The com- 
ing of Dr. Francis B. Brewer in 1861 and Col. 
Jeremiah Drake, who was mortally wounded at 
the battle of Cold Harbor, while in command 
of a brigade, was an example of the 90 soldiers 
Westfield sent to the front to uphold the Union 
cause. The Lake Shore railroad was opened 
in 1852 and the prosperity which began about 
1840 has constantly attended the town. 

While farming and grape growing are the 
towns great source of wealth, the business in- 
terests of the town have always been impor- 
tant. 

The "hominy" mills were the first used in 
Westfield and Chautauqua county. John Mc- 
Mahan built the first gristmill near the mouth 
of Chautauqua creek, about 1804. Soon there- 
after a sawmill was built. Nathan Cass built 
a sawmill and a gristmill in 181 1, where the 
Westfield mill was erected later. Mr. Vorce 
owned the property later, and reopened it after 
a freshet carried away the dam. Amos At- 
water and Eber Stone owned it next. In 1818 






WEfTFIKT.-p III' I 



TOWNS— WESTFIELD 



another gristmill was built on the papermill 
site. Amos Atvvater built a sawmill in 1820 
and Simeon J. Porter soon after built an oilmill. 
Timothy Pope owned a sawmill that was built 
early on Chautauqua creek. Hiram Couch and 
Mr. Pope later had a carding and cloth-dressing 
mill there, which about 1850 was changed to a 
gristmill. Aaron Rumsey (1825) built a large 
tannery below the bridges east of the creek, and 
in 1840 William Tiffany started a tannery. 

The Westfield Marble and Granite Works 
were established in 1846. Samuel Nixon and 
his sons. E. C. and S. Frederick Nixon became 
interested and carried on a business of rapidly 
growing proportions. Hiram Couch and Les- 
ter Stone built a woolen factory in 1848, south 
of the bridge, which was operated for many 
years. In 1852 the manufacture of agricultural 
implements was begun by Buck and Patchin. 
About 1853 Crossgrove, Kimball and Wells 
started a foundry and machine shop. The 
Chautauqua Company was formed next year 
to manufacture agricultural implements, which 
from 1855 to i860 included mowers and reap- 
ers. George P. York manufactured Buckeye 
mowers, and William H. Wilson and Abel 
Patchen made the first oil tools used in the oil 
country and manufactured engines. 

An important manufacturing concern was 
the Townsend Manufacturing Company, or- 
ganized in 1864, to manufacture locks ; the com- 
pany did a large business for many years. The 
Westfield Manufacturing Company began to 
manufacture articles of wood in 1871. In 1874 
the Shackleton Steam Heating Company was 
organized. Andrew Burns engaged in the 
manufacture of grape baskets in 1884. Dexter 
N. Morse operated a large manufactory, with 
steam sawmill, planing and other machinery. 
F. R. Mosher operated a shingle mill, and in 
1883 moved his business and added a lumber 
yard. The Westfield Papermill is the only one 
in the three western counties of this State. Its 
site was deeded by the Holland Company in 
1823 to Judge T. B. Campbell. Ephraim San- 
ford later bought the log dam and sawmill that 
had been constructed. J. G. Plarris and G. W. 
Norton bought the property and built a grist- 
mill. Soon after 1864 Allen Wright organized 
the Westfield Paper Company, which built a 
paper mill at considerable expense, where the 
first "news" paper in Western New York was 
made. In 1866 the mill began to turn out 
round paper boxes that were in great demand 
for packing grapes. In 1869 Reuben G. Wright 
became proprietor, rebuilt and enlarged the 
mill, which has since passed through various 
hands and seen changes and vicissitudes. 



The Crowell Clutch and Pulley Company be- 
gan business in 1889 and prospered. The West- 
field Waterworks has many miles of mains and 
complete, approved apparatus for a fine grav- 
ity waterworks system to supply the village 
with filtered water from Chautauqua creek. 
George W. Patterson was the president of the 
board, the engineer of the work and the acting 
superintendent for years after the organiza- 
tion of the water board. 

Barcelona began its existence in 1831, when 
the Barcelona Company laid it out as a city on 
Lake Erie, although the location was not de- 
signed by nature as a terminal or important 
gateway of either water or railroad traffic. But 
a brick hotel was erected, five stores established 
and a thriving business was done. Cattarau- 
gus, Mayville and Barcelona were surveyed 
into lots by the Holland Land Company, and 
they were regarded as the most important 
places in the county. Barcelona was made a 
port of entry and in 1828 Judge Truman B. 
Campbell erected a lighthouse for the govern- 
ment, which was lighted by natural gas car- 
ried in wooden pump logs from the noted gas 
spring about three-fourths of a mile east. 

Previous to 1845 there was but one forward- 
ing house at Barcelona, which by excessive 
charges had repelled most of the traffic in pro- 
visions, etc. At this time Mr. E. T. Foote built 
a small wharf and began a forwarding business 
which soon commanded the bulk of the trade. 
In 1847 the increase of business had been so 
great that he built a wharf costing $20,000 on 
the north side of the point. Government ap- 
propriations for the harbor finally ceased and 
Mr. Foote built a long wharf and freight houses 
on the east side, inside the bar, suitable for the 
accommodation of small steamers and sail ves- 
sels, and carried on a trade in flour, salt, lime, 
etc., making lime from material brought 
from Canada. His property was finally sold by 
him to Stephen Rumsey for $12,000. Mr. Foote 
was a son of Stephen Foote and was born in 
Litchfield, Conn., in 1804. He came to West- 
field in 1S16 with his father. The elder Foote 
took up lands on both branches of Chautauqua 
creek and built a log house on the old French 
road, near Glen mill. Gervis as a young man 
settled on the Peacock land, near the lake, 
where he lived thirty years, and made many 
improvements. From Barcelona he went with 
the general tide of business to Westfield and 
kept a grocery. Cynthia, his daughter, mar- 
ried A. K. Comstock. The Foote family, origi- 
nally from England, were extensive land own- 
ers in Connecticut. One member of the family 



246 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



married Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher, and others 
married colonial governors. 

Joshua La Due, an early resident of the 
county, who came from Auburn, was in 1846 
appointed keeper of the lightouse at Barcelona, 
which position he held several years. General 
Joseph Farnsworth, who settled in Barcelona 
in 1816 and engaged in the mercantile trade, 
was born in Groton, Mass., in 1765. He built 
the houses and shops on the "Abbott Place," 
and manufactured plows, axes and edge tools 
for many years. David L. Cochran, a native of 
Pennsylvania, settled between Barcelona and 
Westfield, where he operated a sawmill and in- 
dulged in scientific studies. Mr. Cochran lived 
to the great age of ninety-four years, his death 
occurring in 1890. 

The trade of Barcelona held up well for quite 
a number of years. The country was rich in 
natural resources and there were no competing 
harbors near enough to cause concern. The 
"William Peacock" steamboat was built in 
183 1, by a company principally of Westfield 
people, to transport passengers between Buf- 
falo and Erie, and the Barcelona Company was 
formed to develop the place. Among those in- 
terested were Smith and Macy, of Buffalo, 
Charles M. Reed, of Erie, Nathaniel A. Lowry, 
Elial T. Foote and Samuel Barrett, of James- 
town, Augustus U. Baldwin, Calvin Rumsey 
and Thomas B. Campbell, of Westfield. The 
building of the great railroad lines along the 
shore of Lake Erie, destroyed the importance 
of this port. The trade gravitated to Westfield 
naturally and that community grew so rapidly 
that in 1833 it was incorporated a village, this 
giving added impetus to that already prosper- 
ous center of trade. Business concerns multi- 
plied, new industries came in and Westfield in 
common with the entire "grape belt" has passed 
through three-quarters of a century of gratify- 
ing prosperity. 

Sextus H. Hungerford organized a State 
bank in 1848, which was succeeded by the First 
National Bank of Westfield, the latter institu- 
tion organized in July, 1864, beginning busi- 
ness October 1 of that year, F. W. Brewer, 
president. Westfield Academy was chartered 
by the Legislature May 5, 1837. The "West- 
field Republican," founded by M. C. Rice claims 
the honor of being the first Republican news- 
paper in the State. 

Presbyterian (1808), Methodist Episcopal 
(1831), Baptist (1825), Episcopal (1830), Uni- 
versalist (1833), German Evangelical (1861) 
and Roman Catholic churches flourish in the 
village, with the Academy Union School and 



graded schools furnishing educational advan- 
tages of the best character. The village post- 
office was established June 15, 1818, on the 
east side of the creek, Fern Deming, postmas- 
ter. The first postoffice (Chautauqua) in the 
county, established on the west side of the 
creek, May 6, 1806, James McMahan, postmas- 
ter, was discontinued when the Westfield office 
was opened. The locality first occupied along 
Main and Portage streets has remained the 
business section, while the residence district 
has spread over a wide area of beautiful homes, 
lawns and well shaded streets. The churches 
and school buildings are handsome and in 
keeping with the general beauty of the village, 
gas, electric and water systems have been in- 
stalled and the Patterson Memorial Library, 
gift from Miss Hannah Patterson, testifies to 
the public spirit which distinguishes West- 
field's citizens. The fraternal orders are well 
represented and since 1883 William Sackett 
Post, Grand Army of the Republic, has been an 
institution of the village. 

As the chief occupation of the town of West- 
field is farming and grape growing, the popula- 
tion has not increased rapidly since the town 
became fairly well settled. In i860 the num- 
ber of inhabitants was 3,640 and did not vary 
more than 100 from that figure until 1880, 
when it had fallen to 3,323. In 1900 it had 
risen to 3,715, and according to the State cen- 
sus of 191 5 it was 4,707, of whom 343 were 
aliens. Westfield village reported for the same 
census a population of 3,319. 

The principal manufacturing interests of the 
village are : Armour & Co., grape juice ; D. N. 
Morse, grape baskets ; Welch Grape Juice Co., 
grape juice; Westfield Lumber Co., also six 
small factories. These industries employ 158 
men and 25 women, 53 being office employees. 
The supervisors of Westfield since the erec- 
tion of the town are as follows: 1829, Amos 
Atwater; 1830, John McWhorter; 1831-33, 
Amos Atwater; 1834-35, Robert Cochran; 
1836-37, George Hall; 1838, William Sexton; 
1839-40-41, Elijah Waters; 1842, Thomas B. 
Campbell; 1843, James Pratt; 1844, Thomas B. 
Campbell; 1845-47, John G. Hinckley; 1848, 
Alvin Plumb; 1849-50, Austin Smith; 1851, 
George Hall; 1852, Alvin Plumb; 1853-54, 
Joshua R. Babcock; 1855, John G. Hinckley; 
1856-57, William Vorce ; 1858-60, George W. 
Patterson; 1861-66, Sextus H. Hungerford; 
1867, George W. Patterson; 1868-69, Francis 
B. Brewer; 1870-71, Henry C. Kingsbury ; 1872- 
79, Francis B. Brewer; 1880-82, Edward A. 



TOWNS— WESTFIELD 



247 



Skinner; 1883-85, E. H. Dickerman ; 1886-1905, 
S. Fred Nixon; 19x16-15, William H. Thomp- 
son; 1916-17, Gerald D. Gibbs; 1918-20, Robert 
Douglass. 

Westfield is third among the towns of the 
county in the value of its real estate, Pomfret 



being first, Hanover second, Westfield third. 
The full value of real estate as reported by the 
equalization committee of the Eoard of Super- 
visors in 1918 was $5,169,032; the assessed 
value, $4,031,845; equalized assessed value, 
$4,055,473. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
Chautauqua County To-Day. 



The Chautauqua county of to-day, through 
the Chautauqua Institution and its study 
courses, is known wherever the English lan- 
guage prevails and each summer is visited by 
people from literally "all over the world." An 
area of 1,099 square miles is included within 
county borders, divided into twenty-six towns, 
Harmony having recently been divided. There 
are two important cities in the county, James- 
town with a population of 37,780, and Dunkirk, 
17,870 (census of 1915). There are fourteen 
incorporated villages and towns reported in the 
same census — Bemus Point, Brocton, Celoron, 
Cherry Creek, Falconer, Forestville, Fredonia, 
Lakewood, Mayville, Panama, Sherman, Silver 
Creek, Sinclairville and Westfield, with a com- 
bined population of 21,737. The population of 
the county in 1890, according to the United 
States census, was 75,202; in 1900, 88,314; in 
1910, 105,126, and by the State census of 1915, 
106.861. 

The surface of Chautauqua county is hilly, 
rolling upland principally, well adapted for 
grazing purposes and fruit culture. The aver- 
age acre value of farm land in the county in 
1918 (State report) was $58.38, while the Na- 
tional census of 1910 reported the aggregate 
valuation of all farm property to be $43,738,499, 
an increase of 41.8 per cent, in ten years. 

Chautauqua is the greatest grape producing 
county in the United States ; ranks second in 
the quantity of currants produced ; and is fourth 
among the poultry raising counties. The last 
census (1910) shows 35,000 acres of vineyards, 
from which in that year 3,582 carloads of 
grapes, 1,225,000 gallons of grape juice, and 
750,000 gallons of wine were produced. The 
same year the 7,500 farms of the county also 
produced 104,995 bushels of shelled corn; 918,- 
706, oats; 291,844, potatoes; 110,719, buck- 
wheat ; 26,992, barley ; 25,523, wheat, and 163,- 
289 tons of hay and forage. The dairy products 
of the county included 23,384,208 gallons of 
milk, and the value of all dairy products sold 
totaled $2,034,455. Farm stock was thus classi- 
fied for the same year (1910): Dairy cows, 



41,526; horses, 14,939; swine, 14,459; sheep, 
5,626 ; poultry, 387,683. 

The annual precipitation was 39.09 inches ; 
the annual mean temperature, 50.03 degrees. 

Traversing the county are 36 miles of State 
roads of modern construction, and 1,896 miles 
of improved highways. There are 277 district 
schools in the county, besides graded and high 
schools in the cities and villages. There are 40 
agricultural organizations, and the county is 
the home of the Chautauqua Institution, with 
its extensive assembly grounds ; hundreds of 
summer cottages, schools, halls for meetings, 
and a great amphitheatre seating thousands, 
where students and visitors congregate for 
profit and pleasure. 

Situated along the Lake Erie coast are Dun- 
kirk and Silver Creek, the former a modern city 
with a good harbor, good transportation facili- 
ties and great industries, the latter an impor- 
tant incorporated village. Westfield is the cen- 
ter of the grape industry ; Fredonia the home of 
the State Normal College; Jamestown the cen- 
ter of manufacturing and the metropolis of the 
county ; Mayville the capital or county seat. 
Two railroads follow the lake shore, while the 
Pennsylvania and Erie railroads, with main 
line and branches, traverse the interior, con- 
necting all parts with Buffalo and the east, west 
and south. An excellent electric system en- 
circles Chautauqua Lake. Jamestown is con- 
nected with Westfield and Dunkirk by these 
roads, and in the matter of transportation the 
county is well served. Steamers ply Chau- 
tauqua Lake during the summer season, leav- 
ing Jamestown at frequent intervals for the 
lake resorts. 

The leading natural feature of the county is 
Chautauqua Lake, a long narrow body of water 
extending in a general southeastern direction 
from Mayville, about eight miles from Lake 
Erie, its width varying from one to two and 
one-half miles. The lake is 1,291 feet above sea 
level, and 726 feet above Lake Erie. Its waters 
issue through its southeastern end at James- 
town through the Outlet enter Conewango 



248 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



creek, passing thence to the Allegheny, the 
Ohio, the Mississippi, to the Gulf. It is a beau- 
tiful sheet of water, with its settings and loca- 
tion, and furnishes delightful recreation to vis- 
itors from every clime, and perpetual pleasure 
to the thousands whose homes are on its shores 
or near by. Volumes innumerable have been 
written upon Chautauqua, its lake, its assem- 
bly, and its beauty ; but its charm remains, and 
every Chautauquan, native or adopted, has a 
real affection for this most favored section of 
New York State. 

Chautauqua county industrial statistics for 
the year 1913 are enlightening. Number of fac- 
tories. 3S1 ; employes, 16,722; office employes, 
1.052: shop employes, 15,670. Of these em- 
ployes, 12,567 were men. with 130 boys between 
ages 14 and 16. There were 2,887 women, 86 
of them girls between 14 and 16. 

Jamestown leads in manufacturing, with 169 
factories, large and small, employing 9,103 
hands, of whom there are 6.616 men, 1,785 
women, 141 children, 561 office hands. The 
largest employing concern, September 30, 1913, 
was the Art Metal Construction Company, with 
two plants, one employing 875, the other 255 
hands. 1. 130 in all. The Salisbury Wheel and 
Manufacturing Company came next with 335. 
Two concerns, a brewery and a bottling works, 
employing 26 men, gave up the ghost with the 
demise of John Barleycorn in 1920. The furni- 
ture factories employ by far the greater num- 
ber of men working in Jamestown industries. 

Dunkirk is second in manufacturing impor- 
tance, with 60 factories, large and small, which 
with the Lake Shore railroad repair shops em- 
ploy an average monthly force of 3.643 men, 
380 women, 29 children, 298 being office work- 
ers. Two breweries, employing 25 men, were 
closed by the Eighteenth Amendment. The 
American Locomotive Company employs 3,009 
men in their Dunkirk plant, the next most im- 
portant concern being the American Glove 
Company, with 261 hands. 

Falconer is the home of the Chautauqua 
Worsted Mills Company, and the Cleveland 
Worsted Mills Company and Simpson Jones & 
Company, manufacturers of wool yarn. Her 
other special manufacturing interests are furni- 
ture, house trim, mirrors, veneer, lumber and 
wood advertising novelties, the 16 factories of 
the village employing an average monthly force 
of 716 men, 443 women, 14 children and 41 
office workers. 

Fredonia's industries include the manufac- 



ture of proprietary medicines, grape juice, maca- 
roni, furniture and canned goods, 149 men, 49 
women. 5 children and 16 office workers being 
employed. 

Silver Creek manufactures in her nine princi- 
pal factories, canceling machines, canned and 
preserved goods, grain cleaning and canning 
factory machinery, furniture, upholstery and 
underwear. 

Westfield specializes in grape juice and grape 
baskets, her factories, with the Westfield Lum- 
ber and Coal Company, employing 158 men, 
25 women, 1 child and 53 office hands. Lum- 
ber manufacturing, cheese making and butter 
factories are found in different parts of the 
county. 

The factories of Chautauqua county paid in 
salaries to the officials managing them (accord- 
ing to the United States census, 1910), $420,- 
911 ; to clerks, $574,255; to factory hands, $3,- 
305.245. These same factories converted raw 
materials worth §7,383.868 into manufactured 
products, valued at S14.720.240. 

The following tables are taken from the Jour- 
nal of Proceedings of the county Board of Su- 
pervisors for the year 1918: 



Arkwright 



Carroll 

Charlotte 

Chautauqua . . 
Cherry Creek 

Clymer 

Dunkirk 

Ellery 

Ellicott 

Ellington 
French Creek 

Gerry 

Hanover 

Harmony 
Jamestown . . . 
Kiantone .... 

Mina 

Poland 

Pomfret 

Portland 

Ripley 

Sheridan 

Sherman 

Stockton 

Villenova 
Westfield .... 



22,083 
30,168 
20.65S 
22,1 §4 
41,318 

22,957 

21,085 
6,632 

30.098 
19.065 
23,081 
21.832 
21,992 
30.402 

54.734 

4,364 
11,456 

22.02S 
22,447 
26,491 
21.34- 
30,761 

22.6-} 

22,980 
29.037 
22,826 
29,341 



fa > 



$ 451,731 
2,460,585 
1,022,784 

696,284 
4,297,105 

763,62; 

970,726 

15,781,165 
1,763,987 

3,8 16,117 
5< 9.857 

472,810 

843,197 
5,694,070 
2,353,*" 
31.492,680 

468.782 

598.110 
1,129,918 
6,443,635 
3,735.387 
2,415,309 
3,497,238 
1,195,87. 
1,243,811 

593,135 
5,169,032 



> 35 



$ 354,414 

1,931,504 

802,446 

546.283 

3,371,384 

599,H7 

761,603 

12,381446 

1,383,973 

3.033,243 

447,092 

370,952 

661.547 

4,467.403 

1,846,744 

24,721,948 

367,792 

469,259 

886,500 

5,055,490 

2,930,676 

1,890,879 

2,743.832 

938,249 

975,857 

465.357 

4.055.473 



Totals |655,7Q2|$99,9QO-go ! $78,459,963 



TELEPHONE, TELEGRAPH, GAS AND WATER COMPANIES 



249 



LOCAL TELEPHONE, TELEGRAPH, GAS AND 
WATER COMPANIES IN CHAUTAUQUA 
COUNTY IN 1918 



Arkwright 

Arkwright 

Arkwright 




Forestville Water Line 

Dunkirk & Fredonia Tel. Co 








Western N. Y. El. Lt. & Power Co 




Jamestown Light & Power Co 

Carroll Elec. Lt. & Power Co 


Carroll 



Carroll |Home Telephone Co. 

Charlotte 

Charlotte 

Charlotte 

Charlotte 

Charlotte 

Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Chautauqua . . . 
Cherry Creek . . 
Cherry Creek. . 
Cherry Creek. . 

Clymer 

Clyraer 

Clymer 

Clymer 

Clymer 

Dunkirk 
Dunkirk 
Dunkirk 



Central-Chant. Telephone Co 

Stockton Telephone Co 

Sinclairville Electric Light Co. 
Sinclairville Independent Tele. Co. 

Dunkirk & Fredonia Tel. Co 

Mayville Telephone Co 

Stedman Telephone Co 

Niagara & Erie Power Co 

South Shore Nat. Gas & Fuel Co. , 

Sherman Telephone Co 

Stockton Telephone Co 

Sinclairville Ind. Tel. Co 

Western N. Y. Electric Co 

Randolph Light & Power Co 

J. M. Ackley Telephone Co 

Chautauqua Tel. & Tel. Co 

Ashville & Panama Tel. Co 

Clymer Telephone Co 

Sherman Telephone Co 

Clymer Water Co 

Clymer Power Co 

South Shore Gas & Fuel Co 

Frost Gas Co 

Niagara & Erie Power Co. 



Hanover Frost Gas Co 

Hanover Silver Creek Gas & Impr. Co. . . . 

Hanover Silver Creek Elec. Co 

Hanover Forestville Water Works 

Harmony Ashville & Panama Tel. Co 

Harmony Western N. Y. Electric Co 

Harmony Niobe Telephone Co 

Harmony Sherman Telephone Co 

Harmony Stedman Tel. Co 

Harmony Panama Power Co 

Jamestown Home Telephone Co 

Jamestown .... Jamestown Light & Power Co. . . 

Jamestown I National District Telegraph Co. . 

Jamestown .... I Pennsylvania Gas Co 

Kiantone I Pennsylvania Gas Co 

Kiantone I Carroll Elec. Light & Power Co. 

Kiantone |Home Telephone Co., Jamestown 

Kiantone I Kiantone Co-Operative Tel. Co. . 

Mina I Mina Cors. Telephone Co. 

Mina 
Mina 
Mina 
Mina 
Mina 



Dunkirk | Dunkirk & Fredonia Tel. Co. 



Dunkirk National District Telegraph Co 

Dunkirk W. E. Carroll Gas Co 

Ellery Home Telephone Co., Jamestown 

Ellery Western N. Y. Electric Co 

Ellery Ellery Subway Telephone Co 

Ellery Sinclairville Independent Tel. Co 

Ellicott Pennsylvania Gas Co 

Ellicott Jamestown Water Supply Co 

Ellicott JHome Telephone Co 

Ellicott I Western N. Y. Electric Co 

Ellicott Jamestown Light & Power Co 

Ellington ! Randolph Light & Power Co 

Ellington | Chautauqua Teleg. & Tel. Co 

Ellington | Central Chautauqua Tel. Co 

Ellington | John M. Ackley Telephone Co 

French Creek. . IFindley Lake & French Creek Tel. Co. 

French Creek. . j Clymer Telephone Co 

French Creek. . | Sherman Telephone Co 

French Creek.. |West Mina Farmers' Telephone Co... 

Gerry I Home Telephone Co 

Gerry I Sinclairville Ind. Tel. Co 

Gerry I Central Chaut. Tel. Company 

Gerry | Sinclairville Electric Light Co 



Lake & So. Ripley Tel. Co. 

Findlev Lake & Clover Hill Tel. Co. . 

Findley L. & Sulphur Springs Tel. Co. 

Ashton Tel. Co 

Findley Lake & North East Toll Line. 

ina j Findley Lake & French Creek Tel. Co. 

Mina | West Mina Farmers' Tel. Co 

Mina I Holland Telephone Co 

Mina I Greenfield Telephone Co 

Mina Sherman Telephone Co 

Poland I Jamestown Light & Power Co 

Poland I Chautauqua Telephone & Tel. Co 

Poland IHome Tel. Co 

Pomfret |Frost Gas Co 

Pomfret I Dunkirk & Fredonia Telephone Co. 

Pomfret ! Portland Telephone Co 

Pomfret I Stockton Telephone Co 

Pomfret I Niagara & Erie Power Co 

Portland I Brocton Gas & Fuel Co 

Portland I South Shore Gas Co 

Portland I Portland Telephone Co 

Portland I Dunkirk & Fredonia Tel. Co 

Portland I Westfield Telephone Co 

Ripley ! Ripley Water Supply Co 

Ripley ! Ripley Telephone Co 

Ripley I Sherman Telephone Co 

Ripley I Westfield Telephone Co 

Ripley ! Rinley Electric Light Co 

Ripley I Willow Brook Gas Co 

Sheridan JFrost Gas Company 

Sheridan I South Shore Nat. Gas & Fuel Co 

Sheridan 1 Dunkirk & Fredonia Telephone Co. 

Sheridan |Niagara & Erie Power Co 

Sheridan I Silver Creek Gas & Impr. Co 

Sherman I Sherman Telephone Co 

Sherman I Ashville & Panama Tel. Co 

Stockton [Sinclairville Ind. Tel. Co 

Stockton ! Stockton Telephone Co 

Stockton I Dunkirk & Fredonia Tel. Co 

Stockton JFrost Gas Company 

Stockton I Niagara & Erie Power Co 

Villenova JHamlet Telephone Co 

Villenova ! Randolph Electric Lt. & Power Co. 

Westfield | Westfield Telephone Co 

Westfield I Sherman Telephone Co 

Westfield I South Shore Gas Co 



U 


XBJ. 


Vf 












1 










c 










d ri « d> 






O 


1 
f 

1 




e4 












c 










° 












Tl- 








-| 


anjBA 


69- 












8 










1, 










£8 § § 






o 

q\ 


6 

c 
U 
>i 


XEJ. 


% 


I 










00 




3\ f^. 








COON ^tOC 
ro rf ti ro 


d 


« 


'[Bpscls 


'fr 












"5 


1 














11 










1 


anpA 


«/5- 


8 

00 








00 

s 


8 

if 




o o 

°8 








§£888 


o 

1 


£ 




»1 








00 


1 


si 

00 M 




Tt-moo 

NOCi 




3 

■* 






6 








asiipuBJj 
jspads 








3 


| 


l 






of 


c 






















an^A 










if 

od 


£8 

00 o 

o" t% 




III 




1 






I 








C 

c 


XBX 


<Jt 






I 












1 










q to 


O Ov 
00 tx 






o 
q\ 

"? 

1 


asiipuEJj 
>psds 


<A 






<"5 




c 










00~ 












O 




$ 






snpA 


m- 






O 


§1 

oc o 










1 












8S 
If 








t/3 
Z 

o 

H 




C 


J: 




> 

- 






> 
£ 


1 


< 


L 


L 




: 

E 


c 
J 


c 

? 


i 


1 


1 
(I 


1 

& 


: 


i 


I 


S 
i 




: 

r 

> 


— 






w 3, 



■03 3jqE 3 
S -px I B l so d 


a 
> 




1 
< 

< 


/> : : 


::::: :| :::::: : 


390.OO 
1,100.00 


°D 'PI 3 

•pj, UB3U3UIV 


.0 

a 
> 




< 


: :8 
: j| 

4- '• 


: : : :8 : :8 : :8 : : : 
::::d::6::d::: 
: '. : :*o : '.^ '. ■ °v • ■ • 


:888 :::::: 8 
HH8 £ 

■ of «f 10 ■ ■ ■ • • • 0" 


•03 -px 5 

•PX IBJ3P3J 


c 

.0 

> 




< 


«- • ■ 


8 :g :888 : :8 : ': : : 
g:d:ooo'::g:::: 


K 8 
: : : : :| : : : ': | 


(°3 PX S 
PX d 5 A - N) 
•03 auoijdapx 

>[J0 A A\3 N 


.0 

a 
> 


1 

< 


oooooo • -o -o • ' 

-am uu 1 i 

PO H •»?.-, • • • ■ 

A- 


HH° H 8 
; on '. "*> ; ; 00 * \o 


•03 qdwSapx 

UOIUQ UJ3}S3j\V 


i 
> 



< 


ill 


: :j? :8 ■■£§ :888 : : 

. . 00 ; O. ; « ro ; CMO t> ■ • 

: : : « : m : •& -t : : 


:£888 : :8 :8? 

. m co -fO_ • - - *o 

: ef rCo" £ : : : cf gi 










Charlotte 

Cherry Creek 

Dunkirk 

Ellery 

Ellicott 

French Creek 

Hanover 

Jamestown 


Mina 

Pomfret 

Ripley 

Sherman 

Stockton 

Villenova 

Westfield 



MISCELLANEOUS 



HISTORY OF THE HOLLAND PURCHASE. 

By Lieut.-Comdr. W. H. Faust, U. S. N. 



France originally claimed that part of the United 
States in which the Holland Land Purchase was located, 
through the pioneer discoveries of the noted La Salle. 
Her rights were extinguished by the Treaty of Paris 
in 1763, so it is only necessary to inquire into the pro- 
prietary rights of the States of Massachusetts, Connec- 
ticut and New York to determine the right and title to 
the lands sold to this Dutch company. 

King Charles II. of England granted a charter to 
Connecticut in 1662 which included all the land between 
, Narragansett Bay and the Pacific Ocean, and lying 
between the parallels of latitude of 41 ° and 42 ° 02'. The 
southern boundary of the Holland Land grant is always 
described as along the northern boundary of Pennsyl- 
vania which is given as the 42° parallel of latitude. It 
will be seen from this that the State of Connecticut had 
claim to a narrow strip of land only two miles wide along 
the whole southern boundary of New York State. Con- 
necticut "sold its right to this strip of land to certain 
parties who erected one of the beautiful capital buildings 
of the State of Connecticut as part consideration for the 
purchase price, and this unrelinquished but unprosecuted 
right to the southern border of our county is still held 
by their heirs." (Cent. Hist.) If this is true, then this 
narrow strip was claimed by the four States of Penn- 
sylvania, Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, and 
not by the latter two only. It is singular that no mention 
is made of this Connecticut claim in the "Deduction of 
the Titles of the Several Tracts of Land in the State 
of New York Composing the Tract of Country Called 
the Holland Purchase", printed by S. Gould, undated, 
but published presumably about the time the attached map 
was revised in 182Q. As long as this alleged claim has 
remained quiescent for so many years, it seems unneces- 
sary to look further into its validity. 

The title to a large portion of the territory within the 
now acknowledged limits of the State of New York, 
including the whole of the Genesee country, was a sub- 
ject of controversy between the provinces of New York 
and Massachusetts, both as to the right of property and 

NOTE — This history is a compilation of references 
to the Holland Purchase, the Holland Land Company, 
and the latter's successor in Chautauqua county, the 
Chautauqua Land Company, taken from various his- 
tories and documents, and no originality whatever is 
claimed in its production. Whole sentences, para- 
graphs and pages have been taken verbatim from 
documents that form part of the records'of the Chau- 
tauqua Land Office, and from the "Centennial History 
of Chautauqua County;" O. Turner's "Pioneer History 
of the Holland Purchase of Western New York" (1850); 
Andrew \V. Young's "History of Chautauqua County. 
N. T." (1S75): Warren's "Sketches of the History of 
Chautauqua County;" and "Deduction of the Titles of 
the Several Tiacts of Land in the State of New York. 
Composing the Tract of Country Called the Holland 
Purchase." by S. Gould. In referring to these histories, 
the names of the authors only will be appended after 
each quotation and the abbreviation "Cent. His." will 
be made for the "Centennial History." In all quoted 
matter, the orthography, etc., is used as in the docu- 
ments from which such matter is taken. 



the right of jurisdiction, prior to the Revolution; the 
disputed territory being claimed by both provinces in 
virtue of ancient grants and charters under the crown of 
England. 

King James I. in 1620 granted to the Plymouth Com- 
pany, a tract of country called New England, running 
through the continent, ' from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
ocean, part of which, also extending to the Pacific, was 
granted in 1628 by the Plymouth Company to Sir Henry 
Roswell and his associate, called the Massachusetts Bay 
Company. 

"The first charter of Massachusetts granted by King 
Charles I., in 1628, appears to have been vacated by 
quo warranto in 1684; a second charter was grant.il 
liv William and Mary in 1691. in which the territorial 
limits of the province, although differently bounded, 
are also made to extend westerly to the Pacific ocean." 
— (Young). 

"The province, of New York was granted in 1663 by 
Charles II. to the Duke of York and Albany (after- 
wards King James II.), who subsequently granted to 
Berkeley and Carteret the province of New Jersey. 
The remainder of the country granted by Charles II. 
constituted the province of New York, which always 
claimed to extend her limits, both as to the right of 
property and jurisdiction, as far north as the bounds 
of Canada. 

"Of the territory which by the Treaty of Peace of 
1783 was ceded by Great Britain to the United States 
in their collective capacity, each of the individual 
States claimed such portions as were comprehended 
within their original grants or charters. Massachu- 
setts consequently laid claim to a strip of land extend- 
ing to the westerly bounds of the United States, thus 
dividing the State of New York into two parts." — (S. 
Gould). 

"Those who are familiar with the political history 
of this country, will remember that, near and soon 
after the close of the Revolutionary War, several 
of the States ceded their western lands to the general 
government as a fund to aid in the payment of the 
war debt. New York ceded hers by deed dated March 
1 1781, two years before the peace. In 17S3, Congress 
requested those States that had not already done so, 
to cede portions of their territory for that purpose. 
Virginia ceiled March 1, 17S4: Massachusetts. April 1!'. 
■ml Connecticut. September 13, 1786. transferred 
her claim reserving about 3. ,1 acres in the north- 
east part of the present State of Ohio."— (Young). 

The lands ceded by Massachusetts were transferred by 
the following authority: "The legislature of Massachu- 
setts, by two acts passed 13th November, 1784, and 17th 
March, 1785, authorized a session by their delegates in 
Congress to the United States, of such part of the terri- 
tory between the Hudson and Mississippi rivers as the 
delegates might think proper, under which authority, a 
deed of session was executed by the delegates, on the 
1 8th April, 1785." By this deed all the territory lying 
westward of a meridian line to be drawn from the lati- 
tude of forty-five degrees north, through the most 
westerly bend of Lake Ontario, or a meridian line drawn 
through a point twenty miles due west from the most 
westerly bend of the Niagara river (whichever line 
should be found to be most to the west), was ceded to 
the United States. 




MAP OF MORRIS'S PURCHASE, OR WEST GENESEO, NEW YORK 

Exhibiting parts of lakes Erie and Ontario, the Straits of Niagara. 

Chautauqua Lake, and all the principal waters; the boundary lines of 

the several tracts of land purchased l>\ the Holland Land Co any, 

William and John Willitik. and others. Boundary lines of townships. 
Boundary lines of New York and Indian Reservations. Laid down by 
actual survey. Also a sketch of Upper Canada, by Joseph and B. Elli- 
cott, 1800. To the Holland Land Company, their general agents Theo- 
pliilus Cazenove and Paul Busti, Esquires, this map is respectfully 
inscribed by the authors. 1804. 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



253 



The State of New York had previously limited her 
western boundary by the same line, an instrument to 
this effect dated 1st March, 1781, having been executed 
by her delegates in Congress, under the authority of an 
act passed 19th February, 1780. 

The acceptance of these cessions by the United States 
may be considered as a full recognition of the rights of 
Massachusetts and New York to such of the territories 
within the limits of their respective charters as were not 
included in the cessions, but the interfering claims of the 
two States as to those territories being left unsettled, they 
were brought under the cognizance of Congress in pur- 
suance of the Articles of Confederation, and a court was 
instituted to decide thereon according to the provisions 
of the 9th article; but no decision was made by that 
tribunal. 

These conflicting claims were revived after the peace 
of 1783, and were finally settled by a convention between 
the two States, concluded at Hartford on the 16th De- 
cember, 1786. A compact was made by commissioners on 
the part of each State. Those of Massachusetts were 
appointed under an act passed 14th March, 1784, a reso- 
lution passed 18th March, 1784, and a supplementary act 
passed 5th July, 1786 ; those of New York under an act 
passed 12th November, 1784, and a supplementary act 
passed 28t!i April, 1786. By this compact, Massachusetts 
ceded to New York all claim to the government, sover- 
eignty and jurisdiction of the lands in controversy, and 
New York ceded to Massachusetts and to her grantees, 
and to their heirs and assigns forever, the right of pre- 
emption to the soil from the native Indians, and all other 
the estate, right, title and property of New York, except 
the right and title of government, sovereignty and juris- 
diction (among others), to all the lands within the fol- 
lowing limits and bounds, viz. : 

Beginning- in the north boundary line of the state of 
Pennsylvania, in the parallel of forty-two degrees of 
north latitude, at a point distant eighty-two miles, 
west from the north-east corner of the State of Penn- 
sylvania, on Delaware river, as the said boundary line 
has been run and marked bv the commissioners ap- 
pointed by the States of Pennsylvania and New York 
resj tively. and from the said point or place of begin- 
ning, running on a due meridian north, to the bound- 
ary line between the United States of America and 
the King of Great Britain; thence westerly and 
southerly along the said boundary line to a meridian, 
which will pass one mile due east from the northern 
termination of the strait, or waters between Lake 
Ontario and Lake Erie, thence south along the said 
meridian to the south shore of Lake Ontario; thence 
on the eastern side of the said strait, by a line always 
one mile distant from and parallel to the said strait to 
Lake Erie, thence due west to the boundary line 
between the Tinted States and Great Britain; thence 
along the said boundary line until it meets with the 
line of cession from the State of New York, to the 
United States, thence along the said line of cession 
to the northwestern corner of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, and thence east along the northern boundary 
line of the State of Pennsylvania to the said place of 
beginning. 

The meridian line which forms the eastern boundary 
of this cession passes through Seneca Lake, so that 
within the limits of the ceded territory as defined in the 
foregoing deed, are comprehended all the lands at any 
time owned or claimed by the Holland Land Company. 

It is provided by the above deed of cession from New 
York to Massachusetts, that the latter State might grant 
the right of preemption, as to the whole or any part of 
the ceded territory, to any person or persons, who should 
be authorized to extinguish the claims of the native 
Indians, provided that all purchases should be made in 
the presence of and approved by a superintendent to be 
appointed by Massachusetts, and should be confirmed by 
that State. 



By a treaty held with the Seneca Indians, and con- 
cluded on the 15th September, 1797, their claims to the 
whole tract of country, except small tracts reserved for 
their own occupation, was released to Robert Morris, 
who thereupon made confirmation to his grantees. This 
treaty was held and concluded on the part of Robert 
Morris, by his attorney, Thomas Morris, under a power 
executed to him for this purpose ; on the part of the 
United States, by their commissioner, Jeremiah Wads- 
worth, Esq., and on the part of Massachusetts by their 
superintendent, William Shepard, Esq. 

It was ratified by the Senate of the United States on 
the nth April, 1798, and having been formally confirmed 
by the governor of Massachusetts, under the authority of 
an act of the General Court, the confirmation was 
recorded in the Secretary's Office at Albany, pursuant to 
the nth article of the deed of cession. 

The State of Massachusetts, by a resolution of the 
Legislature, passed 1st April, 1788, contracted to sell to 
Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham the right of pre- 
emption in all the tract of country ceded bv the conven- 
tion of 1 6th December, 1786. On the 8th July, 1788, 
Gorham and Phelps purchased the Indian title to about 
2,600,000 acres of the eastern part of the purchase from 
Massachusetts. The part so released is thus described 
in the treaty : 

Beginning in the northern boundary line of the state 
of Pennsylvania, in the parallel of 42° N. at a point, 
distant S2 miles from the N.E. corner of Pennsylvania, 
on Delaware river, thence running west upon the said 
line to a meridian, passing through the point of land 
made by the confluence of the Shanahasgwaikon 
creek, with the waters of the Genesee river, thence 
north along the said meridian, to the point last men- 
tioned, thence northwardly along the waters of the 
Genesee river, to a point two miles north of Canawa- 
garas village, thence due west twelve miles, thence in 
a direction northwardly, so as to be 12 miles distant 
from the most westward bend of the Genesee river to 
Lake Ontario, thence eastwardly along the said lake 
to a meridian, which will pass through the place of 
beginning, and thence south along the said meridian, 
to the place of beginning. 

This tract, the Indian title to which had been extin- 
guished by Gorham and Phelps, was confirmed to them 
by an act of the legislature of Massachusetts, November 
21st, 1788, and is that tract which has been designated 
as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. 

Gorham and Phelps having afterwards failed to fulfil 
their terms of the contract, on the 15th February, 1790, 
made proposals in writing to the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, offering to surrender two-thirds in quantity and 
value of the whole of the contracted lands, two of their 
three bonds of $100,000 each, given for the purchase 
money, being cancelled ; the tract released by the Indians 
being retained by Gorham and Phelps, although the con- 
tents should exceed one-third of the whole, and in such 
case the surplus was to be paid for in money, at the 
average price of the whole. 

"Further proposals Were submitted by Gorham and 
Phelps, on the 26th February, and on the 1st March, 
1790, which taken together were accepted by the Leg- 
islature, but reserving to themselves the right of ac- 
centing in preference, at anv time within one year, the 
previous proposals of 15th February, 1790. An inden- 
ture was accordingly entered into between Massachu- 
setts and Gorham and Phelps, dated 9th June. 1790. by 
which, after reciting the proposals of 15th and 26th 
February and 1st March. 1790. and the proceedings of 
the Legislature thereon, Gorham and Phelps released 
to Massachusetts two equal undivided third parts of 
the whole tract of country ceded by New York, pro- 
vided, that in the participation thereof, Gorham and 
Phelps' one third should be assigned to them within 
the limits of their purchase of the Indians, and if that 
purchase should include more than one third of the 
whole that they, Gorham and Phelps, should pay for 
the surplus. The deed contained also covenants for the 



254 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



purchase by Gorham and Phelps of two fourths of the 
two thirds so released pursuant to the proposals of 
26th February. 1790; but it was neverthless provided 
and mutually agreed that Massachusetts or her assigns 
should and might at any time within one year next 
ensuing, the 5th day of March, then last past, 
assume and hold (giving notice thereof to Gorham 
and Phelps.) the whole of the two-thirds parts 
of the lands thereby released, subject only to the 
claims of Gorham and Phelps, to the said surplus, 
according to the proposals of the 15th February, 1790. 
In pursuance of the right thus reserved to Massachu- 
setts, the Legislature by a concurrent resolution, 
passed in the Senate on the 17th, and in the House of 
Representatives, on the 18th February, 1791. and ap- 
proved by the Governor, declared their election, that 
the two-thirds parts of said lands should remain the 
exclusive property of the Commonwealth, of which 
resolution notice was given to Gorham and Phelps, on 
the 19th February. 1791, by the secretary of the Com- 
monwealth, and certified to the Legislature. It is 
understood that the tract described in the Indian 
release exceeded both in quantity and value one third 
of the whole territory. That tract, with the exception 
of the parts sold, and two townships reserved by Gor- 
ham and Phelps, was subsequently sold by them to 
Robert Morris, and is described in the conveyance, 
dated 18th November, 1790, as containing 2.1"0.00o 
acres. The whole transaction in relation to Gorham 
and Phelps' purchase was finally settled by an inden- 
ture entered into between them and Massachusetts, 
dated 10th March, 1791, in pursuance of which the 
balance due from Gorham and Phelps, in respect to 
their retained portion of the entire territory, was paid 
on the 6th April. 1813, and entered in the Treasurer's 
books". — (S. Gould). 

By a concurrent resolution of the Legislature of Mas- 
sachusetts, passed in the House of Representatives on 
the 5th, and in the Senate on the 8th March, 1701, and 
duly approved by the Governor, a committee of each 
branch was appointed with power to negotiate a sale to 
Samuel Ogden of all the lands ceded to that State by 
the State of New York, excepting such parts thereof as 
then belonged to Nathanial Gorham and Oliver Phelps, 
their heirs or assigns, by virtue of any grant or con- 
firmation of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and 
reserving one equal undivided sixtieth part of the unex- 
cepted lands. (The first of these exceptions refers prob- 
ably to the cession of 19 April, 1783, by which Massa- 
chusetts ceded to the United States all her claims to 
lands lying west of a meridian line to be drawn from 
latitude 45 N. through the most westerly bend of Lake 
Ontario. The second exception refers to a tract of land 
within the bounds of the territory ceded by New York, 
which had been previously granted and confirmed to Gor- 
ham and Phelps.) The one sixtieth reservation in the 
original sale to Morris, was caused by a contract made by 
Gorham and Phelps, (prior to the surrender of their 
claims to Massachusetts) for the sale of the one sixtieth 
of the entire territory to John Butler; Butler subse- 
quently assigned his right to this one sixtieth to Robert 
Morris, who was thus enabled to acquire a title from 
Massachusetts. 

"The committee was composed of Samuel Phillips. 
Nathaniel Wells. David Cobb, William Eustis and 
Thomas Davis, who in pursuance of the powers thus 
delegated to them, concluded, and on the 12th March, 
1791, entered into and executed a written contract of 
sale in the form of an indenture with Samuel Ogden. 
liv which, on behalf of Massachusetts, they covenanted 
upon the terms and conditions therein specified, to 
convey to him or to his assigns all the estate and inter- 
est of the Commonwealth in the lands referred to in the 
foregoing resolution. 

"In pursuance of this contract, the above named 
committee bv deed poll, dated 11 May, 1791, conveyed 
to Robert Morris, as the assignee under Samuel Ogden. 
of the covenants contained in the deed of 12 March, 
1791. a tract of land containing about 500.000 acres, 
bounded westerly by a meridian line drawn from a 
point in the north line of Pennsylvania, distant twelve 
miles west from the southwest corner of the land con- 
firmed to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, to the 



line in Lake Ontario which divides the dominions of 
Great Britain and the United States: northerly by said 
dividing line; easterly by land confirmed to Gorham 
and Phelps; and southerly by the north line of Penn- 



syl 



"This tract, known as The Morris Reserve, forms no 
part of the land subsequently purchased of Robert 
Morris for the benefit of the Holland Land Company, 
but as its westerly bounds form the easterly bounds of 
those purchases, it is so far connected with the com- 
pany's titles."— (S. Gould). 

The lands of the Holland Land Company are embraced 
in four deeds of conveyance executed to Robert Morris 
by the above named committee, all dated nth May, 1791, 
each reciting the contract with Samuel Ogden, as con- 
tained in the instrument of the 12th March, 1791, together 
with his release of the covenants contained in that instru- 
ment, and his agreement that the lands therein described 
should be conveyed to Robert Morris, each reserving one 
undivided sixtieth part of the premises therein described, 
and severally conveying each a distinct tract of land 
supposed to contain 800,000 acres. 

The instrument of release and agreement here referred 
to is recorded at large in the office of the Secretary of 
Massachusetts, and is mentioned in a report made to the 
General Court by the committee who negotiated the sale 
to Morris, as one of the documents accompanying that 
report ; which documents were ordered to be filed in the 
treasurer's office, where the original release probably 
remains. A previous assignment appears to have been 
made by Ogden to Morris, dated 26th April, 1791 ; this 
instrument is set out at large in a brief of Morris' title 
made in the year 1792 by Miers Fisher, Esq. The con- 
currence of Samuel Ogden in the conveyances to Robert 
Morris, as a valid execution on the part of Massachu- 
setts of their contract with him, is further shown by his 
signature, as an instrumental witness to the execution of 
each of these conveyances. The following are the tracts 
so conveyed : 

"1. The first tract begins on the north line of the 
State of Pennsylvania, at a point distant twelve miles 
west from the southwest corner of land confirmed by 
the commonwealth of Massachusetts, to Nathaniel Gor- 
ham and Oliver Phelps, (this point in the Pennsylvania 
line, as may be seen in the description of the lands 
conveyed to Gorham and Phelps by a treaty with the 
Indians on Sth July. 17SS, is due south from the con- 
tluence of the Shanahasguaicon creek with the Genesee 
river; this creek, now called the Canaseroga, empties 
into the Genesee river near Williamsburgh. in Livings- 
ton county), thence running west, on the Pennsylvania 
line, sixteen miles; thence north, on a meridian lino, 
to the dividing line between the United States and the 
dominions of Great Britain; thence easterly on said 
dividing line until it comes to a point from which a 
meridian line will fall upon the point of beginning, 
and thence on the same meridian line to the place of 
beginning Consideration. $15,000. (This tract com- 
prehends Ranges I. II. and III. as laid down in the map 
of .1. & B. Ellicotfs survey of the Holland purchase). 

"2. The second tract begins on the north line of 
the State of Pennsylvania, at a point distant 28 miles 
west from the southwest corner of the land confirmed 
to Gorham and Phelps, thence running west on the 
Pennsylvania line 16 miles, thence north to the bound- 
ary line of the United States, thence easterly along 
that line to a point whence a meridian line will fall 
on the point of beginning, and thence south on that 
meridian to the place of beginning. Consideration. 
Jlr'iiMin. (This tract comprehends Ranges IV, V, and 
VI, as laid down on Ellicotfs map). 

"3. The third tract begins on the north line of the 
State of Pennsylvania, at a point distant 14 miles west 
from the southwest corner of the land confirmed to 
Gorham and Phelps, thence running west on the Penn- 
sylvania line 10 miles, thence north to the boundary 
line of the United States, thence easterly along that 
line to a point whence a meridian line will fall on the 
point of beginning, thence south on that meridian to 
the place of beginning. Consideration, $15,000. (This 
tract comprehends Ranges YH and VIII and 26.1 chains 
and 76 links, off the easterly side of Range IX. of El- 
licotfs map). 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



255 



"4. The fourth tract begins on the north line of the 
state of Pennsylvania, at a point distant 60 miles west 
from the southwest corner of the land confirmed to 
Gorham and Phelps, thence running- west until it 
meets the land ceded by Massachusetts to the United 
States, and by the United States sold to the State of 
Pennsylvania, thence northerly along the land so 
ceded, to Lake Erie, thence northeasterly along Lake 
Erie to a tract of land lying on the easterly of the 
river or strait of Niagara, belonging to the State of 
New York; (The western boundary of the cession to 
Massachusetts, between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. 
is a line running parallel with, and always one mile 
distant from the Niagara river, the intervening strip 
of land being by the deed of cession, reserved by, and 
confirmed to New York, which is the land here referred 
to); thence northerly along that tract to the boundary 
line of the United States in Lake Ontario, thence east- 
erly along that line to a point whence a meridian line 
will fall on the point of beginning: thence south on 
that meridian to the place of beginning. Considera- 
tion, SlO.OOn. (This tract comprehends the remaining 
westerly part of Range IX, and the whole of Ranges 
X. XI. XII, XIII. XIV and XV of Ellicotfs map). 

"The undivided one sixtieth part of the above 
described tracts reserved by each of the four deeds of 
conveyance (described above as a contract made by 
Gorham and Phelps with John Butler), was granted to 
Robert Morris in fee simple by a concurrent resolution 
of the Legislature of Massachusetts passed on the 20th 
.Tune, 1792, and approved by the Governor, of which 
resolution an exemplification under the great seal of 
the Commonwealth was recorded in the Secretary's 
office at Albany on the 10th November, 1792." 

"These four conveyances of the 11th May, 1791. were 
originally deposited in the hands of Nathaniel Apple- 
ton and two others, to secure the payment of the 
purchase money of the tracts granted by them respec- 
tively, a separate bond being taken for the purchase 
money of each tract, upon the payment of which the 
deed for such tract was to take effect. These bonds 
were all duly paid, and the conditional delivery thus 
became absolute. Direct proof of these facts, inde- 
pendently of the presumptions arising from the lapse of 
time and other circumstances, is afforded bv the rec- 
ords in the treasurer's office. Upon each bond, receipts 
are endorsed, signed by the then treasurer for the 
principal and interest monies. The payments are car- 
the treasurer's books of account, and upon 
Uso endorsed a receipt from the agents 
to the depositaries of the deeds, 
delivery of the same by them to 



each bond 

of Robert Morr 

acknowledging 



Rober 



Mc 



"These conveyances will be found to embrace all the 
territory within the State of New York, lying west of 
a meridian line commencing in the north bounds of 
Pennsylvania, at a point 12 miles distant west from 
the southwest corner of Gorham and Phelps' purchase, 
and thence extending north to the boundary line of 
the United States, in Lake Ontario, excepting only the 
reserved strip of land one mile in width, along the 
Niagara river; and with this exception, Robert Morris 
became seized of the pre-emptive title to the whole of 
this territory. 

"These lands, at the time of the sale and conveyance 
to Robert Morris, were in the occupation of the native 
Indians, but this occupation was not incompatible with 
the seizin in fee by Massachusetts at that time. By 
the deed of cession it was expressly stipulated between 
the two States, that Massachusetts might grant the 
right of pre-emption to the whole or any part of the 
ceded territory, with power to her grantees to extin- 
guish the Indian claim; but without anv stipulation 
on this subject, the grant of the pre-emptive title 
would have carried with it a right to the soil, subject 
to the possession of the Indians, and with the exclu- 
sive power to extinguish their claims. (Johnson v. 
Mcintosh. 8 Wheaton's Reports, 564") — (S. Gould). 

The above described deeds and confirmations, though 
somewhat long and tedious, seem now to have completed 
the chain of title in one man, Robert Morris : 

"In the winter of 17S2-3, an American governmental 

loan was made through two prominent banking firms 
of Amsterdam. Holland— the Willinks and the Van 
Staphorsts. The amount of the loan was Sl'.OOO.iimii and 
was to be repaid in five equal installments annually 
from 1793 to 1797. Robert Morris in the course of his 
duties as Superintendent of Finance, became ac- 
quaint ed through correspondence with these bankers. 
Close observers of affairs abroad as well as in America 
began to realize that vast fields were opening to 
speculative ventures of all kinds. 



"May 11, 1791. Morris bought of Massachusetts all 
the land in the State of New York west of the Genesee, 
at the same time realizing that as the first installment 
of the $2,000,000 loan would be due in 1793, the Dutch 
bankers would lie in funds seeking investment. Dur- 
ing 1792, skillfully worded pamphlets were broadly 
distributed through Holland describing the lands 
owned by Morris, and bearing strong indications of 
having been inspired by that eminent financier. 

"December 24, 1792, Robert Morris conveved to 
LeRoy & Linklean 1.500,00(1 acres of land. Between 
this and the following July conveyances were made to 
tiie same men covering the entire territory. LeRoy & 
I. ml;!. an were only trustees for certain gentlemen of 
Amsterdam afterward known as the Holland Land 
1 nmpany. There was no organized corporation, but 
simply three groups of capitalists, the extent of whose 
respective interests was a matter of private concern 
and impossible to ascertain." — (Cent. Hist.) 

Morris had paid $275,000 for the lands afterwards 
conveyed to the Holland Company, and for the extin- 
guishment of the Indian title another $100,000. As all 
the lands purchased by these Dutch bankers from Mor- 
ris were conveyed in separate parcels and at different 
times, the deed to each will be separately described in 
order that the chain of title may be complete. 

The following is an abstract exhibiting a deduction of 
title to 3,300,000 acres of land from Robert Morris to 
Wilhelm Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van 
Eeghen, Hendrick Vollenhoven and Rutger Jan Schim- 
melpenninck: 

A 

The Million and a Half Acre Tract. Embracing 422 
chains and 56 links off the west part of Range VII. and 
the whole of Ranges VIII, IX. X. XL XII. XIII. XIV, 
and XV, of Ellicotfs map. This tract, composed of 
two parcels, one containing a million, the other a 
half million of acres, was conveyed by: 

1. Robert Morris and Mary his wife, to Herman Le 
Roy and John Lincklaen; deed dated 24th December, 
1792. 

The first parcel is described as follows: "Begin- 
ning at a point on the southeastern shore of Lake 
Ontario, one mile due east from the northern termina- 
tion of the strait which divides Lake Ontario from 
Lake Erie, being a corner of lands reserved bv the 
State of New York, and from the said point extending 
along the shore of Lake Ontario, easterly so far as 
upon actual mensuration shall be found necessary to 
include within the lines and bounds next hereinafter 
mentioned and described, the full and just quantity of 
one million acres of land, exclusive of lands covered 
with waters of ponds or lakes within the same, which 
shall be more than four miles in circumference as to 
such pond or lake, and from the termination of the 
said boundary so to be ascertained, extending by a 
meridian line due south, to the north boundary of the 
State of Pennsylvania, thence by the same west, to a 
corner of a triangular piece of land granted bv the 
United States to the State of Pennsylvania, thence by 
the perpendicular line of the said triangle, due north, 
to the shore of Lake Erie, thence along the shore of 
Lake Erie to the place where the line of lands re- 
served by the State of New York shall be found to 
intersect the said shore, thence along the lines and 
bounds of the said reserved lands, northwardly and 
easterly to the point of beginning on the shore of 
Lake Ontario." 

The second parcel is thus described: "Beginning at 
the north-east corner of the first described tract of one 
million of acres on the shore of Lake Ontario, and 
extending from thence along the shore thereof, east- 
wards- so far as upon an actual mensuration thereof 
shall be found necessary to include within the lines 
and bounds next hereinafter mentioned and described, 
the full and just quantity of half a million of acres of 
land, exclusive of lands covered with the waters of 
ponds or lakes within the same, which shall be more 
than four miles in circumference, as to each pond or 
lake, and from the termination of the last mentioned 
boundary so to be ascertained, extending by a meridian 
line due south, to the said north boundary of the State 
of Pennsylvania, thence by the same, west, to the 
southeast corner of the said tract of one million of 
acres, thence by the eastern boundary thereof, north, 
to the place of beginning on the shore of lake On- 
tario." 



256 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



2. Herman LeRoy, and John Lincklaen, to William 
Bayard: deed dated 30th Mav. 1795. 

3. William Bayard and wife, to Herman Le Roy 
John Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon; deed dated 1st June] 

4. Herman Le Roy and Hannah his wife. John Linck- 
la. n. and Helen his wife, and Gerrit Boon to Paul 
Busti: .Led dated 9th Julv. 179S. 

5. Paul Busti and wife, to Herman Le Roy, William 
Bayard, Janu-s MeEvers, John Lincklaen and Gerrit 

(upon trust for the benefit of Wilhem Willink 

'"•ens of the United Netherlands ami 

i convey the same according to their 

I'poiiitments); deed dated 10th July 



and oth 

with covenant 

directions and 

I „t; H I erm t'! LeRoy William Bayard, James McEvers, 
John Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon to Wilhem Willink 

Van Staphorst. Pieter Van Eeghen. Hendrick 

ven and Rntepr Jan r- 
dated 31st Detcm , and rei 

ique 



>.•]•■ : , 



?»"•'. «?. > "■'-. 179V fomm'ed on'^ 

the directions and appointments of the cestuic 



tin 



n the deed of 10th Jr. 

of the last named grantees 
' Ogden and Gc 



them by Thon 
Morris, hy deed dated 13th February, iuv 

"illy with the execution of the 'original con. 

-' land by Robert Mm-. 

irticles of agreemeni 

other things, a righi 



art the purcha 



that 



but it was never 

claiming under .... 

to be considered as a loan, 



Concui 

these 
ris to Le Roy and Lincklj 
were entered by which, an 
was reserved to the e-rnnt. 
tain period, to conv 
which case the com 
mortgage to secure the repayment "of" the ''i,ii',''i, , '. ,'. 
money. The grantees eh» s !„ K ,., hold the lands as I 
""-chase, declared no election to hold them otherwise- 
contended by Morris and those 
•- -vhole transaction was 
tion still existed in MorriV or" M^a^n"' whlo?, P a ~ 

pm lr at°rest ha b n ; e ;'n' W0Uld eSf ° r " " Thl " ""-^tas 
put at rest by th<- fonvevai.ee of 10th nf wi.t-.t-, ,., 
1N-.1. from T. I, n ple „ and GouvernluVVorrTs. 1 ' [nYh'e 
latter of whom were then vested all tli, ri.-hts which 
Robert Morris had in these lands "on , he sin 1,1 ,„ 

■■ ■• or a any time subsequent, as the following facts 
and circumstances will demonstrate: 

roT,rt°nf U , r i Sn l, n ! S w ;\ r , e recovered in the Supreme 
Court of the State of New York against Robert Mor- 
h were found to overreach the titles of several 
os under him. The first of these judg- 
overed by William Talbot and William 
Allan and was docketed on the Sth June, 1797. The 
■ o rail judgment was recovered by Solomon Townsend 
— docketed on the 10th August. 1798. 

us to the year 1S00. an execution had been 
i the last judgment, in virtue of which all the 
n\eyed to Morris by the State of Massachu- 
setts had been levied upon, sold and conveyed bv the 
slier, II of Ontario county, to Thomas .Mather, in whose 
name actions of ejectment founded on this conveyance 
were prosecuted in the Supreme Court of the State of 
ih , "', In ' , h,? -pring of the year 1S00, and during 
he pen.lency of these ejectments, an execution was 
issued on the earlier judgment of Talbot and Allan 

Under these circumstances Mr. Busti, then general 
agent ot the Holland Land Company, entered into an 
arrangement with Gouverneur Morris, the assignee of 



5f the 



Pre\ 

i.SSUed 

lands 



judgment, by which to put an end to 
mnler both judgments, and also to 
t up by Robert Morris, in relatioi 
J - -ption in the million and the half 



he 



pretensions 

the right of 

million acre tracts. To effect these "objects".' , L 

MXr- t "- t , , ' 0t " Judgments, and also a release of 
*•<"'■'« n,t. rest under the sheriffs deed to him 
wh- L purchased by the Holland Land Company 

"Hi. a was ,ione. I he two julgmonts were accordingly 
ed to the Individuals composing the Company; 
that of Townsend i by his attorney Aaron Run > by 
;,•;'•■« '■' assignment dated 22nd April, 1S00; that of 
J all. i and Allum ll.y Gmnernour Morris, the assig- 
■- deed of assignment of the same date. 

these preliminary acts, articles of agree- 



Foun.l. d 



mo,, were entered into between Thomas L. Ogden of 
'he first part \\,ll,e„, Willink. Nicholas Van S'nphors, 
I ete, \an Eeghen. Hendrick V.dlenhoven and Rutger 
•I" schimmelpenninck, of the second part, and Gouv- 

i'siV,'"i v wi ris i" f c!"' " lird ''■'"''■ :,Ls " da,, ' ,i -- nd A P ri '. 

1M ' ''> which, after reciting the above a> ignmonts 
and the purchase of Mather's interest, it was mutually 
',',,', ;; '', ,'i at the release from Mather should be taken in 
he ,.,,,„■ of Thomas L. Ogden. that he should also 
become the purchaser at the approaching sale under 



the judgment of Talbot and Allum, and that the title 
bus derived under both judgments should he he Id bv 
him upon trust for the purposes expressed in the agree- 

Among the trusts declared by that instrument it 
was provided that the million and the half million 
acre tracts, coin,, ..sins: together what is now called 
the million and a half acre tract, should be held sub- 
ject to the issue of an amicable suit, to he instituted 
on the equity side of the Circuit Court of the United 
States for the District of New York, to determine the 
operation and effect of the conveyance of those tracts 
by Robert Morris, so that if hy the decree of that 
court, or of the Supreme Court of the Unite,] states in 
case of appeal from the decision of the Circuit Court, 
sue-h conveyance should be adjudged to be absolute 
and indefeasible, then the two tracts should be re- 
leased and confirmed by Gouverneur Morris to the 
Land Company; but if adjudged to be a mortgage 
then that they should be released hy them to hJm 
upon payment of the original purchase monev and 
interest. It was further provided by this agreement, 
that the residue of the entire tract of country should 
be released and confirmed bv T. L. Ogden to the sev- 
eral proprietors under Robert Morris, according " to 
the award and appointment of Alexander Hamilton, 
David A. Ogden, and Thomas Cooper, Esquires. 

In pursuance of this agreement, Mather's rights 
under the sale upon Townsend's judgment were con- 
veyed to Thomas L. Ogden. by deed dated 22 Ami], 
isna, and a sale having been made under the execution 
issued upon the judgment of Talbot and Allum. the 
entire tract of country, as to all the estate and inter- 
est therein which Robert Morris was entitled to on 
the sth June. 1797. was conveyed bv Roger Sprngue 
sheriff of Ontario county, to Thomas L. Ogden. bv deed 
dated 13th May. ISfiO. 

Alexander Hamilton. David A. Ogden and Thomas 
i ooper made an award or appointment, dated 22d Jan- 
uary. 1S01. directing conveyances by Thomas L. ogden. 
of the whole of the lands to and among the several 

grantees under Robert Morris, the parcels to 1 n- 

veyed to each, being defined by appropriate descrip- 
tions and boundaries. 

In conformity with this appointment, the several 
confirmations mentioned in Abstract II. (B and C) and 
in Abstract V. were executed by Thomas L. Ogden 

It was required by the award, that each of the 
grantees under Morris, receiving a release from T. L. 
ogden. should execute to him a release or quitclaim, 
of all the residue of the tract of country, which 
releases were executed accordingly. 

The conveyance of 10th February. 1801, from T. L. 
ogden and Couverneur Morris, served also as a con- 
firmation of the title under the treaty with the Seneca 
Indians of 15th September. 1797. which confirmation 
had been withheld as to this tract, although given 



One Million Acre Trnct, Emhracing Townships num- 
bered r, to 10 inclusive of the I Range. Embracm- 
Townships numbered 4 to 16 inclusive of the II and in 
Ranges. Rmbracing Townships numbered 1 to 4 inclu- 
ve ed b - 8 IV ' V and VI Eanges ' This tract was con " 

1. Robert Morris and wife, to Herman LeRov, John 
an. kla.ii and Gerrit Bonn, deed dated 27th February, 
l..i... confirmed (after the extinguishment of the In- 
dian title.) by deed between the same parties dated 

It is thus described in both conveyances: Beginning 
at a point in the north boundary line of the State of 
Pennsylvania, twenty-eight miles west from the south- 
v.o-tern corner of the land purchased hy Nathaniel 
to, ham and Oliver Phelps, from the Five Nations of 
Indians, by deed dated the Sth day of July, in the vear 
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, and 
which southwestern corner hereby intended is a point 
in said boundary line of the State of Pennsylvania. 
due south of the confluence of the Shonahasgwaikon 
creek, with the waters of the Genesee river, and from 
the said point or place of beginning the said tract 
hereby granted runs due north, eighteen miles, thence 
flue east twelve miles, thence due north six miles, 
th.nce due east four miles, thence due north, to the 
boundary line in Lake Ontario, between the United 
states and the King of Great Britain, thence west- 
war.ll> along the said boundary line to a point therein, 
due north of the point or place of beginning first 
i i.ov. mentioned, thence due south to a point twenty- 
four miles north of, and distant from the said point or 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



place of beginning first above mentioned, thence due 
west, sixteen miles, thence due south, twenty-four 
miles to the said boundary line of the State of Penn- 
sylvania, thence due east along the said boundary line. 
sixteen miles to the said point or place of beginning 
first above mentioned. 

2. Herman Le Roy and Hannah his wife, John Linck- 
laen and Helen his wife, and Gerrit Boon to Paul 
Busti; deed dated 9th July, 1798. 

3. Paul Busti and wife, to Herman Le Roy. William 
Bavard, James McEvers. John Lincklaen and Gerrit 
F.r.nn upon trust for the benefit of Wilhem Willink and 
others, and with covenant to convey the same accord- 
ing to their directions and appointment; deed dated 
10th July. 179S. 

4 Herman Le Rov, William Bayard, James Mc- 
Evers, John Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon to Wilhem 
Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van Eeghen, 
Hendrirk Vollenhoven. and Rutger Jan Schimmelpen- 
niivk, deed dated 31st December, 179S. founded on and 
reciting the directions and appointment of the ces- 
tuique trusts named in the last mentioned deed of 
10th July, 179S. 

Tie ;|1,. ,■ I '■:• 1 ' ■ !.l I' 

confirmed to them by Thomas L. Ogden, by deed dated 
13th February. 1801. 

It will be seen by the maps that the meridian line 
.1. si ribi 1 above does not form in its whole extent, the 
eastern boundary of the Holland Purchase as this deed 
imports. Robert Morris hart previously conveyed a 
tra.t of 100,000 acres to Watson Craigie and Green- 
leaf, the west bounds of which wis found upon actual 
survevs, to project inn chains and 31 links to the west 
of the meridian intended as the eastern boundary of 
the million acre tract. This encroachment extends 
southerly from Lake Ontario, about 26»i miles. 



Eiffht Hundred Thousand Acre Triict. Embracing 
Townships 5 to 16 of the IV, V, and VI Ranges of El- 
licott's Map. This tract was conveyed by: 

1. Robert Morris and wife, to Herman Le Roy, John 
Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon, deed dated 20th July. 1793, 
and confirmed, after extinguishment of the Indian 
title, bv deed between the same parties dated 1st 
June. 1798. 

It is thus described in both conveyances: Beginning 
at a point or place twentv-four miles due north of a 
point in the north boundary line of the State of Penn- 
sylvania, forty-four miles west from the southwestern 
corner of the lands purchased bv Nathanial Gorham 
and nliver Phelps, from the Five Nations of Indians, 
by deed dated the 8th day of July, in the year one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, (and which 
southwestern corner, hereby intended is a point in the 
said boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania, due 
south of the confluence of the Shanahasgwaikon creek, 
with the waters of the Genesee river.) and from the 
said point or place of beginning, the said tract hereby 
granted, runs due east sixteen miles, (along a tract 
conveyed by the same parties of the first part, to the 
said parties of the second part, on the 27th day of 
February, 1793.) thence due north along the bounds 
of the said tract so conveyed, on the 27th day of Feb- 
ruary. 1793, to the boundary line in Lake Ontario, 
between the United States and the King of Great Bri- 
tain, thence westerly along the said boundary line, to 
a point therein, due north of the said point or place 
of beginning, first above mentioned, and thence due 
south to the said point or place of beginning, first 
above mentioned. 

2. Herman LeRoy and Hannah his wife. John Linck- 
laen and Helen his wife, and Gerrit Boon, to Paul 
Busti: deed dated 9th July, 179S. 

3. Paul Busti and wife, to Herman Le Roy. William 
Bavard. James McEvers, John Lincklaen and Gerrit 
Boon, upon trust for the benefit of Wilhem Willink 
and others, with covenant to convey according to the 
directions and appointment; deed dated 10th July, 

4. Herman Le Roy, William Bayard, James Mc- 
Evers. John Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon, to Wilhem 
Willink. Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van Eeghen, 
Henrtriok Vollenhoven, and Rutger Jan Schimmelpen- 
ninck as ioint tenants, deed dated 31st December, 
179S, founded on and reciting the directions and ap- 
pointment of the cestuique trusts named in the last 
mentioned deed, of 10th July. 179S. 

5. The title of the last named grantees, was con- 
firmed to them by Thomas L. Ogden, by deed dated 
13th February, 1801. 



ABSTRACT No. III. 

Tract of HS3.997 Acres, Deducing title from Wilhem 

Willink and others, (Nicholas Van Staphorst. Pieter 

Van Eeghen, Hemlrick Vollenhoven and Rutger Jan 

Schimmelpenninek) to the present proprietors of the 

of nine hundred and eighty-three thousand nine 



hundred 
following To 
fall within tl 
Townships 
Townships 
Townships 
Townships 
Townships 
Townships 
Townships 
Townships 
Toy i ■ s 1 1 i 1 1 



ninety-sev 

vnships, excepting such parts 

e Indian reservations, viz.: 

1, 2. 3, of Range XV. 

1, 2, 3, 4, of Range XIV. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. of Range XIII. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6, of Range XII. 

1. -J. •:. 4, 5. 6, of Range XI. 

S. 13. 14. IS. of Range IX. 



15, of Range VIII. 
7. S. 9. 11. 12, 13. 14, 15, of Range VII. 
16. and 7.2Sfi acres of the west part of 
14, of Range IV. 

These lands described by townships and ranges, ex- 
cepting so much of the Buffalo creek reservation as 
falls within them, and also the Tuscarora reservation. 



s Van Staphorst. Pieter 
nhoven and Rutger Jan 
attorney, Paul Busti. to 
1'th March, 1801. 
nance 



1. Wilhem Willi' '• , Ni ' ..1 
Van Eeghen, Hen. In ' Vol! 
Schimmelpennim k, by thi ir 
James McEvers; deed dated - 

This conveyance was mad< 
granted to Paul Busti. by letter of attorney, dated 26th 
November, 1S00. which was executed by Nicholas Van 
Staphorst as attorney of Rutger Jan Schimmelpen- 
ninek, under a written authority, dated 1st October, 

1500. Mr. Schimmelpenninek confirmed the power to 
Paul Busti. by an instrument dated 7th September, 

1501. and has since died, so that his estate independ- 
ently of this conveyance would have vested in the sur- 
viving joint tenants. 

2. James McEvers to Wilhem Willink. Nicholas Van 
Staphorst. Piefer Van Eeghen, Hendrick Vollenhoven, 
Rutger Jan Schitmn. Lpenninck, Wilhem Willink the 

Gabriel Van 
inger, Corne- 
Vollenhoven and Hendrick Seve, as joint tenants; 
deed dated 1st April, 1801. 

3. Wilhem Willink. Wilhem Willink Jun. and Corne- 
lls Vollenhoven, (survivors of the above joint tenants) 
to Egbert Jean Koch; deed dated 9th February. 1S29. 

4. Egbert Jaen Koch to Wilhem Willink. Walrave 
Van Heukelom, Jan Van Eeghen. Cornells Van Der 
Vleit. Wilhem Willink jun. and Pieter Van Eeghen, 
as joint tenants; deed dated 10th February, 1829. 

5. Wilhem Willink, Walrave Van Heukelom. Jan 
Van Eeghen, Cornelis Isaac Van Der Vleit. Wilhem 
Willink jun. and Pieter Van Eeghen. together with 
Nicholas V;in Reoftingh and Gerrit Seliimmeleenniiiol; 
(son of Rutger Jan) to Egbert Koch; deed dated 11th 
February. 1829. conveying Township 14. Range IV. 

This conveyance, in which the owners of the two 
million acre tract, and of the 9S3.997 acre tract, all 
united, was intended to rectify an error in the division 
of Township 14, Range IV. between those concerned, 
which object was effected by means of a conveyance 
of the whole township to Egbert Jean Koch, and a 
reconveyance from him to each set of proprietors, of 
their respective parts of that township according to 
the true location. 

6. Egbert Jean Koch to Wilhem Willink. Walrave 
Van Huekelom, Jan Van Eeghen, Cornelis Isaac Van 
Der Vliet. Wilhem Willink jun. and Pieter Van Eeghen, 
as joint tenants, conveying 7.2S6 acres of the west part 
of Township 14, Range IV, dated February 12th, 1829. 

ABSTRACT No. IV. 
The 2,000,000 Acre Tract, Deducing the title from 
Willi, m Willink, Hendrick Vollenhoven, and Rutger 
Jan Schimmelpenninek, named in Abstract No. II, to 
the i. resent proprietors of all the residue of the three 
large tracts referred to in that Abstract, except the 
983,997 acres referred to 



being 



Abstr 

lied the "Two Million Acre Tract", 

g the four tracts designated by the let- 

Q, on Ellicotfs map. All the unconveyed 

reels of these lands described by town- 



and embraci 
ters M. O, 

parts and 

ships and ranges, were conveyed Dy 

1. Wilhem Willink. Hendrick Vollenhoven and Rut- 
ger Jan Schimmelpenninek. survivors of Nicholas Van 
Staphorst and Pieter Van Eeghen, to Hendrick Seye; 
deed dated ISth April, 1821. 

2. Hendrick Seye to Wilhem AA'illink, Hendrick Vol- 
lenhoven. Rutger Jan Sehimmelpenninck, Walrave Van 
Heukelom. Nicholas Van Beeftingh, Jan Van Eeghen, 



Chau-17 



2 5 8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Wilhem Willink jun. and Gerrit Schimmelpenninck. 

Lpril lS2l tfe ' er Jan,) aS j °' nt tenants; deed dated 19th 

The- .l.l.t -. ooinracts and securities arising from 

prior sale? and convi irances of lands within the two 

:t were assigned to the grantees of 



.ii.l 



the 



parties t.. the two Seeds of isth and 19th April. 1821; 
deeds dated 28th and 29th March, 1S23 ' 

i 'limn Willink Walrave Van Heukelom, Nicho- 
las \an Bceftingh, Jan \an Eeghen. Wilhem Willink 
jun Gerrit Schimmelpenninck. (survivors of Hendrick 
\ oi!enh..v. ii and Rutger .Ian Sehimmelpenninc'; ) to- 
gether with Cornells Isaac Van Tier Vliet and i'ieter 
\an Eeshen. to Egbert Jean Koch; deed dated 11th 
RangTlV conveying township number 14, 

4/Egbert Jean Koch to Wilhem Willink, Walrave 
\an Heukelom. Nicholas Van Beeftingh, Jan Van 
Eeshen Wilhem Willink jun and Gerrit SchTmmel- 
perninek: dee. dated 12th February. 1829. conveying 
'•■'•■?."'"■* " f tn e east part of Township 14, Range IV. 

This conveyance was intended to rectify an error 
Ih^™/', iSi "', f T " w,ls, |ip 14. Range IV," similar to 
the one described under Abstract No. III. 

ABSTRACT No. V. 
Tract of 300,000 Acres, Exhibiting a deduction of the 

title tr_.ni Robert Morris to Wilhem Willink, Jan Wil- 
link \,ilhem Willink jun. and Jan Willink Jun. for 
the tare.- tra.-'s of land called the 300,000 acre tract 
-Hat. -.1 on Ellicotfs map by the letter "W". 
These tracts w-ere conveyed by. 

1. Robert -Morns and wife to Herman Le Rov, W T il- 
V'," 1 V-'.v."'' 1 a " fi Matthew Clarkson; deed dated 20th 
July, 1,93, confirmed after the extinguishment of the 
Indian title, by deed between the same parties, dated 

."\ e ; ?„' S ' The ' first tract " was intended to con- 
tain Jim. nun acres and comprehends 

Townships 1, 2, 3, 4. of the I. Range. 

Townships 1, 2. 3. of the II. Range. 

Townships 1, 2, 3. of the III. Range. 

It is thus described in the conveyance: Beginning 
at a point in the north boundary line of the state of 
Pennsylvania, twenty-eight miles west from the 
southwestern corner of the lands purchased bv Na- 
thaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps from the" Five 
Nations of Indians, by deed dated the eighth day of 
July, in tne year one thousand seven hundred 'and 
eighty-eight, and which southwestern corner hereby 
intended is a point in said boundary line of the State 
of Pennsylvania, due south of the continence of the 
Shanahasgwaikon creek, with the waters of the 
Genesee river, and from the said point or place of 
beginning, the said tract hereby granted runs due 
north eighteen miles, thence due east twelve miles 
thence clue north six miles, thence due east four miles! 
thence due south, to the said boundary line of the 
State of Pennsylvania, and thence west along the said 
boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania, to the 
said point or place of beginning, first above men- 

-.Z™ "second tract," which was intended to contain 

.4.1)011 acres, comprehends 113 chains and 6S links of 
the east part of Range VII, and extends from the 

Pennsylvania line to the south bounds of the Buffalo 
creek reservation. 

It is thus described in the conveyance: Beginning 
at a point in the northern boundary line of the State 
of Pennsylvania, forty-four miles west from the said 
southwestern corner of the lands purchased by Na- 
thaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, from the Five 
Nations of Indians, and from the said point or place 
of beginning, the said tract runs due north so far as 
on an actual a. '.measurement shall be found necessary 
to include within the limits and bounds, next herein- 
after mentioned, and described the said quantity of 
fifty-four thousand acres, thence due west to the east- 
ern boundary of a tract of half a million of acres con- 
veyed by the said Robert Morris and Mary his wife, 
to the said Herman Le Roy and John Lincklaen. bv 
conveyance? bearing date the twenty-fourth day of 
December last, thence due south to the said boundary 
line of the State of Pennsylvania, and then east along 

ThTtr, 1 ! the said point or place of beginning. 
,hZ i,„,r c -„'? bounded on one side by the east line of 
the half million acre tract, and on the other bv the 
west line of the million and son. mm acre tracts, which 

l n f,'fe established by the previous conveyances of 
Jn s™™., 1 \,'° of those three tracts, and are understood 
,Z: % p . oa °h nearer to each other than was supposed at 
thf» da ;t e ,of 'his conveyance. To embrace 54.000 acres. 
this tract would extend north, so as to take in part of 



the Buffalo creek reservation, but that reservation has 

been sol. I under the powers of all the proprietors i in- 
eluding the Messieurs Willink), so that the south line 
:;'. r ] h, u , reservation forms the north line of the 54.000 

The "third tract" was intended to contain 46 000 
acres. It comprehends a like portion of the east part 
ot Kance VII, and extends from lake Ontario to the 
no'. ii i.i.i. of the Buffalo creek reservation It is 
thus descr ,1 in the conveyance: "Beginning at a 
|. ••.!.. • ■ ... on the southern shore of lake Ontario, 
■ In unit i ot said point or place of beginning of the 
Ban i tract ol nfty-four thousand acres, thence due 
smith so tar as on an actual admeasurement shall be 
"iin.l necessary _ to include within the limits and 
i.oum.s next 1,. remitter mentioned and described, the 
said quantity of forty-six thousand acres, thence due 
"•",.' ' i li. ; eastern boundary of the said tract of half 
a million ol acres, thence due north to the said shore 

, ''"'■ nml thence easterly along the same 

'" . ■ 'I or place of beginning." 

the remarks contained in the last paragraph after 
..'■ ... up,, on of the second tract" apply equally to 
this tiact. that is the south line of the "third tract", 
for similar r.as, ns. is the north line of the Buffalo 
creek reservation. 

2. Herman Le Roy, £ 
Bayard, and Elizabeth 
son to Paul Busti; deed dated 9th July^ 1798.' 

wife, to Herman Le Rov. William 
i (larks .n. in trust for Wilhem 



3. Paul Bust 
Bayard and Ma 
Willink and Jan 



an and appoint 



deed dated 



4. Herman Le Roy, William Bayard and Matthew 
CTarkson to Wilhem Willink. Jan Willink, Wilhem 
Willink jun. and Jan jun. as joint tenants reciting 
dabd U, "Vs; n 'p,nuM-y lh r- n <l9 WUIink a " d Ja " Willillk : dee § 

5. The title of the last named grantees was con- 
'■ 'til' KoV.ri v' 1 'su T1 " j 4 1k; -?- '" ° sden . by deed dated 

"Although these deeds of conveyance were given to 
three distinct companies of proprietors, their interests 
]■ ' '•■ so closelj i.i. no.m. several of the same persons 
having large interests in each of the three different 
estates; tney appointed one general agent for the 
iged the concerns of the tract gen- 
it all belonged to the same proprie- 
1 -"ion which operated in the 
imply keep- 
practicable, 



r. as the 

making 

on the settlers and purcha 

'- accounts of each separate 



and apportioning, pro rata, all expenses when blended 
in the same transaction for the benefit of the whole. 
I h.- general agent likewise appointed the same local 
or resident agent for the three companies owning this 
tra.t in Western New York. The only difference he- 
tu.en its consisting of one or more tracts disc-enable 
by the purchaser of lands, was. that in executing con- 
tracts or conveyances, the agents used the names of 
the respective proprietors of each tract. 

"It is a curious fact, that when the Dutch proprietors 
were parcelling out the tract among the three different 
branches of the company, it was mutually agreed 
among the whole, that .Messrs. Wilhem Willink Ian 
Willink. Wilhen, Willink the younger, and Jan Willink 
the younger, should have Siiii.iiOii acres, located in such 
part of the whole tract as they should select. In mak- 
ing their selection, they located their 300, nuo acres in 
n.arly a square form, in the southeast corner of the 
tract, for the reason that it was nearest Philadel- 
phia, the residence of the general agent. This selec- 
tion contained the territory now composing the towns 
of Bolivar. Wirt. Friendship, the east part of Belfast 
i'.en.-ee. Clarksville and Cuba, in Allegany county,' 
Portville, and the east parts of Hinsdale and Kice in 
Cattaragus county. This location will give the reader 
who is acquainted with the localities of the country 
some idea of the knowledge, or rather want of know- 
ledge, of the Dutch proprietors, of the situation and 
relative advantages of the different portions of their 
vast domains. 

"This sale by Robert Morris to the Holland Company 
was made before the Indian title to the land was ,x'- 
tingui-hod. accompanied by an agreement on his part 
to extinguish that title, with the assistance of the 
( ompany. as soon as practicable; therefore at a coun- 
cil of the Seneca Indians, held in Genesee, on Genesee 
river, in the month of September. 1797. at which Jere- 
miah W adsworth attended as Commissioner for the 
United States, and William Shepherd as agent for 
Massachusetts. Robert Morris in fulfilment of his sev- 
eral contracts with the Holland Company and the 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



other persons to whom he had sold land on this '"'/,'■ 
°,. ti ,.. bv i,i- a-.nts. Thomas Morris and Char es Wil- 
', ... : extinguished the Indian title to all the land 
, w --.mptnm right of which he had purchased of 
Massachusetts, except the following Indian l.esorva- 
thns tn wit- The Cannawagus reservation, contain- 
in" two "iiuai-o mills lving- on the west hank of <;.-n-- 
see river, west of Avon. Little Beard's and Bigtree 

lviiiS; on° "he ^ west bank of Genesee river opposite 
.-.nes-- Souakie Hill reservation, containing two 

,iil,-s : King on the north bank of (ienesee 
river north of "Mount Morris. Gardeau reservation. 
,,. ; ,,,'lniug about 2. square miles, lying- on both sides 
of Genes. -o river, two or three miles south of Mount 
Morris The Canadea reservation, containing 16 
sou-ire miles lving each side of and extending eight 
mi'.--. ',111" tiie Genesee river, in the county of Alle- 

" ,"■ 111! Soring reservation, containing "lie 



ties. The Allegany reser 

> miles, lying on each 

tiding fror 



ition, cc 



the Pennsylvania 
theasterlv about 25 miles. The Cattaraugus 
resei-Miiion. containing 42 square miles lying each side 
and mar the mouth of Cattaraugus creek, on Lake Erie. 
The Buffalo reservation, containing 130 squa 
lying 



the north and northwest bounds of the tract. As soon 
as the necessary preparatory steps could be taken. Mr 
Kllii-ott. as surveyor for the Holland Company, and 
Augustus Porter, ' in the same capacity, for Robert 
Morns, for the purpose of estimating the quantity of 
land in the tract, started a survey at the northeast 
comer of Phelps and i;orham's tract, west of Genesee 
river and traversed the south shore of Lake Ontario 
to the mouth of Niagara river; thence up the eastern 
shore of Niagara river to Lake Erie, thence along the 
southeast shore of Lake Erie to the west bounds of 
the state of New York, being a meridian line running 
du ■ south from (he west end at Lake Ontario, which 
had been pr.-v...u '* , stablished by Andrew Ellicott 
Surveyor General ..f the ("tiit.-d States, assi-ted by said 
Joseph Ellicott All which was perfected by the mid- 
dle of November following. 

-Before Mr. Ell tt left Western New i ork for 

Philadelphia, he contracted with Thomas Morris to 
deliver on the Genesee river. • * * provisions for 
the supply of the surveyors and their assistants the 

en "Altho f u|h a Ui"' gT-elt" divisions of the Holland Pur- 
chase were intended to c< 
square, the division of th 
of prop 



To 



both sides of the Buffalo 

from Lake Erie, about seven miles wide. The 

da reservation, containing 70 square miles. 

ing on both sides of the Tonawanda creek, beginning 



Ch 



. from its mouth, and extending 
n-ardlv about seven miles wide: and the Tuscarora 
reservation, containing one square mile, lying about 
three miles east of Lewiston, on the Mountain Ridge. 

— (Turner). 

"By a treaty at Big Tree, on the Genesee river. Sep- 
1 "liber 15 1791. between Robert Morris and Red 
'ket, Co'rnplanter. Governor Blacksnake and forty 
iefs and Sachems, the Senecas for the sum of $100,- 
i sold all their interest in the Robert Morris Pur- 
chase, reserving only 337 square miles of land con- 
tained in eleven Indian reservations, one of which 
lies partly in the county of Chautauqua consisting of 
about one square mile in the town of Hanover upon 
whi.-h six- in, lian families resided in 1894. and which 
had 31 inhabitants, according to the census of ISP". 

-By a treaty made with the Ogden Land Company, 
August 31, 1826, the Indians sold to them a pre- 
emption right in these reservations, by which the 
Ogden Company claims the fee to the land when the 
tribal relations of the Indians shall cease. The 
--.,..,. how-vor. claim that the Ogden Company has 

only tht- first right to purchase when the Indians shall 
ehu'o-e to sell The ■ laim of the Ogden Company is at 
this time a source of great uneasiness to the Indians." 

— (Cent. Hist.). 

"In 1810, the Holland Company sold all their pre- 
emptive right to the Indian reservations, to David A. 
( gden, for fifty cents per acre. What is known as the 
(igleu Companv. have extinguished die Indian title to 
all the Reservations, except the Cattaraugus, Alle- 
r anv. and the largest part of the Tonawanda. They 
assume to have, by treaty, extinguishe 1 the title of 
the Indians to the whole of the Tonawanda Reserva- 
tion; but possession is resisted by the Indians, and 
proceedings are now pending in our courts in refer- 
ence to it; from which controversy m ny tins remnant 
of the Iroquois, whose history has been mingled in 
our narrative, have a good deliverance. There has 
.a quite enough of attainted Indian treaties in 
Western New York, under this Ogden claim, and re- 
moval and possession in pursuance of them." — (Cent. 

"The Theophilus Cazenove. the agent general of the 

Holland company, resident at Philadelphia, in July. 
1797. had engaged Mr. Joseph Ellicott. as principal 
surveyor of the company's lands in \V. stem New York, 
win never their title should be perfected and posses- 
sion obtained, and likewise, to attend the beforemen- 
tioned council and assist Messrs. w. Bayard and J. 
Linklaen. who were to attend and act as agents for 
the company, (sub rosa) for the purpose of prom 'ting 
tin- hit -tests of their principals in any treaty which 
might be made with the Indians. Mr. Ellicott attended 
the council accordingly, and rendered valuable services 
to the purchasers. This period was the commencement 
of upwards of twenty years' regular active service ren- 
dered by Mr. Ellicott to the Holland Land Company, 
in conducting their affairs and executing laborious en- 
terprises for their benefit. 

"As soon as the favorable result of the proceedings 
of this council was known. Mr. Ellicott proceeded im- 
mediately to prepare for the traverse and survey of 



if f v 



-hips 



the tov 



included 
sinuositi 
a large portion of 



nd 



ost of the boundaries, prevent 
townships conforming to this 
rd: The townships are situated in ranges run- 
ning from south to north. The townships in each 
range of townships beginning to number one at the 
south, raising regularly in number to the north, and 
the ranges of townships beginning to number one at 
the east, and proceeding regularly west, to fifteen. 

"The first plan of the agent general of the company, 
relative to the subdivision of the townships, was to 
divide each township which was six miles square into 
sixteen portions one and a half mile- .square to be 
called sections, and each section again subdivided into 
twelve lots, each lot to be three fourths of a mile 
long (generally north and south,) and one-fourth of a 
mile wide, containing about 120 acres each; presuming 
that a wealthy farmer would buy a section, whereon to 
locate himself and his progeny. Twenty-four town- 
ships w.-re surveyed or commenced to he surveyed in 
conformity to that plan, although the uniformity of 
the size and shape of lots was often departed from, 
where large streams, such as the Tonawanda running 
through the town.-hips. were, for convenience, made 
houimaries of lots. From experience however it was 
ascertained that, in the purchase of land, each indi- 
vidual whether father, son, or son-in-law. w ml : locate 
himself according to his own clime ' I no That 

this formal and regular division of lam. .-.'-• larms. 
seldom was found to be in conl-rcu-;. t . t - topog- 
raphy of the eo-an-ry. nor to the die-rent r-uu.rcm.-u s 
as to quantity, lik.wi-e that the addition ot se. tions 
to township-- and 1 ts. rendered the descriptions of 
farms more con ;.'. nd imr-a-d the liability to err 

in ■'■ lining any pa'tc uiar h . ation; for which reasons, 



tl e 



IPS 



as 



the 



abandoned, and thereafter, the townships were simplj 

,i 1 into lots of about sixty chains or three fourths 

of a mile square, which could he divided into farms to 
suit the topography of the land and quantity require 
l,v the purchasers. In those townships in which th 
surveys had been commenced to divide them into sec- 
tions. 'and not completed, the remaining sections were 
divided into four lots only of three-fourths of a mile 
squar- each. These lots consequently contain. -1 about 
360 a-res each, but could not be laid off exactly uni- 
form in shaoe and area, for the same reason why the 
townships could not be laid off exactly uniform. — 
(Turner). 

The following is taken from a report made by Joseph 
Ellicott to the agent general at Philadelphia and explains 
the reason for the offsets at the intersections of the 
boundaries of many lots as well as townships: "The 
difference that is d'iscernable in the size of the several 
town-hips, is occasioned by the variation of the needle, 
which for certain occult causes is found to differ essen- 
tially between any two stations that may be fixed on. and 
much more between some stations than others. Hence 
in taking the magnetic courses of any two townships, 
it will follow that a disproportion in size of the several 
townships will necessarily arise, as the needle is seldom 
known to preserve a uniform position, between places 
but a few hundred yards from each other: so that inac- 



260 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



will arise though the greatest circumspection 
should be observed in correcting courses". 

The failure of many county surveyors and civil engi- 
neers to calculate correctly the variation of the magnetic 
needle for the absolute date on which old lines were run, 
has been responsible for many errors in later surveys. 
In the longitude of Mayville the annual increase of 
westerly variation of the needle is nearly three minutes 
of arc, due to the practically regular westerly travel of 
the magnetic pole. It can readily be seen that unless 
the surveyor of today thoroughly understands the scien- 
tific theory of the magnetic needle and is able to cor- 
rectly calculate the variation for any given date he will 
not be able to "run a line" of any great length and 
have it coincide or "hook up" with the old survey. Many 
errors attributed to the old surveyors have as a matter 
of fact been made by the later ones. 



id Pur- 

• ! !■' i p.mte with Augustus Porter, who 

had p :-. \ L . .. ■ ; I.. ;i . iu.iLri-,1 to procure horses, employ 
hands, and transport stores from the places of their 
delivery bj the contractor, Mr. Morris, to the place 
where they would be required for consumption". — 
(Turner) 

"Mr. Kllicott and his assistants having arrived on 
the territory, his first business was to ascertain and 
correctly establish the east line of the Purchase. He 
the Pennsylvania line to be accurately meas- 
ured from the southwest corner of Phelps and Gor- 
ham's purchase, or the S2d milestone, twelve miles 
west, and there erected a stone monument for the 
south.:,-! corner of the Holland Purchase. The whole 
company was then divided into parties, to prosecute 
the undertaking to advantage. Tin- principal surveyor. 
Joseph Ellicott. assisted by Benjamin Ellicott. one 
other : u:\eyor and the requisite number of hands, un- 
dertoi 1. to run the eastern boundary line. The other 
surveyors, each with his quota of hands were assigned 
to run different township lines. 

"A line running due north from the monument estab- 
lish d as the southeast corner by Mr. Ellicott. to the 
boundary line between the United States and the 
dominions of the King of Great Britain in Lake On- 
tario, according to the deeds of conveyance from Rob- 
ert Morris to the Company, constitutes the east line of 
their purchase. To run a true meridian by the sur- 
v- yorV ( ,,,,,,. a M,- Ellicott knew to be impracticable; 
he thei I n Set n ined to run this line by an Instru- 
ment vil for its basis the properties of the "tran- 
sit in tram- til" (an instrument made' use of to observe 
the transit of the iiKi'vnly bodies), improved for this 
purpose by a newly invented manner of accurately 
aniving at the same; to effect this object, an instru- 
ment possessing all these qualities was manufactured 
in Philadelphia by his brother. Benjamin Ellicott, as 
no instrument possessing all the qualities desired, was 
then to be found in the United States. 

"This instrument has no magnetic needle attached 
to it. but its peculiar qualities and prominent advan- 
tages are. that by means of its telescopic tube and 
a en, ate manner of reversing, by it, a straight line 
'"Hi be correctly, and comparatively speaking, expe- 
ditiously run. But such an instrument, by reason of 
its magnifying powers, is as illy calculated to run a 
line through the woods and underbrush, as would a 
microscope to observe the transits of the satelites of 
I * * * Therefore it became necessary to 
cut a vista through the woods on the highlands and 
on level ground, sufficiently wide to admit a clear and 
uninterrupted view. 

"Mr. KHi, oti i inn provide.] hims. ;r with such . n 
instrument, caused the vista to b.. cut, some three or 
' nil rod widi 1 if thi transit instrument, in a 

north direction as indi, at.-d : -. i ■ v. . . I 

si.no tines led the axemen mor< than the width of the 
tieridian ught; therefore the true 
meridian lino. , all.-d the transit line, from the name of 
the instrument with which it was run. being of no 
width, runs sometimes on one side of the middle of the 
vista cut i ah me. and sometimes on the other. 

"Thus prepare.] with a suitable instrument, Mr. El- 
licott, assisted by his brother. Benjamin Ellicott. to- 
gether with surveyors and their assistants, established 
a true meridian line north from the 



ment. by astronomical observations, and pursued it 
•with 'he transit instrument, taking new astronomical 
observations at different stations, to guard against 
accidental variations. The progress in running this 
line was slow, as it could not be otherwise expected, 
. ... id line, the great amount of labor necessarily to 
be performed, in clearing the vista, and takine ■ •:,. 

tor; mi at ures and above all, the vast impor- 
tant of havim ■ . :-'..-, p. .stiblished, which ren- 
thii !.' n ipitance or haste an experi- 
ment : .:..■,:- l i I •■ p.imitted. June 12th, the 

p: 'ty en this line had advanced so far north that thev 
had established their storehouse at Williamsburg, 
(about three miles south of the village of Geneseo). 
and soon after Mr. Ellicott made it his headquarters at 
Hugh M'Nair's in that vicinity. On the 22d dav of 
November following, eighty-one and a half miles of 
the line was established, which brought them within 
about thirteen miles of the shore of Lake Ontario; 
the precise date of its completion is unknown. 

"This line defined the west bounds of Mr. Church's 
100.000 acres, but passed through the Cotringer, Ogden. 
and Cragie tracts, about two miles from their west 
boundaries, as described in the deeds of conveyance 
from Robert Morris to the several grantees; but as 
their titles were of a later date than the conveyance 
to the Holland Company, no deviation from the first 
established meridian w-as made by Mr. Ellicott. 

"On arriving at the south line of the 100.000 acre 
tract conveyed by Robert Morris to Leroy Bayard and 
M'Bvers, now called the Connecticut tract (the convey- 
ance of which, from Robert Morris, claimed seniority 
over that to the Holland Company). Mr. Ellicott found 
that his meridian intersected the south line of that 
tract. 166 chains and 30 links east of its southwest 
corner, on which he moved his position that distance 
to the west, from which point he ran the transit due 
north to Lake Ontario. 

"The clashing of the boundary lines of the several 
tracts, located from the north end of the Reserve, as 
conveyed bv Mr. Morris, and the Holland Company's 
land which was located from the south, was arranged 
in the following manner, and taken possi si m a ord- 
inglv. The conveyance of the Connecticut tract by Mr. 
Morris, to Watson. Cragie. and Ore,., ilea f. being anter- 
ior to that of the Holland Purchase to Willom V mink 
and others: that tract retained its full size and loca- 
tion, according to the description in the deed. The 
Ogden and Cotringer tracts held their size and shape, 
but their location was moved about two miles east, 
and fixed according to the original intention of Mr. 
Morris, there being land sufficient in that direction, on 
the Reserve, not otherwise appropriated bv him. The 
conveyance of the Cragie tract being likewise subse- 
quent to that of the Holland Purchase, about two 
mibs of the western part of it was cut off by the loca- 
tion of that tract; and as the triangular tract. Phelps 
and Gorham's tract, west of Genesee river, and the 
40,000 acre tract, with their prior conveyances and 
locations, bounding it on the east, which prevented its 
extension in that direction, was consequently reduced 
in area to between thirty-three and thirty-four thou- 
sand acres The proprietors, however, not being con- 
tent to re: : quietly sustaining this loss, have since 
instituted suits in ejectment against the occupants of 
lands, west on the Holland Purchase and south on the 
Ogden tract, to try the legal interpretation of their 
rights, in extending their limits in one way or the 
other of those directions, but have failed in both. 

"Although the eastern bank of the Niagara river 
had been traversed, the east bound of the "New York 
mile strip had not been ascertained, and the State 
would participate in it no further than to give the 
proprietors of the land adjoining, to wit: the Holland 
Company, liberty to run the line at their own expense, 
and if so run as to be approved by the Surveyor Gen- 
eral of the State, it should be established as perma- 
nently located, and passed a law to that effect. This 
was. undoubtedly, the most difficult piece of surveying 
evei performed in the State. Some preliminary mat- 
te the construction of the terms of the treaty 
or agreement between New York and Massachusetts had 
tirst settled. At the north end. where the river 
do-.., nb ..gued itself into the lake, at almost right angles 
with its shore, there could no doubts arise; but at the 
south end of the straits or river a different state of 
things existed; Lake Erie narrowed gradually and 
became a river; where the lake ends and the river 
begins may be considered a difficult question: but it 
was finally agreed between the parties interested, the 
river should be deemed to extend to where the water 
was one mile wide and there cease; the line of the strip 
east of this point, extending to the shore of Lake Erie 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



261 



n an arc of a circle of one 
eing in the eastern bank at 
ake and head of the 1 
land lying within 



rlius. the centre 
ruination of the 
he mile strip all 
mile"of the river, whether east 
„. south. For this arc of the circle, which could not 
he practically run, a repetition of short sides, making 
a section of a regular polygon, was substituted. Seth 
Pease, a scientific surveyor and astronomer, was en- 
gaged in the fall of !TSS to run this line, who executed 
the survej in a masterly manner and to the satisfac- 
tion of all the parties concerned".— (Turner). 

"The Indian treaty of 1797, in which the Indian title 
to the Iloll'and Purchase was extinguished, except to 
certain reservations, as has been before stated, pre- 
scribed the euantities contained in. and general shape 
and location of eacll reservation, leaving the precise 
location of the boundary lines to be determined there- 
after The Indians reserved 200,000 acres one indefin- 
ite portico of which was to he located on Buffalo creek, 
at the east end of Lake Erie, and the remainder on the 
Tonawanda creek. As the New York reservation ex- 
cluded the Holland Company's land from the waters of 
Niagara river, and from the shore of Lake Erie one 
mile si utherly from the river, it became very impor- 
tant to the company to secure a landing place and 
harbor at the mouth of Buffalo creek, and sufficient 
ground adjoining whereon to establish a commercial 
aad manufacturing village or city. 

"Captain William Johnson, an Indian trader and in- 
terpreter, settled himself near the mouth of the Buf- 
falo creek at an early period, under the auspices of 
the British Oovernment. and remained there until the 
Holland Company had effected their purchase. His 
dwelling house stood south of Exchange street and 
east of Washington street: he had other building's 
north of Exchange and east of Washington streets. 
Capt. Johnson had procured of the Indians by gift or 
purchase two square miles of land at the mouth of 
Buffalo cre,k. including a large portion of the terri- 
tory on which now stands the city of Buffalo. He had 
also entered into an agreement with the Indians, 
which amounted to a life lease, of a certain mill site 
and the timbered land in its vicinity, on condition of 
supplvinc the Indians with all the boards and plank 
they wanted for building at. and near the creek. This 
site was about six miles east of the mouth of the 

"Although Johnson's title to this land was not con- 
sidered to have the least validity, yet the Indians had 
the power and the inclination to include it within 

Johnson/and taking into consideration his influence 
with them, the agents of the company conclude 1 to 
enter into the following agreement with him. which 
was afterwards fully complied with and performed by 
both of the parties: Johnson agreed to surrender his 
right to the said two square miles, and use his influ- 
ence with the Indians to have that tract and his mill 
site Left out of their reservation, in consideration of 
which the Holland Company agreed to convey hy deed 
to said Johnson, 040 acres, including the said mill site 
and adjacent timbered land: together with forty-five 
and a half acres, being part of said two square miles, 
including the buildings and improvements, then owned 
bv said Johnson, four acres of which was to be on the 
"point". These lands as afterwards definitely located. 
were a tract of forty-one and a half acres, hounded 
north by Seneca street, west by Washington street, 
and south by the little Buffalo creek: the other tract 
was bounded, east by Main street, south-westerly by 
the Buffalo creek, and north-westerly by little Buf- 
falo creek, containing about four acres. 

"In the spring of 1798, when the surveys of the Hol- 
land Purchase first commenced, all the travel between 
the Phelps and Gorham tract and Buffalo was on the 
old Indian trail: the winter previous, however, the 
Legislature of this State passed an act appointing 
Charles Williamson a commissioner, to lay out and 
open a Stale mad from Cannewagus on Genesee river 
to Buffalo creek on Lake Erie, and to Lewiston on the 
Niagara river. To defray the expense of cutting out 
these roads, the Holland Company subscribed $5,000. 
Mr. Williamson laid out and established the roads in 
1798. generally adhering to the course of old Indian 
trails; but they were not opened throughout according 
to contract, under his superintendence. The first 
wagon tract opened upon the Holland Purchase, was 
bv Mr. Ellicott. as a preliminary step in commencing 
operations, early in the season of '98. He employed a 
gang of hands to improve the Indian trail, so that 
wagons could pass upon it, from the east transit to 
Buffalo creek. In 1S01 he opened the road from transit 
line as far west as Vandeventer's. The whole road 



was opened to LeRoy before the close of 1802". — 
(Turner). 

It is interesting to know that Aaron Burr and Alex- 
ander Hamilton were in '98, both contractors for lands 
west of the Genesee river; the former for a tract upon 
the Holland Purchase. The following letter would indi- 
cate that Mr. Burr, regarded himself at its date, a land 
proprietor in this region:— 

5 May, 98. 

Sir — From the copy which you lately sent me of Mr. 
Fllic.itt's survey, it would appear that the Tnnawauta 
Bay falls within my tract on Lake Ontario. If this 
Bav is as large as hath been represented to me. it 
ought not to be estimated as land, because it cannot 
belong to vour company, and after any sale, will still 
be the property of the public. It will be necessary 
therefore, that Mr. Ellicott ascertain the figure and 
sunerficial contents of this Bay, which will enable us 
to determine the propriety of considering it as land. 

Th.^a^Miove!N->q''r. l ' Ur ^^ ' A. BURR. 

"Mr. Burr had made the contract for the purchase 
of the tract, at twelve shillings per acre, at an early 
period of Holland Company ownership. The transac- 
tion was blend, d with other land speculations, and 
eventually the purchase was abandoned. Out of it, 

however, had originated a bond for $",0, 1. which was 

given up. The surrendering of the bond gave rise to 
re, .oris that Col. Burr had been bribed by the agents 
of the Holland Company to favor the passage of the 
alien bill in our state Legislature— the one a lowing 
foreigners to hold real estate. John B. Church, Esq., 
had in some way identified himself with this report. 
He received a challenge from Col. Burr; the parties 
met at Hoboken. exchanged an ineffectual shot; Mr. 
Church apologized; and thus ended the land specula- 

^•The "first 6 crops 'raised "upon the Holland Purchase 
were at the Transit Store House. In the spring of 
•99 Mr James Dewey was waiting there with a gang 
of 'hands to start upon a surveying expedition as soon 
as the weather would permit. At the request of Mr. 
Bri-diane, he cleared ten acres upon either side of the 
present road, twenty rods west of the transit, which 
was mainly sowed with oa's, though some potatoes 
and garden vegetables were plained. The early atern 
keener there. Mr. Walthors. reported by letter to Mr. 
Ellicott. that the yield was a good one. and fully dem- 
onstrated the goodness of the soil of the region he was 
surveying for settlement. . 

"In'tht summer of 1799, there not being a house 
erected on the road from the eastern Transit line to 
Buffalo, Mr. P.usti, the Agent General of the company, 
authorized Mr. Ellicott by a letter dated June 1st 1799 
to extract with six reputable individuals, to locate 
themselves on the road from the eastern Transit to 
Buffalo creek, about ten miles asunder and open 
houses of entertainment for travelers, at their s,i . ral 
I,,,,,, ions, in conned io„ of which, they were to have a 
quantity of land, from fifty to one hundred and fit >• 
neres each 'at a liberal t me for payment, without 
inio.esY at the lowest price the Company will sell 
their lands when settlements shall be begun.' 

"Three persons accepted of this offer, to wit. Fred- 
erick Walthers who was then residing- on the land, 
,00k 150 acres in township number twelve range one, 
west of and adjoining the eastern Transit, including 
the Company's store house, and being where the vil- 
lage of Stafford now stands. Asa Ransom located him- 
self Sept. 1st, 1790, on 150 acres, in township 1_. iaug< 
fi at what is now known as Ransom's Grove, or 
Clarence Hollow. Garritt Davis located himself Sept 
10th. 1799. in township number 13, range 2 on 150 
acres on the south line of said township, and east of 
and adjoining the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, (the 
Buffalo road then run through the reservation, some 
distance north of its present location. 1 These lots 
wc-e .severally laid out and surveyed for the purchas- 
ers before the several townships in which they are 
located were surveyed. These three persons erected 
and furnished comfortable houses for the purposes 
Intended, as soon as practicable; which although not 
as spb-ndid. vet were more eagerly sought, and cheer- 
fully enjoyed by the forest traveller and land explorer 
than any of the 'Astor Houses', 'Americans', or 'Eagles 

"With the exception of those residing at Buffalo, Mrs. 
Garrett Davis and Mrs. Walthers, were the pioneer 
women upon the Holland Purchase. In 1S00, Asa Ran- 
som and Garrett Davis raised summer crops, 



rhich 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the Transit Store 



le, and that he is 
sers are awaiting his ar- 
■ember he had arrived at 
jlace he writes Mr. Busti 
1 sales in that region were 
json having amounted to 
ins preceding. A portion of 



of the Ho 
inform. I I 
rival On t] 

Canandaigua. from 
that he i 
brisk, the 
more than in any B 

the handbill to which Mr. Ellicott alludes is 
The issuing of it was tin important step in the con 
: of t!i" settlement of the Purchase: — 



Nation of Endians, dd the w. stern side of 

i.l ' iv. I--..I- tin .■..nv-ni.-hce of applicants, the 

e Will bi ■ t Lblished near the center of the 

lands intended for sale, and on the main road, leading 
from the '.i t.-rn and Middle States to Upper Panada. 
[si. in Pennsylvania, and the Connecticut 
El. a-. The e lands are situate, adjoining and con- 
tiguous, to the lakes Krie, Ontario, and the streights 
of Niagara. p..ss. ssing the advantage of the navigation 
and trade of r.11 the Upper lakes, as well as the river 
Saint Lawrence, (from which the British settlements 
derive great advantage), also intersected by the Alle- 
gany river, navigable for boats of 30 or 40 tons 
burthen, to Pittsburgh and New Orleans, and con- 
tiguous to the navigable waters of the west branch of 
the Susquehannah river, and almost surrounded by 
settlements, where provision of every, kind is to be 
had in great abundance and on reasonable terms, ren- 
ders the situation of the Holland Land Company Gene- 
see Lands more eligible, desirous, and advantageous 
for settlers than anv other unsettled tract of inland 
country of equal magnitude in the United States. The 
greater part of this tract is finely watered (few excep- 
tions) with never failing springs and streams, afford- 
ing sufficiency of water for gristmills and other water- 
works. The subscriber, during the years 179S and 17SI9. 
surveyed and laid off the whole of these lands into 
townships, a portion of which, to accommodate pur- 
chasers and settlers, is now laying off into lots and 
tracts from 120 acres and upwards, to the quantity 
contained in a township. 

"The lands abound with limestone, and are cal- 
culated to suit every description of purchasers and set- 
tlers. Those who prefer land timbered with black and 
white oak, hickory, poplar, chestnut, wild cherry, but- 
ternut, and .logwood, or the more luxuriant timbered 
with basswood or lynn. butternut, sugar-tree, white 
ash. wild cherry, cucumber tree, (a species of the mag- 
nolla i and black walnut, may be suited. Those who 
prefer level land, or gradually ascending, affording 
oxtei Ivi plains and valleys, will find the country 
adapted to their choice. In short, such are the varie- 
ties of situations in this part of the Geneseo country, 
every where almost covered with a rich soil, that it 
is presumed that all purchasers who may be inclined 
to participate in the advantages of those lands, may 
select lots from 20 acres to tracts containing 100,000 
acres, that would fully please and satisfy their choice. 
The Holland Land Company, whose liberality is so well 
known in this country, now offer to all those who may 
wish to become partakers of the growing value of 
those lands, such portions and such parts as they may 
think proper to purchase. Those who may choose to 
pay cash will find a liberal discount from the credit 
price." — (Turner). 

The whole of the lands of the Dutch proprietors within 
the State of New York were originally purchased for 
their account from Robert Morris, and conveyed for 
their benefit to trustees. The old statutes of the State 
of New-York forbade an a/ien to acquire a title in fee 
simple to any lands within the State, whereupon repre- 
sentations in favor of the Dutch proprietors having been 
made to the Legislature, appropriate action was taken 
by that body to secure the titles to the purchasers from 
Robert Morris and his assigns. "On nth April, 1796, 
a special act was passed for the relief of Wilhem Wil- 



link, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Christian Van Eeghen, 
Hendrick Vollenhoven and Rutger Jan Schimmelpen- 
ninck, which was succeeded by a supplementary act passed 
24th February, 1797, including the names of Jan Willink, 
Jacob Van Staphorst, Nicholas Hubbard, Pieter Van 
Eeghen, Isaac Ten Cate, Jan Stadnitski and Arenout Van 
Beeftingh. By these two acts the trustees were author- 
ized to hold the lands which had been contracted and 
paid for by all or any of the above named individuals, 
and for the period of seven years to sell the same to 
citizens of the United States; declarations describing the 
lands so held, being filed in the Secretary's office by the 
1st of July, 1797. Such declarations were made and filed 
accordingly. Under the general alien act of the 2nd 
April, 1798, the titles were afterwards vested in the 
names of the Dutch proprietors by new conveyances as 
specified in the Abstracts Nos. II and V. 

"By this general act, which was to continue for three 
years all conveyances to aliens, not being the sub- 
jects of a or States at war with the United 

Str tcs '.'■ lared to be valid, so as to vest the 

ml b aliens, their !:■ ir- and .assigns forever. 
Tin- construction of (his a<t was settled by a declara- 
-ss.d r.th March. 1819, by which it is declared 
1 all . _a\ .-\ n.-es made to aliens under 
thi of 2nd April, 1798, should, and as to any ques- 

tion or plea of alienism be. deemed valid, and affectual 
. lands thereby conveyed in the several gran- 
■. authorize them and their heirs and as- 
signs, although aliens, to devise or convey the same to 
ay other alien or aliens, not being the subjects of a 
power or State at war with the United States. 

"It appears from the abstracts that all the lands of 
the Company were conveyed bv the trustees to Paul 
Busti, of Philadelphia, an alien. The resign of this 
conveyance, it is presumed, was merely to change the 
title of the trust estate to the hands of Busti, who was 
verier. a 1 agent for the Holland proprietors. 

"It will be noted that all the confirmatory deeds of 
Thomas L. Ogden to the grantees of all the convey- 
ances made by Robert Morris were made necessary to 
quiet the title to the lands after the two judgments 
against Morris were rendered, and they were sold at 
sheriff's sale".— (S. Gould). 

"The price paid for the lands by the Company, we 
are informed, was 32 cents per acre. The price at 
which the early sales were made, was about $2, being 
varied, more or less, by the location and quantity sold. 
The books of the Company show the price in this 
county (Chautauqua) to have been about $2.50 an acre. 
This price, after deducting the cost of surveys, and the 
expenses of the land offices, would seem to have left 
to the Company a large profit. Yet the opinion has 
extensively prevailed, that cash sales at what is 
usually termed the 'government price', would have 
been better for the Company. 

holding the 
dgrants hav- 
1 to the Western states, across 
the Holland Purchase, to get cheap lands, thus retard- 
ing the settlement of the purchase, and leaving its 
lands to be occupied by the poorer class of emigrants. 
Rut many are not aware that the price of the public 
lands, at the time when the Holland Company com- 
menced their sales, was about the same as the price of 
lands on the purchase. The common price of govern- 
ment lands in Western States was $2."— (Young). 

The books of the Holland Company show remarkably 
slow progress of payment by purchasers of lands. A 
large portion of them must have forfeited their claims. 
It appears that, at the expiration of ten years, those who 
had paid little or nothing, were charged with "increase of 
purchase money," which was a sum added to the sum re- 
maining unpaid. To what extent this was done in this 
(Chautauqua) county, does not appear, as many of the 
older books were destroyed at Mayville by the memorable 
conflagration at that place in 1836. The increase charged 
was, in many instances, nearly equal to, and in a few even 
greater, than the sum due on the contract. 

Some assistance was rendered the settlers in making 
payments, by the offer of the Company to receive cattle 
on their contracts. Agents were sent once a year to cer- 



for the Comp 
iften been remarked. thE 
inds at the high credit prices, easte 



THE HOLLAND LAXD PURCHASE 



263 



tain towns for that purpose. We find in the Batavia 
books the first credit for cattle in 1822 or 1823. Cattle 
were thus received for a number of years. We have 
seen, in the Eastern part of the Purchase, a few credits 
for grain ; but the receiving of grain, it is presumed, 
was never general, at any considerable distance from a 
good market. An additional stimulus was given by a 
notice to those most in arrears, that in case of speedy 
payment a liberal deduction would be made from the sums 
due. This was the cause of some dissatisfaction to those 
who had been more prompt in their payments, who re- 
garded it as a premium to their slack neighbors for their 
want of punctuality. 

"During- these times it was that most was heard of 
the impolicy of the plan of the Company for the dis- 
posal and settlement of their lands. Probably with the 
view of inviting immigration, articles were given to 
settlers on the most easy terms — to some, on payment 
of a sum barely sufficient to pay for drawing- the con- 
tract, which was about one dollar; and many, doubt- 
less were attracted hither by this easy mode of ob- 
taining possession of land. The early settlers were 
generally poor, having expended nearly the Inst dollar 
in their removal, and could scarcely have purchased on 
less accommodating terms. Yet some of these, after a 
short residence and sundry discouragements, sold out 
their "improvements" and sought new homes in more 
favorable localities. Then. too. was so often expressed 
the opinion that the Company would have done better, 
and the country would have been more prosperous, had 
the low price and cash plan teen adopted, as it would 
have brought in a better as well as a more industrious 
and enterprising class of inhabitants. That some per- 
sons of the lower class were drawn hither bv the easv 
terms offered by the Company is true. But the old in- 
habitants of Chautauoua county still living will agree 
in saving that its early settlers were generally honest, 
frugal, and industrious, and in point of moral worth, 
not inferior tn the population of any other county in 
the State".— (ToungV 

"A recurrence to facts will reveal the true cause of 
the slow progress of the settlers in discharging their 
obligations to the Company. Most of them were com- 
paratively young men from the East, and poor. 'Wages 
had been low; and they had laid up little more than 
enough to buy a team and to defray the expense of 
their removal. They had heavily timbered lands to 
clear, and for a time had no sons able to help, nor the 
means of hiring help. And for a little surplus of the 
products of their farms, there was for years no mar- 
ket beyond the demands of newcomers. War came: and 
many were obliged to leave their farms and join the 
army. Pome of them served to the end of the war — 
between two and three years. Peace returned: labor 
was again thrown upon the land: and within a few 
years there was a large surplus which scarcely com- 
pensated for raising it. The price of wheat in Roches- 
ter, then the nearest and best cash market in the west- 
ern part of the state, was 2s. fid. to 3s. per bushel, 
which would hardly pay for its transportation in that 
time of bad roads. Occasionally a load was taken to 
Albany by teamsters going after goods for the mer- 
chants. At home, a bushel was given for a pound of 
tobacco, or a yard of brown cotton cloth. 

"In providing means for prosecuting the war. double 
duties were laid upon imports, which duties were to 
continue during the war. and for a year after its close. 
These duties checked importations and encouraged 
home manufacturers. Many manufactories sprang into 
being. The period of high duties expired in the win- 
ter of 1816. Commercial intercourse with Great Bri- 
tain was resumed, and the country was again flooded 
with British goods. Our manufacturers were pros- 
trated. The country was drained of its money to pay 
for foreign goods: specie payments were suspended: 
and bank bills depreciated to 70 or SO per cent, below 
par. and in some states to almost nothing. No wonder 
that the books of the Land Company showed so few 
and so small credits to settlers, nor that so many 
children went barefoot until the first snows had fallen. 

"A large portion of the settlers, however, still felt 
the pressure of their land debt. They thought it but 
just that the Band Company, who had grown rich under 
the laws of the state removing their alien disabilities. 
and exempting them from taxation, should contribute 
some share toward the expenditures of the state gov- 
ernment. Application was made to the legislature in 
1S33. for a law to this effect, which was passed in that 
year. The act was advocated by its friends upon the 



the debt . 
in the sti 

of the Er 



principle. that, if any of our own citizens held the 
same security, as the contracts of these non-resident 
landholders, such securities would be liahle to taxa- 
jresent value and ultimate payment of 
Holland Land Company were involved 
of our laws; and that the Construction 
1, effected by the settlers on their lands 
ith other citizens of the state, had in- 
1 the value of the Company's purchase several 
millions of dollars, a considerable portion of which had 
been and would be realized by the Company". — 
(Young). 

It is interesting to note that John J. Vander Kemp, de- 
scribing himself as the general agent of the Holland 
Land Company, and also of Wilhem and Jan Willink, in 
connection with Robert Trour, general agent of the Pul- 
teney Estate, sent a joint memorial to the "Senate and 
Assembly of the State of New- York" in which they "Re- 
spectfully sheweth : That the bill now before the Assem- 
bly, for the taxation of land contracts and securities for 
the purchase monies of land belonging to persons not 
resident within the State, appearing to your memorialists 
to be objectionable in principle, and very oppressive in its 
application to the estates which they represent: and ap- 
prehending, moreover, that if enacted into law. it will, in 
its operation, prove highly injurious to the great body of 
settlers in the western counties, your memorialists most 
respectfully submit to the Legislature a brief statement 
of their views in relation to this new and important fea- 
ture in our system of taxation." That "The loans made 
by capitalists in Holland, to aid the United States during 
the war, being reimbursed soon after the organization of 
the Federal government under its present constitution, 
and in consequence of the troubles then commencing in 
Europe, the pursuits of commerce offering no encourage- 
ment for the employment of these funds the Dutch mer- 
chants, under the influence of their early attachment to 
this infant Republic, determined to invest them in 
American lands. The tract of country now called the 
Holland Purchase, was bought in 1792 and 1703, but the 
Indian title was not extinguished till the year 1707 : soon 
after which the whole tract was explored and carefully 
surveyed into small parcels. The settlement of it was 
commenced in 1800. upon the system of selling on long 
credits to actual settlers : a system which, whilst cal- 
culated to postpone for a long time the reimbursement of 
the capital employed in it, was supposed to be well 
adapted to the then circumstances of this country. 

"The actual expenditures of the Holland Company 
upon their Genesee lands, including interest, amounted 
in the year 1S00 to 4.392.000 dollars. * « « Several 
years since, the Holland Land Company entered upon a 
general system of reduction in their land debts, bv 
which the amounts were to be regulated bv the fair 
price of the land at that period, without regard to the 
improvements. In carrying into effect this svstem. up- 
wards of eleven thousand contracts have been renewed 
and modified upon the same principle. The whole 
amount of reductions resulting from the operation of 
this system, exceed 700.000 dollars. • » * The very- 
large sums gratuitously expended by each fThe Hol- 
land Land Company and the Pultenev Estate) in the 
making of roads, in the erection of bridges, in the con- 
struction of court-houses and churches, and in pro- 
moting religious and academical instruction, attest the 
truth of their sincere and uniform regard to the 
necessities and best interests of the numerous and 
mritorious class of citizens who had purchased their 
lands. The whole amount of the expenditures of the 
Holland Company for these objects and taxes, and in 
agency charges, since the year 1S00. exceeds the sum 
of 1.500.000 dollars. Their taxes alone, (augmented bv 
valuations in some cases amounting to double the price 
which the agents would gladly accept for themi. have 
exceeded, upon an average of the last thirty years 
15,000 dollars per annum, drawn from a property 
entirely unproductive, and which, in progressive ap- 
preciation, can furnish no sort of equivalent for this 
continued drain. 

"In conclusion, your memorialists, invoking a calm 
and cautious deliberation on this most important sub- 



264 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



he high and delicate interests involved 



it. to the justice, the good faith, and the wisd„... 
the Legislature." 

The fact that the Legislature passed the tax law in 
spite of the brief filed by the memorialists would indi- 
cate their belief in the large profits the Company was 
supposed to be earning from their investment. 



■■ \r-.T 

through 
having < 
the ..nit 



the Compan 
lature. that 
(Young). 



pai . 1 re of this law. the Company, 
local agent, served notices on persons 
:ts on which payments were due, though 
requiring them 



say, 



range.' the balanc 

months. A citizen commenting 
lewspaper remarked, that 'if every 

property owned by the settlers 
loney would not half meet the re- 
iummary mandate.' The issuing of 
afti i the passage of the act. is of 
iptive evidence that this sudden 
a designed as a retaliation to those 
"mental in procuring the passage 
-vidence finds confirmation in the 
uttered by one in the interest of 
the bill was pending in the Legis- 
rht be worse for the settlers' ". — 

be imagined, that the announce- 
licy produced a stir among the set- 
lie Purchase: and their feelings 
at extent, through the newspapers, 
i.aking of no new contracts while 
were in life, and when th v di I 
he payment of no tax but the ordi- 

1 they now paid. It was suggested 
dd in the several towns to consult 
dopted: that the Company be poti- 



inrt if thi 
The 



aed the 



enforce the forfeit! 
lated payments were clue, 
le year following, the Com- 
ut their remaining interests 
?e to small companies or to 
Jovember. 1S35, the Holland 
with Trumbull Carv and 
of Batavia. to sell to them all their 
ind real, in this countv (Chautauqua), 
n wild lands, converted lands, lands 
few bond? and mort- 



md 



I'm II, 



.eyed. The purr 
S.-.n.onn in hand. 



the Company to 



gages, : 


id co 




s, which sho 


Id be 


tak 


en 


the land 


3 and 


the 


iquida 


ion 


debt. 






agent of 


the 


Holla 


nd Con 


pany 






1 ■ con , 


tent 


with 


its sec 


urity, 


to' be 


go\ 




direction 


of 


the 


new 


(equi 


table) 


p 


rop 


(Young) 

















In 1810, in anticipation of the formation of Chautauqua 
county the Holland Land Company built a land office of 
logs in Mayville and placed William Peacock in charge 
as their agent : When the county seat was fixed at May- 
ville the Holland Land Company was required to erect 
county buildings at its own expense, and convey them 
with a parcel of land on which they were situated, in 
quantity not less than half an acre, for the use of the 
county. 

"The sale, or agreement to sell to the new p-oprie- 
tors. having come to the knowledge of the settlers. Mr 
i eaeock was applied to for information as to the terms 
and policy adopted, or to be adopttd bv the new pro- 
pnetors; but the applicants received no definite 
answer. The fact was reported to a meeting of set- 
tlers at which a committee was appointed, consisting 
of l-.hal T. Foote. Oliver Lee. Samuel Barrett. Leverett 
Barker, and George T. Camp, who were to visit the 
new proprietors at Batavia, for the information thev 
fa iJed to obtain at Mayville. 

The policy of the new proprietors was explained 
to the committee and a written copy of it was made by 
Judge I- oote. It has .sine,- been known as the '(Inn- 



Land Tariff'. 



-half d 
i. Who: 
e, and : 
,c addf 



The following is Judge Foote's 

;ases of articles which have expired since the 
inuary. 1S35, or which may hereafter expire, 
le may be made, and new contracts may be 
yab'.e in ten annual installments, with inter- 
illy, on the following terms, one-eighth of 
ase money being paid down: 
ill cases where the amount due on the old 
s less than three dollars on the acre, an ad- 
>ne dollar on the acre to be charged 
•re the amount due is over three dollars per 
less than five dollars, an advance of one and 
lollars per acre to be charged, 
■re the amount is over five dollars on the 
s than eight dollars, two dollars per acre 

er acre, 
rged. 
rhich have been forfeited in conse- 
ipliance with the notices, to be con- 
holding under an article expired since 
y be permitted to pay up and take a 

nent of per acre. 

s where the land is worth twice the 
jrchase money, a deed may be given 
taken on the above terms, 
may surrender his article before it 
a new contract on the above terms. 
■ are for the benefit of actual settlers, 
ctended to those who hold contracts 
payment of debts, or who have pur- 
-peculation; but all such persons will 
v the full value of the land. 

icle has expired 



shall h. 



Lftl 



arti. 



"11. Xo advance to he charged upon lands held by 
widows and orphan children. 

"12 No wild land, or other land not heretofore 
articled, or any of that class of expired article., pur- 
cha led as wild lands, at 2 dollars per acre, or the lots 
1 I' 1 ...... .. I'.. ;. I . to be sold until the same have 

1 ' : . nid a pine fixed by the proprietors. 

"Incensed what the settlers deemed an unreason- 

abli advi n the prices of their lands, arrange- 
in. : t wor,. s .on made for a raid upon the land office 
in Mayville. with a view to the destruction of the 
books and papers belonging to the office". — (Young). 

The following is a description, given in the "Centen- 
nial History," of the circumstances that led up to and 
culminated in the destruction of the Holland Land Com- 
pany's office in Mayville : 

"In 1S35 the Holland Company contracted their un- 
sold lands, and lands of which there were outstanding 
and unexpired contracts, to Trumbell Carv and George 
W. Lay. It was understood that such of the settlers 
as could not pay for their farms would be compelled 
to renew their contracts, and pay a certain sum per 
acre in addition to the original price, and such inter- 
est as had accumulated thereon. This proposed ex- 
action was called the "Genesee Tariff". As soon as 
this fact became known to the inhabitants of the 
county, it produced great excitement. A large public 
meeting was held in Jamestown at which a committee 
was appointed, consisting of Elial T. Foote. Oliver Lee, 
Samuel Barrett, Leveivtt Barker and George T. Camp 
to confer with the proprietors at Batavia and ascer- 
tain definitely theh intention towards the settlors. 
The committee were unable, however, to obtain satis- 
l"'i torv inf. .'a . 1 ..' :.s to the matter. A second public 
meeting was held at Mayville, January Nth. 1836. The 

1 pie were now greatly aroused, and this meeting 

was even more numerously attended than the former 
one. Leverett Barker was chosen president, and John 
M. I'dson. secretary. James Mullett addressed the peo- 
ple in an impressive speech. Speeches were also made 
by Judge Foote and others; a committee of seven was 
appointed by the chairman, to which was added the 
chairman and secretary of this meeting, to confer with 
William Peacock, the agent of the company for Chau- 
tauqua County. Mr. Peacock received the committee 
coldly, and the little information he gave them was 
very unsatisfactory. The result of this conference 
produced great excitement, and the excesses which fol- 
lowed the proposed exactions were such as might have 
been expected. 




AND OFFICIO. MATVILLB 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



265 



"The early settlers had braved a wilderness and 
wrought for themselves homes such as extreme toil. 
privation and hardship could accomplish. Thev had 
rallied at the call of danger, shed their blood and 
periled their lives in defense of the soil. The owners 
had grown wealthy by the industry of the settlers, and 
their agents rolled in fatness; to impose such terms 
at a time and under such circumstances as, in a ma- 
jority of instances, would deprive the settlers of their 
farms and compel them to abandon their possessions, 
while a course of fair dealing- and equitable require- 
ments on the part of the owners would enable them, 
after a few more years of toil, to call the soil on which 
the fire and vigor of their manhood had been expended, 
as more than they would submit to or 

■e small gatherings of the people in 
■Ilieott and Ellery. in which the subject was 
1. The more it was talked over, the more 



endure. 

"There 



sed 



ned 



suit of these gatherings a 
was called at Hartfleld, which was not well 
. This was adjourned by common consent to 
if February, and it was understood, without a 
iechiraiion to that effect, that the- purpose 
e the tearing down the land office. Notice of 
irculated through the 



On the 6th of Februar 



fror 



thr 



Gerry. Ellery, Charlotte. Stockton, Poland. Ellicott. 
Busti and Harmony. Roland Cobb of Gerry was 
chosen chairman. Gen. George T. Camp was solicited 
by several to become their leader in the contemplated 
enterprise, but he declined, and in an earnest speech 
endeavored to induce them to abandon their violent 
intentions. The chairman also said that the Land 
Company might yet be willing to make terms, should 
another conference be had with them. Nathan Cheney, 
an intelligent and resolute old settler, who stood lean- 
ing upon a sled stake while the speeches were being 
made, now abruptly and effectively addressed the 
meeting in these words, 'Those who are going to May- 
ville with me. fall into line.' The whole assemblage 
at once obeved the order, chose Chenev their leader, 
George Van Pelt from Charlotte for lieutenant, formed 
into line and marched a short distance west of Thames' 
store iff Hartfleld and halted. Cheney then called for 
twenty-five of the strongest men to do the work of 
demolishing the Land Office. The number called for 
promptly stepped forward. Among them were Harri- 
son Persons, the Allegheny pilot before mentioned, 
'Zeke' Powers (noted for his strength, afterwards a 
soldier of the Mexican war where he lost his life*. 
'Coon - and Jim Decker. "Bill' Pickard. Peter Strong 
and Joe Coe (from Picard Street in Ellery) and other 
strong and resolute people. The people then resumed 
their march in double file for Mayville. the sappers 
and miners with Persons and Powers as leaders, in 
advance. The only arms they carried were axes and 
crowbars and some hoop poles taken from a cooper's 
shop on their march. Two kegs of powder were taken 
along, although no use was made of them. When the 
party arrived at the Land Office (which was about S 
o'clock in the evening) Cheney posted the sappers and 
miners upon three of its sides and paraded the rest of 
the party around these workmen to guard them from 
out--ide interference. As a light was burning in the 
building when they arrived, admittance was first de- 
manded to which no response was given. Cheney in 
a strong voice then gave the order to strike, which 
was obeyed and all the windows came out with a 
crash. The door was broken down, and an entrance to 
the building affected. A costly clock was disposed of 
by the blow of an ax. A valuable map of the county, 
upon which every farm was delineated, was destroyed. 
The axemen made light work of the furniture and 
woodwork. They cut the posts and canted the build- 
ing over. They found some difficulty in opening the 
vault that contained the safe, which was made of solid 
mason work of cut stone. Van Pelt pried out the key- 
stone with an iron bar; others took one of the pillars 



The iron safe enclosed was pried open, and half a cord 
of books and papers of the company were taken out, 
placed on a sleigh and carried to Hartfleld, where a 
bonfire was made, and thev were burned. Some of 
them, however, were carried away by the people and 
have been preserved. The party dispersed and went 
to their homes about midnight. 

"The most of those engaged in this affair held con- 
tracts for the purchase of land, and, in many instances, 
would have suffered ruinous consequences from the 



company's exactions. The proceedings were conducted 
in an orderly manner, and those engaged were gen- 
erally sober men. No liquor was used, except while 
the work of demolishing the building and opening the 
vault was going on. While the people were on the 
wev from Hartfleld to Mayville. Peacock was notified 
of their coming and left his office and took refuge at 
the house of Donald McKenzie. and after remaining a 
short time in Mayville he went to Erie^ No further 
communication was had between the Holland Land 
Company or their agents, and the settlers until 1V,.. 
wl,.., a sale was made of the company's land to Due r, 
Uobinson and S-ward (Gov. William H. Seward), who 
opened an office in Westfield. where the business was 
conducted without disturbance or dissatisfaction . 

The following letter will be of interest to show the 
intense feeling of the settlers and their continued efforts 
to pursuade Mr. Cary to formulate a more lenient policy 
towards the poorer settlers who had not been able to meet 
the payments on their lands when they fell due: 

Fredonia, Feby. 18. 1836. 
Hon. T. Cary 

You 'have probably learned from the published pro- 
fa. .dings of a convention, held at Mayville in this 
County, on the 8th of January last to take into con- 
sideration the terns nroposed by the recent purchasers 
of the lands in this County to the settlers, that we 
were appointed a committee to correspond with you 
and others on that subject: and we assure yon that v. .. 
accepted the appointment in the hope that we might 
be able to act as mediators, between the inhabitants 
and the owners of the land, and in that capacity allay 
rother than increase the dissatisfaction which existed 
among the people, by inducing you to remove all real 
cau-es of complaint. 

We did not anticipate, and do most sincerely regret 
the violent measures which have since been adopted, and 
we also regret that any real cause of dissatisfaction 
should have exist, d to afford a plausible palliation of 
a transaction which no one can justify in the abstract. 
The relation which exists between the present owners 
of the lands in this County and the settlers, is not a 
new and original one. but the present owners are con- 
sidered bv the people as the representatives of the 
Cm. .an-, under whom they took their contracts, and 
morallv' bound bv the understanding which existed 
between them at the time. We do not deny to you, or 
any other men, the legal right to prescribe and fix. 
at 'pleasure, the terms and conditions, upon which you 
will dispose of your property; it is a right we all 
claim, and are willing to concede; but we do doubt the 
moral right of a creditor, suddenly and unexpectedly 
to change his policy towards his debtor m such nman- 
n ,. r a < to embarrass him and increase the burden of 
h^ debt or compel a sacrifice of his property. The 
policy pursued bv the Holland Company for ?0 years 
past." has been one of lenity and indulgence towards 

No matter whether that policy originated in selfish- 
ness or not it was one under which this vast wilder- 
ness has been populated and converted into blooming 
fields with a rapidity before unknown in the settle- 
ment of new countries. It was a policy well adapted 
to the times and circumstances attending the settle- 
ment of this Country, and the character of the set- 
tlers, and which has enabled thousands of men. who 
had no means but their axes, and no property but in 
hope to become useful, respectable, and comparatively 
wealthy citizens. Under this system of indulgence and 
lenitv. 'and an implied promise of its continuance, the 
present settlers took their contracts. No matter what 
the written conditions of these contracts were not one 
in a hundred ever read them — the policy of the land 
holders was known, established and relied on: and 
impliedly, and in many instances expressly, became a 
part of the contract. 

Under this system of things, and while the People 
were rapidly improving, and paying for their lands, 
and receiving their deeds, on terms far more favorable 
than those contained in their written contracts. You 
became the purchasers of all those unpaid contracts, 
and the lands held under them. 

You cannot wonder that this circumstance created a 
great anxiety among the thousands whose fate was 
involved in this change of ownership, nor that they 
were solicitous to know what effect it would have 
upon their contracts and their possessions, including 
probably all the property they had on earth. 



266 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



it in 
sidei 



is; v. 



eipit.1t.- iii-l .•.-•,-. -i- in tli.-p- .1. -iii.-u, ,1 of :,-rnis. Put they 

could not |tidf f the timi necessary tn accomplish 

this business, and their anxiety was met bv a por- 
tentous silence, which was interrupted onlv by the 
annunciation of terms which they considered ruinous. 

We do not mention these things in the spirit of ac- 
cuse Hon but for the purpose of fairly and frankly 
pointing: out the causes of dissatisfaction and appre- 
hension, which might have been allayed, but which 
have produced consequences which we sincerely de- 
plore. 

The doubtful, and as far £ 
policy which the People had 
be extended to the settler . ha 
for many good and Influent) 
weight of character on the sidi 



ind 



ter, they might appear to approbate the terms pro- 
posed by the former. Thev could not expect to per- 
suade men to yield obedience to laws which promised 
them no redress of the grievances against which they 
complained. We however do not despair of a restora- 
tion of the peace, good order, and prosperity which 
have heretofore characterized this County. 

We believe that the Judgment of men will finally 
triumph over their passions: and we hope that vou 
may be induced so to modify your terms, as to bring 
them within the system wmioh the people had a right 
to expect would govern the fulfilment, as it hid done 
the making of their contracts: and we have no doubt 
that the moral sense of this community will he satis- 
fied with a restoration of such a system. We therefore 
take the liberty to propose, 

1. That you reestablish, as soon as practicable, a 
land office in this County. 2. That vou permit all per- 
son- who hold what are called modified contracts for 
land, whether expired or not. to come forward within 
a reasonable time, and pay for their lands, at the con- 
tract price, and simple interest, and take their deeds. 
3 That those, who cannot pay for their lands within 
the time proposed for that purpose, shall, on paving a 
part of the old contract price, be permitted to renew 
their contracts at the old price and simple interest, or 
to take Deeds and give Mortgages for the balance pay- 
able in five annual installments, with annual interest. 
4. As there are a few cases of contracts which have 
not been modified, we propose that the occupiers of 
lands under such contracts be permitted to avail them- 
selves of the above terms, as though their contracts 
had been modified. 

These propositions embrace the prominent causes of 
complaint, as far as we are acquainted with them, and 
we have no doubt but the adoption of terms in accord- 
ance with them, will be mutually beneficial to both 
parties, and restore peace and prosperity to the 
County. 

Very Respectfully, Your obt. Servts. 
JAMES Ml'LLETT. 
hRVRRETT PARKER, 
CHAUNCEY TINKER. 

This letter has the following endorsement on the back : 
Hon. T. Carv, Batavia. 

Bv Hon. T. A. Osborne. 

Messrs. James Mullett, Leverett Barker, Chauncev 
Tinker. 

Answd. 24 Feby, 1836. 

There seems to be no record of the reply to this letter 
and communication between the new proprietors and the 
settlers ceased altogether. 

The excitement caused by the "Genesee Land Tariff" 
was not confined to Chautauqua county. "In the spring 
of 1836, a crowd of seven hundred made a descent upon 
the Holland Company's office at Batavia, which, however, 
was successfully defended by an organized military force 
and citizens, armed from the state arsenal in that village, 
and two block houses, erected in anticipation of an at- 
tack."— (Young). 

Fr«m this period on, the history, policies and activities 
of the Holland Land Company probably will be of inter- 
est to local inhabitants and readers of this History only 
as they concern Chautauqua county; therefore the re- 



mainder of this compilation will be limited to its history 
in that section of the State. 

"William H. Seward had, just before the day fixed 
for the attack upon the Batavia office, been applied to 

by the new proprietors to assume the agency of the 



chase. And subsequent 
a banker in Rochester, 1 
1S36. before Mr. Sewari 
of the 



am M. Schermerhr 
le a partner. In Ju 
epted the proposit 
held at Mavville 



ved, that the proprietors he invited to open an office 
in the county, and pledged themselves that the settlers 
would cheerfully pay the principal and interest ac- 
crued upon their contracts but would submit to no 
extortionate demands, by wav of what was called the 
•c;,.,,,...,.,. Tariff .■..niM..ui.d interest, or otherwise Con- 
Si • thi Intelli and justice of the people, he 

was determined bv this expression to accept the trust 
propi ed With a view to greater safety he estab- 
lished his office at Westfleld, the citizens of that place 
having pledged themselves to protect it from mob vio- 
:he Westfield House 
pied 



the 



National Bank of Westfield). and the business was 
conducted to the general satisfaction of the settlers. 
A comm.'-'.i-.u building for a land office was soon 
ere ted on North Portage street, and was occupied for 
this purpose until the business of the new Company 
was closed".— (Young). 

The appointment of Mr. Seward as agent did not 
completely allay the suspicions of the settlers that the 
same policy would be continued. Among the records of 
the Holland Laud Company a small pamphlet has been 
found which is so interesting, in that it shows these sus- 
picions and Mr. Seward's policy, that it is quoted in full : 

I. :iml Office Opened. — It will be seen by a notice of 
the new Agent, in our advertising columns, that he has 
opened his office at Westfield. — (Fredonia Censor, July 
27, 1836) 

CHAUTAUetTJE LAND OFFICE. — The subscriber has 

est ibli- lie-i his o'P.-e at Gale's Hotel, in the village of 
Westfield.— W. H. SEWARD. 
Westfield. July 26, 1S36. 

The New Lanil Office. — The Editor of the Mavville 
Sentinel, as we anticipated, grumbles a good deal at 
the removal of the Land Office from Mavville to West- 
field. It has had one excellent effect however: it has 
brought him out decidedly in favor of the interests of 
the settler, and he now says boldly, ''that not one cent 
of compound interest — not one dollar advance price 
per acre above the contract price — should ever he ex- 
proprietors or submitted to by the set- 
This Is manlv language, and we shall not much 
... the occurrence of the circumstance that so effi- 
ciently unshackled the editor of the Sentinel, and 
brought him thus promptly to the cause of the people. 

The editor rays he has received the terms by which 
the new Agent is to be governed, "which." he says, he 
"trusts will prove satisfactory, and restore the county 
to its former tranquility." If he thinks so under the 
present circumstances, we are led to believe that the 
terms are favorable indeed. — From the Fredonia Cen- 
sor. August 3, 1S36. 

New Terms. — Below we give the proposed terms of 
the new company to the settlers in this county. 
Whether they will prove satisfactory, remains to be 
decided hereafter. Mr. Seward, the agent, has now 
gone to his family at Auburn, but has left the office in 
such a state that all ordinary business will he attended 
to. Week before last, we had some conversation with 
Mr. Seward in regard to the terms, during which he 
remarked, that "nothing would be demanded of the 
settlers but that w-hich was right and equitable." if so. 
we know they will be satisfied. They are willing to 
"render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's." but 
they will not submit to any thing which savors of op- 
pression. — From the Western Democrat, August 9, 
1S36. 

The Neyr Terms. — The following are the terms of the 
new Company, so far as they have been published. 
They are rather indefinite as regards certain locations, 
but it is said that satisfactory explanations are given 
on application at the office. 



acted by 
tl 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



267 



CHAUTAUOUE L .NP OFFICE, 

Westfleld, July 25, 1S36. 

The principal and simple interest only will be re- 
quire.! <>n contracts for lands in the towns after men- 
tioned, provided payment be made on or before the 
first of January next. 

Expired contracts, for land in the same towns will 
be renewed, or deeds will he executed and bonds and 
mortgages taken to secure the purchase money, if ap- 
plication he made before the first of January next and 
a credit of fiv vears in equal installments will be 
given on payment of a reasonable part of the moneys 
due at the time of application. , 

In cases where land is held under expired or un- 
modified contracts, and the debt due exceeds the value 
of the land, the persons holding the same will hcim 
upon the same grounds as those who hold unmodified 
contracts, provided application is made before the tn"-t 
of January next. Such contracts will he considered as 
having been modified or reduced in the year 
the price at which the Holland Companj 
sold the land at that time wi* u 



will consult their own interest in still offering 
same liberal conditions to all who will manifest a 
cere desire to pay for the lands from which they 
drawing their support— ' 
Jan. 4th. 1S37). 



rest since that 



These terms apply to all the towns in the county, 
except the towns bordering on Lake Erie and lands in, 
or in the immediate vicinity of villages. 

The titles of all the lands to be conveyed previous 
to the first of January next will be given immediately 
by the Holland Company. 

No application for land under expired contracts will 
be entertained previous to the first of January next, 
unless the contract he produced or the consent of the 
occupant in writing. 

The subscriber will necessarily be absent from the 
countv from the first to the 20th of August. 

The office will he opened in the meantime for the 
transaction of business of an ordinary character, and 
after that time the subscriber will give his entire at- 
tention to the same. W. H. SEWARD. 

From the Fredonia Censor, August 10, 1836. 

Mr. Editor, I was in hopes ere this the land question 
would be settled, and the new Company open their 
office conformably to the resolution of the Convention 
of the 15th June last. Some think that offer too high 
— I should say no; not more than six years interest was 
to be taken, and 15 dollars on every 100 dollars interest 
paid into the office is to be allowed. All moneys paid 
on the lands to be accounted for to the settler — Lands 
taken up at the office at 2 dollars per acre will amount 
to 2.73 per acre; at 2.25 to 3.07, at 2.50 to 3.41, at .1 to 
4.10 per acre, and so on in proportion. The poorest 
class of settlers, with few exceptions, are those that 
settled in the county from 1S21 to 1828. The settlers 
in those years were very numerous, and they chiefly 
settled on the moist grass lands, which all know are 
the worst in the countv to settle. If the new Com- 
pany would conform to the resolutions of the 15th of 
June. I think the settlers ought to accept the offer. 
This would bring their contracts nearly as low as 
those modified in 182S and 1829. It certainly behooves 
every good citizen to use his utmost efforts to bring it 
to a final settlement. If either party will not conform 
to the above resolutions, the business ought to be 
brought fairly before the public, and finally settled. 
for on this question, depends the prosperity of the 



Chautauque. 15th Augu 



A SETTLER. 



536, 



From the Fredonia Censor. 

The I.nnii Office. — We understand the Land office at 
Westfleld, in this county, was very much thronged last 
week with settlers, making payments on their lands, 
taking new contracts, etc. It being the last week pre- 
vious to the first of January, the time limited accord- 
ing to the conditions of the new company, very many 
were anxious to avail themselves of the offers made 
them: and we are happy to learn that good feeling 
and harmony prevailed between the settlers and the 
company. The utmost disposition to accommodate all 
who came was manifested by the company, — new con- 
tracts being given in many instances without any 
advance in price, when hut a few dollars were paid in. 
The great increase in the value of real estate all over 
this countv that has taken place within the past year. 
has had the happy effect of doing away the irritating 
question of a reduction in price, which has been so 
long agitated by the settlers, and the holders of con- 
tracts have wisely embraced the opportunity of renew- 
ing them at the old prices, where they could not pay 
up. well knowing that their lands will now bring them 
double what they would one or two years ago. 

What will be the future course of the new company 
we are not enabled to say; but we have no doubt they 



the Fredonia Cens 



CHAUT.M'i.H-R LAND OFFICE. 

Westfleld. Jan. 3, 1837. 

NOTICE.— Inquiries are frequently made, core, ruing 
the princird.es on which the business of this Office will 
be conducted after this date. The subscriber proposes 
to answer these inquiries, by a statement of his views 
of the situation of the estate, and the policy which 
ought to be pursued. 

The estate of the Holland Company, in this county, 
assigned to the new proprietors, was taken as it stood 
on the first of January. 1S35. It consisted principally, 
of contracts for the sale of land, made in various 
vears. from 1805 to 1835. Upon all these contracts, 
with few exceptions, no payment had ever been made 
except a small sum. called the article money, paid on 
the execution of the contract. Upon most of the lands. 
held under these contracts, large and valuable im- 
provements have been made: while the cor ' 



The 



arrears of interest ace 
of principle, have form 
case, beyond the immedi 
discharge. Thus, while 
been continually increas 
merit has become da" 



ibility of the occupant t 
aggregate of debts ha 
the prospect of its pay- 
distant. It is obviout 



that such a state of things could not be otherwise 

than unfortunate, for both proprietors and settlers 

The former have 1 n annually subjected to taxes and 

loss of int. Test, upon a debt, of which there seemed to 
be no immediate prospect of collection; and the lat- 
ter, have seen with apprehension the increasing im- 
probability of their obtaining the title to lands, the 
principal value of which, was derived from then- own 
improvement of the same. No agricultural community 
can nourish if any doubt hangs over the title of the real 
estate occupied by its citizens. Where improved farms 
are held under expired contracts of sale and the title 
remains vested in the original proprietors, the farm- 
ers instead of standing in the relation of independent 
owners of the soil, are in the situation of tenants, at 
will or at sufferance, cultivating and enhancing the 
value of lands of which they are liable every day to 
be deprived by accident or the caprice or oppression 
of the landlords. It is apparent that the result must 
nent of the country, and by 
if land, equally prevent the 
receiving his debt, and the 
as he otherwise might and 
n labor and capital invested 
... this unfortunate condition, the sub- 
found the estate of the Holland Company in 
his county. Nor was it strange that out of these evils 
had already grown a wide spread and ruinous mi-un- 
derstanding between the proprietors and settles, 
which had developed its.lf in e.uol . i na t ions for mutua 
protection by force against apprehended lniusti. e, a ni 
had reached already the absurdity of a proposed appli- 
cation to the legislature, to escheat., the land- 
thereby plunge the county into a CO' 
sion from which it could not have arisen 1 
half a century. All experience has proved 
intelligent citizen 

ultimate calamity already impends oxei hi.il>..,. 

i'y. where the laws have ceased to be regarded as the 
protection of its citizens. 

The subscriber doubted not. no reasonable man could 
doubt, that the people of Chautauque county were 
willing to pay for their lands as speedily 
ticable. and provided they 
assurance to which they a! 
have the title when their pa 
?ry reasonable 



be to retard the improve 
keeping down the price 
original proprietor from 
occupant from enjoying 
ought, the fruit 
in the 
seriber 



.f his 



ion of depr 



lnmnity knows, tha 



ground- 



prac- 
uld have 

ntitled. that they should 
vments were made. He knew 
fust know, that the large debt 
„,. the countv could not be discharged at once, because 
its fair proportion of the circulating medium was in- 
sufficient for that purpose. And he knew full wen, 
that the debt could never be paid, while th 
itv were agitated by apprehensions, howev 
l,,„ concerning the title of the lands. The course 
adopted by hfm therefore was to liquidate the 
debt, and divide it into such equal annual mctall- 
ments as experience has proved that the people could 
pay with reasonable punctuality. He determined at 
the same time, to place the title in the hands of the 
settlers whenever it could be done with safety, on 
their paving a reasonable part of the purchase money 
and executing a bond and mortgage for the rcsidm-. 
Accordingly lie has conveyed the land in all instances, 
on receiving one dollar per acre, and a bond and mort- 
gage for the residue, payable in five equal annual in- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Btallments. And in those cases, where the occupant 
has been unable by reason of accident or misfortune, 
to make the payment of advance required on entering 
into bond and mortgage, an article has been given for 
one year, within which time, the occupant is expected 
to make the payment of one dollar per acre, and enter 
into bond and mortgage on receiving- a deed. 

This policy, so obviously liberal and advantageous 
to the settlers, has been met by a reception which has 
exceeded the most sanguine anticipations of the pro- 
prietors. There has been nlroa.lv paid and liquidate,], 
more than half the entire debt assigned bv the Hol- 
land Company: and there have been conveyed bv deed 
since the subscriber assumed the management of the 
estate, on the first of August last. S3. 372 acres of land, 
whereby more than eleven hundred of its citizens have 
been elevated from their precarious condition as ten- 
ants into that cf freeholders. The beneficial results of 
this system are already seen in the advance value of 
lands, the active emigration into the county which 
has nlreadv commenced, and in the increasing pressure 
of business at this office. 

The subscriber assures the people of the county, that 
his only purpose now is, as it has been, to bring the 
affairs of this complicated estate to a close without 
oppression or distress. In the accomplishment of this 
purpose, the interests of the proprietors and settlers 
are identified; and that purpose will be the para- 
mount consideration in the transaction of his business. 
It is now apparent that with reasonable attention on 
the part of those holding contracts, every debt on the 
tract may be liquidated, and every acre of land con- 
veyed within the present vear. To accomplish this 
purpose, on his part, he will pursue the same policy 
-- as it shall seem to be the 



earne 
same 
exped 
too rr 
day b 

(lintel 
tracts 
nary. 



ic settler 



theniSeU 



of 



Such 



is it 



tponi 



regarded as 
;h may and 
ce has been already given 
-esented before the first d 
ho continue to neglect the 
of complaint against him 
xpedient to close the office 



he shall deem it 
having already j 

The subscribe 
the office, canno 
Apri 
title: 
Holland Co: 

-ietors which was to ha 
nuary. will however be 
as the pressure of business will permit. 

In the further progress of settlement of the estnt< 
the subscriber wishes it to be distinctly understood. 

l«t. That all contracts upon which anv default ha 
been made, are and will be regarded as expired con 



hat the business now in 

not be completed before the first dav of 

nd consequently until about that time. 

as heretofore be given in the name of the 

pany 



the fir 



been 



soon 



after 



y expired contr; 
3rd. That h- wil 



fifteenth of Februarv next, 
t hold himself bound to renew 
whatever. 

'withstanding, for a few weeks, 
enew oy nonn an. I mortgage, or contract for one 
ear. upon the principles before stated, sie-h contracts 
s shrill be pre-ented before any other disposition shall 
avo been made of the lands. 
4th. That after the 1st of January. 1S37. the amount 
o be paid on expired contracts, will be the principal 
pie interest due on that day. and the interest 
'nee a different rule would be to 
ho have neglected 
: who have com- 



aml sjn 
after t 

extend more libe 
to liquidate thei 

plied. 

5th. That all excuse for not presenting the contract 
— '.is removed, because either in the one or 



than 



other form, it 
such part of the debt as th 
1th. That punctuality in 
contract"--, and of all contr_ 
and mortgages, will be expected— and will 
upon as the only means to prevent a recur 



evil 



It Of 

mpant is able to pay. 

performance of all new 

in life, and all bo n d = 

>e insisted 

nee of the 



7th. That after the 15th i 
will consider that those wl 
have made no satisfactor 

have determined not to do so: and the subscriber will 
thereupon be compelled to resort to the legal remedies 
upon such contracts and bonds and mortgages. 

The subscriber avails himself of this occasion, to 
express his acknowledgement of the kindness and 
cordiality with which his efforts to bring to a close 
the complicated affairs be has in charge, have been 



seconded by 



The Land Office at Westfield. in this countv, con- 
tinues to be thronged with settlers anxious to renew 
th.ir contracts upon the favorable terms held out bv 
the New Company. The Agent informed us last week, 
that one month more of such business as he had been 
doing for a day or two. would renew all the contracts 
in the county that would probably be brought forward 
at all. We had heard some dissatisfaction expressed 
by those who had paid in their monev — given a bond 
and mortgage, and received no evidence or of title: 
but the Agent has now given notice that the deeds for 
all such (to the number at least of 800. as far as they 
have been able to make them out) are now ready at 
the office for delivery. The deeds have to be sent to 
Batavia for completion. 

We rejoice to see the prospect so favorable for the 
complete closing up of this long agitated subject. — 
Prom the Fredonia Censor. February 22, 1837. 

CHAUTAUQUE LAND OFFICE. 

Westfield. Feb. 13. 1837. 
F.TOHT Hundred Deeds hove this day been received 
at this office, and are rea.lv for delivery. These deeds 
include all those which are due on transactions at this 
office prior to the 28th day of December last. Deeds 
du.- on transactions on and subsequent to that day. 
are in preparation and will be readv for delivery as 
early as the 1st day of March next. W. H. SEWARD. 

An advertisement will be found in this paper from 
the Land office, which is intended as a last notice to 
the few who have taken no notice of the terms offered 
heretofore by the company: and we have no doubt 
that those who do not attend to this will be proceeded 
against in a legal manner. It is no more than justice 
thai the-, should be. While some have toiled and 
1 1 r 1 1 ' • • ;-r uii- many privations and have been thus en- 
abled to pay for their lands, others in similar cir- 



from the soil on which they 
laring whether it was eve,- ,, ; , 
of one instance in a neighborin 
ual has a well cultivated farm 



located 



ses of the people of tl 



W. H. SEWAIMi. 



Th.- neighbor of such a man, who has toiled and paid 
for his farm, has reason to complain that even handed 
justice has not been done. — From the Fredonia Cen- 
sor. August 9, 1S37. 

CHAUTAUQUE LAND OFFICE. 

Westfield, August 1. 1837. 
LAST NOTICF..— The Estate of which the subscriber 
has the charge in this office, consists of Wild Lands 
remaining unsold. Reverted Lands either partially im- 
proved, or altogether unimproved. Improved Lands 
held under contracts which were made by the sub- 
scriber within the past year and will expire on the 
first day of January next, and Bonds and Mortgages on 
Improved Lands. 

1. Wild Lands. — The entire quantity of Lands re- 
maining tin-old is about 30.000 acres, all of which lie 
in towns chiefly settled and are accessible by roads 
and surrounded by improved farms. These Lands will 
be sold at prices varying from $3 to $7 per acre. 25 
per cent, of the nurchase money to be paid at the time 
of sale. For the residue of reasonable credit will be 
given. 

2. Reverted Lands. — In this description are included 
all Lands held under contracts on which any default 
has been made, whether the time limited for the last 
payment has expired or not. On opening the office. 
the subscriber offered to renew all contracts outstand- 
ing with few exceptions, and required only that the 
occupant or person holding the article- should pay. or 
a -snme to pay, only the principal and interest due, and 
in order to deprive every occupant of all excuse he of- 
fered to renew the same in some form, with or without 
any sum of money paid in advance. The time limited for 
complying with these propositions expired on the first 
day of January last. Solicitous not to produce any 
unnecessarv loss or injury to anplicants. the subscriber 
extended this period to the 15th day of February last, 
and due notice was published throughout the countv. 
that after that time no further forbearance could be 
given. Nevertheless the subscriber continued to renew 
contracts on the same terms until the 15th of March 
last. When, still unwilling to adopt the risrorous 
measures which would then have been justifiable, he 
addressed n notice through the Post-office to every 
delinquent occupant in the countv. informing him of 

' ■ -"is that had been offered, and distinctly advis- 
ing' him that any further presumption on the for- 
bearance of this office would be sure to result in con- 
sequi-nco-i as unhappy as it was then easy to prevent 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



269 



Notwithstanding all this liberality on the part of the 
subscriber, and these repeated notices, there remains 
outstanding- a small number of such contracts. It is 
obvious that further forbearance would have a ten- 
dency to encourage further supineness or obstinacy, 
while it is as certain that it would derange the busi- 
ness of this office, as it is that it would give to the 
dishonest or wilfully careless occupant, an undue ad- 
vantage over the groat number who have complied 
with the reasonable requirements of the office. All 
such persons must now be prepared to expect that 
the subscriber will be as firm in insisting upon what is 
just and reasonable as he has been solicitous that 
those interested should have the benefit of the terms 
heretofore offered. 

He therefore gives notice that he holds himself no 
longer bound to fulfil or renew such articles in any 
shape That all such Lands are hereby offered for 
sale to any applicant, and that he shall in all such 
cases, when it shall seem most expedient, immediately 
institute action on the contract to recover the moneys 
secured thereby or actions of ejectment, to recover 
the possession of the Land, at his own election. Never- 
theless, he is desire, is and willing to afford the same 
reasonable terms as heretofore to such as shall applv 
before such rigorous measures shall have been adopted 
But all expenses hereafter incurred in relation to 
such Lands will he added to the purchase money. 

3. Cnntnifts made by the subscriber, and which will 
expire on the first day of January next, will be re- 
newed by Deed. Bond and Mortgage, on the payment 
of one dollar per acre, and punctual payment of that 
sum will be expected. 

4. Punctual payment will hereafter be expected upon 
all Bonds and Mortgages according to the terms 
thereof. 

In regard to all moneys secured to this office rea- 
sonable forbearance may always be expected according 
to the circumstances of the case, provided such cir- 
cumstances are made known but no such indulgence is 
to be presumed upon without express application for 
that person. W. H. SEWARD. 

CHAUTATJQUE LAND OFFICE. 

Westfield. October 20, 1837. 
The following modifications have been made in con- 
sequence of the deranged condition of the currency of 
the country. 

1. Hereafter, no Bank bills will be received in pay- 
ment at this office, except Safety Fund bills and such 
other notes as are not at a greater discount in the 
city of New York, than one and a half per cent, below 
the par of Safety Fund bills. 

2. In order to afford a necessary facility to persons 
indebted to this office, uncurrent Bank notes will be 
received from them as a special deposite. Such paper 
will be forwarded as soon as conveniently mav be to 
Buffalo, and will there be sold and the nett avails in 
Safety Fund Bank notes after all expenses and 
charges will be placed to their credit in the books of 
the office. Neither this office, nor any person con- 
nected with it. will receive in any shape any compen- 
sation, profit or discount upon such paper; nor will 
it he received on the above terms from any person not 
indebted to the office, or for any other purpose than 
to realize a payment actually due. And to guard 
against all abuses the account of sales will be exhib- 
ited to persons interested. 

3. Bonds and Mortgages hereafter to be taken, will 
if preferred by the Mortgager, be made payable in ten 
equal annual installments commencing on the first 
day of January, 183S, with the semi-annual payments 
of interest on the first days of January and July in 

4. The like extension will, if desired, be made on all 
unexpired Bonds and Mortgages remaining in the 
office, provided the interest is fully paid on or before 
the first day of January next. 

5. Contracts expiring on the first of January next, 
will be renewed by Deed, Bond and Mortgage for ten 
years as above, or will be extended until the first day 
of January, 1S39, on the payment of fifty cents per acre 
instead of one dollar as before contemplated. 

6. In order to afford these liberal terms in the pres- 
ent deranged condition of the currency, the subscriber 
must insist upon punctual payment of the interest ac- 
cording to agreement on all debts due at this office. 

W. H. SEWARD. 

As has been stated before, when the news spread that 
the Dutch proprietors had sold out to Cary, Seward, Lay 
and Schermerhorn, the settlers became greatly excited 
over the rumors that a stringent policy was to be adopted 



and enforced by the new proprietors in regard to all 
delinquencies of those who had been unable to keep up 
their payments and interest. We see, too, in the "Gene- 
see Tariff" a substantial indication of this change of 
policy, and if it had remained in force more serious con- 
sequences and riots might have occurred than the May- 
ville episode. Whatever the foundation the settlers may 
have had upon which to build their fears, the burning of 
the land office in Mayville and the incipient riot in Batavia 
had such a disturbing effect upon the new owners that 
they immediately started a movement to quiet all agi- 
tation. 

The proprietors selected Mr. Seward as the one who 
could deal most justly and tactfully with the settlers. 
His "policy", as quoted above, was most liberal in its 
terms and was received by the people as a generous aid 
to them in their struggles to become freeholders. The 
history of Mr. Seward's tenure of office has proved the 
wisdom of his selection. 

A memorandum, unsigned but probably written by Mr. 
B. J. Seward, a brother of Mr. W. H. Seward, as the 
writing is quite similar to that of other memoranda 
signed by him, is given below for the interesting though 
brief description it gives of Chautauqua county at the 
beginning of its active constructive period : 

The area of the County of Chautauqua is about 1017 
Sqr. miles or 050.620 acres. 

It is divided by the original survey of the Holland 
Land Company into six Ranges six miles wide extend- 
ing from Pennsylvania line North to Lake Erie. 

Those Ranges are subdivided into Townships six 
miles Sqr. 

Those Townships are again subdivided into lots 
three fourths of a mile Sqr. containing about three 
hundred and sixty acres each. 

The settlement of this county was commenced in 
1809 & a Land office and agency established at May- 
ville liv the aforesaid Company the then proprietors. 

They sold their Lands at from $2.00 to $2.50 $3.00 per 
acre. 

They gave a credit of six & eight years requiring the 
settler to pay a small advance, & the balance in annual 
ins, ailments. 

The County has been principally settled by men with 
no capital other than their own industry & perhaps 
a small sum of money sufficient to pay the required 
advance. 

Thev have been enabled under the aforesaid liberal 
policy' to clear, improve & thereby enhance the value 
of their farms — while at the same time they realized 
from the very soil purchased sufficient means to pay 
for & procure a good and unencumbered title to about 
(00.000 acres or about 4/6 of all the Lands comprising 
said County. 

In 1835 the aforesaid proprietors sold all their inter- 
est in said Lands to the Chautauque Land Company 
(so called) who in 1S36 established a Land Office & 
agency at Westfield in said County. 

Where thev are now selling of and offer for sale 
about forty thousand acres of the aforesaid Lands, at 
the following low prices & on the following liberal 
terms— to wit— from $4 to $4.50 & $5.00 per acre. 50 
cents per acre advance, the balance payable in eight 
equal annual installments. 

The aforesaid prices were fixed by Mr. Lews, a gen- 
tleman who was employed by the said Company ex- 
pressly on account of his thorough knowledge of the 
quality of Land & its local & relative advantages. 

Thev have also procured partly from the same 
source & partly from individuals residing in the im- 
mediate neighborhood of their Land a general descrip- 
tion of the soil, timber & water & its relative situation 
to Schools, roads, mills and other privileges — Which 
is kept at this office as a Sales Book or for the inspec- 
tion of those wishing to purchase. 

Those Who have capital & are anxious to invest it 
where it will net them fifty per cent — & those without 
capital who wish to purchase a farm for $400 or $500 
& pay for it with the products of their own labour, 
derived from the same soil — Which can be done under 
the aforesaid liberal terms, as past experience in the 
settlement of this County has amply shown & which 
when so paid for will be worth from $3000 to $4000 
will do well to apply immediately & locate & make 
their purchases — as the said Company have sold at the 



270 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



aforesaid prices about 20.000 acres of their Lands 

sine.- ix3fi — & as they are rapidly increasing- in value 

which is very obvious when we take into the account 
their relative and local advantages. 

The County is situated on Lake Erie with their com- 
minli.ms Harbours for the transportation of the pro- 
ducts of the County to. & the importation of merchan- 
dise &c from the Eastern markets are rendered cheap 
& easy. 

The Southern portion of the County abounds in ex- 
tensive forests of White Pine, which is when converted 
into Lumber floated down the tributaries of the Alle- 
gany, that River & the Ohio to the Southern markets. 
the proceeds of which furnish a semiannual income of 
from $150,000 to $200,000. 

The soil along the aforesaid Lake from one to four 
miles v, ide is a border of Rich alluvium & produces 
all kinds of grain in abundance. 

i" ■ •■ riot i- Southern portion of the County is ,de- 
\.,'. I from Tee to 1000 feet above the level of the said 
Lake Tins upland is generally a moist loam. & better 
adapt, d to grazing than any other County in this 
State of New York. To establish this fact it is onlv 
re cessary to know that there are annually driven out 
of this County from 9000 to 10,000 head of neat cattle. 

In US38, Mr. Seward was nominated for the office of 
governor. A few weeks after, it was insinuated by an 
anonymous correspondent of a county paper, that "The 
bonds and mortgages of the settlers of Chautauqua 
county are now in Wall street, New York ; that some 
Trust Company has a deed of all the lands of the set- 
tlers ; that through the agency of Nicholas Biddle and 
others, William H. Seward has raised money in Europe 
at an interest of five per cent, while he demands seven 
per cent, from you, (the settlers) ; and that he and his 
associates pay interest annually, and extort interest from 
you semi-annually." 

These accusations, as might be expected during an 
election campaign, were copied into leading papers of 
the party opposed to Mr. Seward's election, with numer- 
ous additional accusations : "having violated his agree- 
ment with the settlers ; sold their mortgages to soulless 
corporations, which would demand payment the moment 
they expired;" that their "farms would be sold on mort- 
gage for half their value, and Seward, a wealthy and 
heartless speculator by trade, would be the purchaser, 
and thus rob the poor settlers of millions of their hard 
earnings." 

A few weeks after the publication of these accusa- 
tions, Mr. Seward addressed the citizens of Chautauqua 
county, through the press of the county, defending him- 
self against what he called "misrepresentations of fact 
and injurious inferences." Regarding it as having a 
legitimate connection with the history of the Holland 
Purchase, and especially that portion which is embraced 
within the bounds of Chautauqua county, a large por- 
tion of it is here copied as a part of our county history: 

"Compelled by ill health to relinquish mv profession, 
it seems to me that I might, without wrong or injury 
to you, contribute to restore peace, harmony and pros- 
perity in that flourishing region of the state where so 
much unhappy agitation prevailed. » « » Nor did 
it appear to me morally wrong to receive from the 
purchasers an adequate compensation for my serv- 
ices. The compensation tendered, as an equivalent for 
the not unprofitable pursuits which I abandoned, was 
invested in the purchase. 

"The Holland Company reposed in me the extreme 
confidence of constituting me their agent, although I 
was a purchaser under them; and it is due to them 
and the proprietors to say. that without even the pre- 
vious formality of an agreement in writing, or other 
instrument than a letter of attorney. I went among 
you to undertake the agency you desired should be 
established. 

"It was known to me that the Holland Company in- 
sisted upon its payments; and these could only be 
made by raising a loan in Europe or elsewhere, to 
meet their demands sooner than they could be col- 
lected from you, without intolerable oppression. I 
therefore stipulated with the American Trust Com- 
pany, before commencing my agency, that as soon as 



the liquidation of the debts by bonds and mortgage:: 
could be effected, and the monetary affairs of the 
country would permit, they should advance me their 
bonds for the amount. I secured also an understand- 
ing with the Holland Company, that they would favor 
the proprietors and settlers, until I could accomplish 
this preliminary settlement and security. 

'•Thus prepared. I opened an office, and invited th ■ 
-ettl is to liquidate their debts, and quiet all alarm, as 
well about the title of their lands, as the terms and 
conditions of their credit, by taking deeds and exe- 
cuting bonds and mortgages for the purchase money. 
In less than eighteen months, four thousand persons 
whom I found occupying lands, chiefly under expiree' 
and legally forfeited contracts of sale, and excited and 
embarrassed alike by the oppression and uncertainty 
of ever obtaining titles, and anticipated exactions upon 
their contracts — became freeholders — upon the terms 
at their own option either of payment of their pur- 
chase monev. or payment of a convenient portion 
thereof, and a credit of Ave years for the residue. 

"When the occupant could not pay an advance, and 
his improvements were insufficient to secure his debt, 
his contract, no matter how long expired, was renewed 
without any payment. It was always, you well 

know, a principle of my agency, that no man could 
lose his land by forfeiture, if he would but agree to 
pav for it in five years. There was none so poor that 
he could not secure his 'farm and his fireside.' I think, 
too. you will recollect, that to the sick and infirm. 1 
invariably sent their papers for securing their farms; 
to the indigent, the money to bear their expenses to 
the land-office: and since I am arraigned as a 'soulless 
speculator', I may add. that to the widow, I always 
made a deduction from the debt of her deceased hus- 
band To the common schools I gave land-- gratui- 
tously for their schoolhouses. From the time I came 
tirst among you to this period, I have never refused 
any indulgence of credit and postponement that was 
asked at my hands. 

"When I found a few persons (as there must neces- 
sarily be some) who were obstinate in refusing terms 
gen, -rally esteemed so liberal. I appealed to them first 
through the public newspapers, then by letters through 
the post office, and finally by a message sent directly 
to their houses. 'When these efforts failed to arrest 
their attention, and in a few cases legal proceedings 
or forfeitures were necessary, I uniformly conveyed 
the land upon the same terms as if the occupants had 
earlier complied with the terms which their fellow- 
citizens deemed so reasonable and liberal. 

"Thus contentment was universally diffused among 
you, when the pressure of 1S.17 fell upon you, and me. 
and the whole country. Foreseeing many cases of 
embarrassment, in making payment on your bonds 
and mortgages in that season of scarceness of money. 
I immediately issued a notice that the first payment of 
principal would he dispensed with if the interest 
should be paid. Having then obtained a definite propo- 
sition from the American Trust Company, that an ad- 
vance to the proprietors should be upon a credit of ten 
vears, with semi-annual interest. I immediately an- 
nounced to vou the welcome and unexpected proposi- 
tion to extend your bonds and mortgages for the same 
period and upon the same terms. This proposition 
I: is 1 n generally accepted, and is yet open to all. 

"On the 11th of July. 1S38. after two years' con- 
tinued notice that the title of the Holland Company 
would pass from them to the proprietors or their 
trustees, the improved condition of the estate and the 
returning prosperity of the country, enabled me to 
conclude mv arrangement with the American Trust 
Company. That institution advanced to me its bonds 
for the amount owed by you to the proprietors, and 
bv the proprietors to the Holland Company; and I paid 
them over to John Jacob Vanderkenip, agent of the 
Holland Company, at a sacrifice to my associates and 
mvself, in discharge of their whole demands Desirous 
to secure you against all possible inconvenience from 
this arrangement, it was agreed that the estate should 
remain as before under my agency; and the title of 
the lands, bonds, mortgages and contracts, was vested 
by a deed in mvself and two others as trustees, to con- 
tinue the settlement of the estate for the benefit of 
the proprietors and the security of the American Trust 
Company. This deed was immediately placed on rec- 
ord in Chautauqua county. The agreement between 
the parties stipulates t hat my agency, in person or by my 
own appointment, shall continue three years; and that 
payments made by you in Chautauqua county shall be 
credited as soon as paid there. The bonds, mortgages 
and contracts remain under this arrangement in the 
Chautauqua land-office, whence they have never been 
removed. 



THE HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE 



2 7 ! 



'In this transaction the Bank of the United States 
; had this agency; the general agent of the Holland 
-npany has always kept his accounts and deposits 
:h that institution, and his remittances were made 
ough it. The payments from the Chautauqua 



offices on that tract, pass 
through the same institution. It received the bonds 
of the American Trust Company at a discount stipu- 
lated by me, and paid for them by a certificate of de- 
posit to Mr. Vanderkemp, payable at six months. 

"From this explanation it appears that your bonds 
and mortgages are not in Wall street, nor in the Bank 
of the United States, but where you have always 
found them — in the Chautauqua land-office. 

"That no Trust Company, foreign or domestic, has 
a deed of your lands; but that the title of the lands of 
the state, and your securities, is vested in myself and 
mv associate trustees, citizens of this state, instead of 
Willvm Willink, Walrave Van Heukelom. and others 

"That neither through the agency of Nicholas Bid- ■ 
die, nor otherwise, have I borrowed money in Europe 
or elsewhere, at 5 per cent., and loaned it to you at 
7 per cent., but that instead of demanding from you 
Immediate payment of your indebtedness to the Hol- 
land f'nmpanv, I have borrowed the money upon your 
credit and that of the proprietors, and for 
and ours, upon a term of ten years, at 7 
which you have the full benefit; 

"That the proprietors do not exact semi-annual in- 
terest while they pay annually; but while they pay 
interest semi-annually, you pay annually or semi- 
annually, at your own option: 

"That vour 'farms and firesides' have not been put in 
jeopardy by me, but in just so much as a deed subject 
to a bond and mortgage, with ten years' credit, is a 
more safe tenure, than an expired and forfeited con- 
tract of sale, they have been secured to you: 

"And that you have not been delivered over to a 
'soulless corporation', but that your affairs have been 
arranged so as to secure you against any possible ex- 
tortion or oppression in any quarter; and your bonds 
and mortgages are more certainly accessible to you 
for payment than before the arrangement was made. 

"I have only to add. what you well recollect, that in 
all the settlement of this estate, no cent of advance 
upon your farms, or compound interest, or of costs 
upon your debts, has gone into my hands, or those of 
anv other proprietor. That no man has ever lost an 



cent., of 



That 
Df land which he desired or asked to 
ithout money; no bond, mortgage, or c 



:t, ha 



been prosecuted for principal or less than two years' 
interest; no proceedings of foreclosure have ever been 
Instituted when the occupant would pay a sum equal 
to one year's interest; and every forfeiture has been 
relinquished upon an agreement to pay the principal 
and interest due. 

"To the people of Chautauqua county of all political 
parties, this statement is due» for the generous confi- 
dence they have reposed in me, and the hospitality 
they have extended to me. It is required, moreover, by 
a due regard for their welfare, since their prosperity 
must be seriously affected by any discontents about 
their title and security. It is due to the harmony and 
contentment of their firesides. And if it needs other 
ap.dogy. it will be found in the duty I owe to others; for. 
however willing I may be to leave my own conduct to 
the test of time and candor, I can not suffer their in- 
terests to be put in jeopardy. 

"WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

"Auburn, Oct. 15, 1838." —(Young). 

The personal participation of William H. Seward in 
the active affairs of the Chautauqua Land Office was re- 
duced to indirect supervision after his inauguration as 
governor of New York State. By his agreement with 
the American Trust Company he was to retain the agency, 
either in person or by his appointment, for a term of 
three years from July u, 1838. At this time not many 
thousands of acres of land remained unsold or uncon- 
tracted for, and the immediate pressure of politics made 
it imperative that Mr. Seward should engage an active 
agent to represent him at the Land Office. In May, 1841, 
he requested Mr. George W. Patterson to become the 
agent for the proprietors, and the latter served in that 
capacity for about fifteen years when he bought the 
remaining unsold lands. 

The affairs of the Chautauqua Land Company dimin- 
ished rapidly, and at time of Mr. Patterson's death, in 
1S79, practically all the lands embraced within the original 
limits of the Holland Purchase in Chautauqua county 
were sold or contracted for. It might be said that with 
the death of Mr. Patterson the local history of the Hol- 
land Company came to an end. 



THE PRESS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 
By Frederick P. Hall and Edward L. Allen. 



The first newspaper established in Chautauqua county 
was the "Chautauqua Gazette," in January, 1817. It was 
printed in Fredonia by James Percival. The little ham- 
let, then called Canadaway, became more ambitious with 
the advent of the newspaper man, and a meeting was 
called to select a new name. Various names were sug- 
gested, but finally, Fredonia was chosen. Jacob Hough- 
ton, the first lawyer, is said to have cast the first ballot 
for that name. Fredonia had been urged at one time 
as a good title for the whole United States, and Judge 
Houghton evidently thought it too pleasing a name to be 
lost entirely. So the first number of the "Chautauqua 
Gazette" was dated at Fredonia. It was twelve years 
afterward (1S29) before the village was incorporated and 
legally christened. 

Mr. Percival had been induced to establish his paper 
in Fredonia by advance subscriptions of from ten to 
thirty dollars each by leading citizens, and that money 
all went into material. With his best subscribers all 
paid years in advance and no money for current ex- 
penses, Mr. Pervical's plight may be readily perceived. 
There was only one solution of that difficulty. The ad- 
vance subscriptions were called donations, and everybody 
was called upon for an annual payment, and even then Mr. 
Percival survived only one year as publisher. He sold 
out to Carpenter & Hull, and afterwards Mr. James 



Hull became sole proprietor and continued the publica- 
tion successfully about seven years. 

Henry C. Frisbee was an apprentice boy under James 
Hull, and before he was twenty-one years of age resolved 
to have a paper of his own. He got in touch with some 
eastern politicians and found he could rent the material 
of an abandoned paper in Buffalo, owned by Smith Salis- 
bury. The result was that Mr. Frisbee drove to Buffalo 
with a team and wagon, and a day or two afterward 
drove into Fredonia a proud young man, for loaded on 
his wagon were the press, type and other materials with 
which he established the "Fredonia Censor" in April, 
1821. The "Chautauqua Eagle" had meanwhile been 
established in 1S18 by Robert J. Curtis, at Mayville, but 
it and the "Gazette" long ago disappeared, so the "Cen- 
sor" is now the oldest surviving paper in the county. 
The "Chautauqua Eagle" at one time printed a paper for 
the city of Erie, called the "Erie Reflector," and sent 
the edition there by Willard W. Brigham on horseback. 

The "Jamestown Journal" is the next oldest surviving 
paper. It was established in 1826 by Adolphus Fletcher, 
and has now the most costly plant in the county. The 
daily edition is now in its fifty-third year. Westfield, 
Dunkirk and Forestville also had papers that were short- 
lived. The "Dunkirk Beacon," which might be called the 
ancestor of the "Dunkirk Journal" and the "Daily Ob- 



272 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



server," was published by E. R. Thompson, a very intel- 
ligent and courtly gentleman, grandfather of Henry K. 
and Gerald B. Williams of the "Dunkirk Evening 
Observer." 

The "Western Democrat and Literary Inquirer" was 
published for a time by leading Democrats in Fredonia, 
including Benjamin Randall, E. A. Lester, and others. It 
was established in 1835, and when Van Buren on Lake 
Erie was a village with stores, a brick hotel, a warehouse 
and dock, the plant was taken there to print the "Van 
Buren Times." 

The "Mayville Sentinel," founded in 1833 as a Demo- 
cratic paper, continued until about 1890. John F. Phelps 
was long connected with it, and Beman Brock way pub- 
lished the "Sentinel" for eleven years. He, his cousin 
Willard McKinstry and L. L. Pratt, were apprentice boys 
together in the office of the "Courier," in Northampton, 
Mass. All later came to Chautauqua county. 

The "Frontier Express," established in Fredonia in 
1846 by Cutler, Cottle & Perham, became afterward the 
"Fredonia Express," then the "Chautauqua Union," and 
finally in 185 1 the "Fredonia Advertiser," which was 
published in connection with the "Dunkirk Daily Her- 
ald." It was called the "Advertiser and Union" after it 
was consolidated with the "Dunkirk Union" about 1S70. 
Charles E. Benton did much to build up the "Advertiser 
and Union," and worked very hard at it until his death, 
about 1875. 

The "Westfield Republican" is the next oldest paper 
now published. It was established by Martin C. Rice, 
April 25, 1855. He continued as editor and proprietor 
till 1873, then F. A. Hall had it ten years and Alfred E. 
Rose six years. It has been under the control of the pres- 
ent editor and proprietor, H. W. Thompson, since 1889. 

The first paper established in Westfield was the 
"Western Star," Harvey Newcomb, proprietor. Its be- 
ginning was prior to 1831, for after changing to the 
"Chautauqua Phoenix." it became the "Chautauqua 
Eagle," and was published under that title by George W. 
Newcomb from 1831 to 1838. C. J. J. and T. Ingersoll 
published the "Westfield Messenger" from 1848 to 1S51, 
and there were some other shortlived sheets. 

Two marked characters in newspaper work were Col- 
man E. Bishop and Davis H. Waite. Mr. Bishop was a 
very vigorous writer, and edited the "Jamestown Eve- 
ning Journal" when it was established in 1870, the first 
daily in the county. He was succeeded by Mr. Waite, 
who edited it during the Grant campaign of 1872. Mr. 
Waite was a witty, pungent writer, and a genial com- 
panion, put in charge of the paper by Governor Fenton 
and his friends, who were quite disappointed when Waite 
decided to support General Grant. On being reproached 
for flouting his backers, Waite announced that it was 
true they had endorsed his notes, and he appreciated it, 
and was willing to reciprocate. "Come around any time," 
he announced to the complainants, "and I will endorse 
your notes to the same amount." Afterwards Mr. Waite 
published a paper at Aspen, Colorado, and during the 
Populist excitement he was elected governor of Colorado. 
It was during that period that he attended a free silver 
convention in Chicago, and declared that the people of 
Colorado, before they would submit to being deprived of 
the silver dollar of their fathers, would ride through 
blood up to their horses' bridles. This gave him the pop- 
ular sobriquet of "Bloody Bridles Waite." 

Hon. Benjamin S. Dean, afterwards delegate in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1894, edited the "James- 
town Morning News" for a period, and made it a power 
in the county, but it was financially unprofitable, and ex- 
pired after Mr. Dean left it. 

In all the progress of the county, the business of pub- 



lishing newspapers has kept pace. The old-time hand 
press could be worked to a speed of about two hundred 
an hour. Now every paper in the county has some kind 
of a cylinder press, and in Jamestown and Dunkirk are 
found the best, which easily print ten thousand copies 
per hour and deliver the papers folded. Linotype ma- 
chines in the large offices enable editions to be quickly set 
up, the old-time hand compositor being at a decided dis- 
advantage. Yet there was a charm about the old time 
printing office with its democratic ways and paternal 
management, its ambitions and hopes and joys, which the 
modern establishment filled with clanging machinery con- 
spicuously lacks. 

OLn-TiME Printers and Papers. — A well known char- 
acter connected with Chautauqua county newspaper life 
was Albert H. Hilton, who learned the printing business 
in the office of the "Fredonia Advertiser." Most of his 
afterlife was spent with that paper either as partner or 
employe, and there he ended his life, October 5, 1899, 
falling asleep in his large rocking chair, on the arm of 
which was found the last local item he ever wrote. 

At Jamestown in 1828, Morgan Bates began the publi- 
cation of the "Chautauqua Republican." It was pub- 
lished in Jamestown for five years and then removed to 
Mayville, the name being changed to the "Republican 
Banner." 

In 1829 Lewis Todd started at Jamestown a Univer- 
salist paper, "The Genius of Liberty," which had an 
existence of about two years. 

In 1847 Harvey H. Smith established an anti-slavery 
paper, "The Liberty Star." This was subsequently pur- 
chased bv Adolphus Fletcher, who changed the name to 
the "Northern Citizen." In 1855 J. W. Fletcher became 
proprietor, naming it the "Chautauqua Democrat." In 
i860 A. B. Fletcher became one of its proprietors, and 
eventually its sole owner. In 1872 a daily was begun 
and continued until 1S79, when the daily was sold to the 
"Journal," the weekly being continued until 1892, when 
that was merged with the "Journal." 

In 1852 Dr. Asaph Rhodes began the publication of the 
"Jamestown Herald," which a year later he sold to J. B. 
Nessle, who removed the paper to Ellington. 

At Jamestown in 1858, J. Leslie Randolph began the 
issue of a paper in the interests of the "Know Nothing" 
or American question in politics— "The Constitution;" 
and it was short lived. 

A Democratic paper, the "Chautauqua County Press, 
was established in 1867 at Jamestown by James T. Henry, 
which survived but a few years. In October, 1870, the 
"Jamestown Standard" was started by P. K. Shankland 
and E. A. Brooks. During the campaign of 1882 a daily- 
was also published. The "Weekly Standard" was merged 
with the "Jamestown Sun" in 1886. 

In 1879, at Jamestown, Simeon C. Davis published a 
Greenback paper, the "People's Press;" after a few 
months a stock company was formed and issued the paper 
under the name of the "National Record." This had an 
existence of about a year. 

In 1880 the publication of a Sunday paper, "The 
Leader," was begun at Jamestown by John A. McCann. 
It was purchased by J. H. Monroe and continued for a 
brief time. 

At lamestown "The Daily Messenger" was begun in 
1881 by Blodget & Dean, who conducted it three months, 
then sold to Lyman J. Woodward, and after an existence 
of about a year it was known no more. 

"The Morning Dispatch," a daily, was put forth in 
1884 at Jamestown, by J. L. White, with A. F. Jenks as 
editor. It was of short duration. 

In April, 1875, the "Weekly Grange" was started by 
D. H. Waite. In 1880 C. E. Bishop began the publica- 



THE PRESS 



273 



tion of "The Countryside." Both were agricultural 
papers of short life. 

The "Sunday Sun" was established by L. F. Camp and 
Guy H. Fuller, June 29, 1884, at Jamestown. In May, 
1886, they purchased of P. K. Shankland the "Jamestown 
Standard," and issued a weekly and Sunday paper. In 
1891 Mr. Fuller purchased the interest of Mr. Camp and 
in 1804 sold out to George C. VanDusen, under whose 
administration the papers were discontinued. 

"The Morning News," a daily, was started at James- 
town in October, 1885, by W. S. Crosby, with Benjamin 
S. Dean, as editor. Mr. Dean subsequently became sole 
proprietor. In 188S George S. Bright purchased an inter- 
est. In 1890 the paper became the property of the News 
Publishing Co., and was discontinued in 1897. 

In 1887 Lyman J. Woodward began the publication of 
a labor reform paper called "Every Saturday." It was 
purchased by P. K. Shankland in 1890 and published as a 
Democratic paper, being known as the "Saturday Times." 

In September, 1891, a semi-weekly independent paper 
called "The All" was established by M. Geo. Martyn at 
Jamestown. In December the same year it was made a 
daily. December 12, 1893, it passed into the hands of 
Bowen Brothers. The "Saturday Times" was also pur- 
chased of P. K. Shankland, and published as a weekly 
in connection with their daily. On June 27, 1898, the 
plant was purchased by George G. Brownell. On Febru- 
ary 14, 1899, he changed the name of "The All" to the 
"Daily Times" and began the publication of a tri-weekly. 
He continued until July 19, 1900, when the business was 
suspended. 

The "Sunday Telegram" was established in 1894 by 
Vaughn Brothers and George B. Smith. Discontinued in 
fall of 189S. 

The "Jamestown Herald," a weekly Democratic paper, 
was established in 189S, and published by E. E. Sprague. 
The "Union Advocate," devoted to the interest of organ- 
ized labor, established in 1900, was issued from the same 
office. 

In October, 1898, at Jamestown, the "Country World," 
an agricultural paper — then the only paper of its kind 
in Western New York, was established by A. B. Fletcher. 
It has been discontinued. 

The "Saturday Review," a literary paper, was begun 
at Jamestown in November, 1899, by Howard M. Goldth- 
wait, which had but a brief existence. 

"The Furniture Index," a trade monthly, was started 
at Jamestown in March, 1900, by P. K. Shankland and 
G. H. Fuller. This is now published by a stock com- 
pany of which H. W. Patterson is manager. 

"The Tribune," an eight-page daily, was begun at 
Jamestown, July 23, 1900, by W. W. Clark, editor and 
proprietor. It had but a brief existence. 

The first Swedish newspaper was the "Folkets Post" 
(the People's Voice) established in 1874. In 1884 the 
name was changed to "Vart Nya Hem" (Our New 
Home). In 1891 the paper was sold to "Vart Land" 
(Our Land), A. J. Lanness, editor. 

In 1879, in Jamestown, Frank I. Blodget issued the 
"Sunday Herald," and after a brief existence it sus- 
pended. Mr. Blodget removed to Olympia, Washington, 
in 1884, where he has been successful in business and 
politics, having held the position of State Treasurer at 
one time. 

At Cherry Creek, in 1879, Everand A. Hayes, a law- 
yer, edited "The Herald and News," the type-setting and 
presswork being done at Gowanda. This paper continued 
for about a year. In July, 1S82, John H. Gardiner 
founded the "Cherry Creek Monitor," which he sold in 
December of that year to M. J. Ackley, who soon took 
as partner Harry D. Caskey. This copartnership con- 

Chau— 18 



tinued seven months, when Mr. Ackley purchased his 
partner's interest. In November, 1884, Charles J. Shults 
and Frank B. Whipple purchased the plant from him, at 
which time the "Pine Valley News" was removed to 
Cherry Creek and both papers consolidated under the 
name of the "Cherry Creek News." Mr. Whipple re- 
mained a member of the firm until the following May. 
Charles J. Shults conducted the paper successfully until 
October, 1897, when he sold to Fred J. Huntley, who 
practically discontinued it after a trial of four months. 
Mr. Shults then revived it, and sold again in October, 
1808, to Will T. Reade and Clarence S. Smith. Later, 
H. C. Mills became the owner and on October 1, 1910. he 
sold out to F. J. Brettle, who has edited and published 
"The News" continuously, 1910-1920. 

Newspapers of To-day (1920). — The "Jamestown 
Evening Journal," daily except Sunday; The Journal 
Printing Company; Frederick P. Hall, president and 
general manager ; James A. Clary, vice-president and 
managing editor ; Henri M. Hall, treasurer and business 
manager ; Levant M. Hall, secretary. 

The "Jamestown Morning Post," daily except Sunday ; 
The Post Publishing Company; Ralph C. Sheldon, pres- 
ident; Edward L. Allen, secretary and managing editor; 
Robert K. Beach, treasurer and business manager. 

The "Jamestown Evening News," daily except Sunday ; 
the Jamestown Evening News Company, Incorporated ; 
Clarence J. Sprague, president; Robert C. Spohn, vice- 
president; Elmer E. Sprague, secretary-treasurer. 

The "Dunkirk Evening Observer," daily except Sun- 
day ; the Dunkirk Printing Company ; Henry K. Wil- 
liams, president, treasurer and general manager ; Ger- 
ald B. Williams, editor. 

The "Jamestown Journal" (tri-weekly), published by 
The Journal Printing Company. 

"The Grape Belt and Chautauqua Farmer" (semi- 
weekly), owned and published by the Dunkirk Printing 
Company. 

"The Furniture Index" (monthly), published by the 
Furniture Trade Publishing Company. 

The following are weekly publications : 

"The Chautauqua Democrat," Jamestown Evening 
News Company. 

"The Sinclairville Commercial," Jamestown Evening 
News Company. 

"The Union Advocate," Jamestown Evening News 
Company. 

"Vart Land," the Vart Land Company, Jamestown ; F. 
C. Curtis, president; S. A. Carlson, secretary. 

"Skandia," the Liberty Printing Company, Jamestown ; 
C. E. Lindstone, editor. 

"Cherry Creek News," Cherry Creek; F. J. Brettle, 
editor and publisher. 

"Chautauqua News," Sherman; the Dorman Printing 
Company (M. L. and L. B. Dorman). 

"Brocton Mirror," A. A. Cobb, publisher. 

"Fredonia Censor," Frederick C. Bickers, owner and 
publisher. 

"Forestville Free Press," H. B. Thompson, editor and 
publisher. 

"Ripley Review," Murray D. Conrath, editor and pro- 
prietor. 

"Silver Creek News," C. J. Bellinger, publisher. 

"Silver Creek Gazette," Charles C. Stacy, editor and 
publisher. 

"Mayville Sentinel," the Mayville Printing Co.; C. C. 
Taylor, president; A. W. Dyer, vice-president and sec- 
retary. 

"Westfield Republican," Herbert W. Thompson, editor 
and publisher. 



-74 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Some Journalists of Yesterday and To-day. 

Henry C. Frisbee, founder of the "Fredonia Censor," 
and its publisher for fifteen years, was born in Fssex 
county, New York, in March, 1801, died in Fredonia, 
New York, November 9, 1873. He learned the printer's 
trade on the "Chautauqua Gazette," under James Hull, 
"The Gazette" the first newspaper printed in the county. 
In 1817 he came to Fredonia, worked for Mr. Hull and 
attended school until 1820, when he heard of an aban- 
doned plant in Buffalo and rented it, with privilege of 
buying at $.300 of Smith H. Salisbury. Mr. Frisbee 
drove to Buffalo and brought back the press and type and 
cases he had leased, in a two-horse wagon. He used to 
say that Commodore Vanderbilt never made a trip in 
private car with more pride than he felt that day he drove 
into Fredonia with his printing materials, in March, 18.21. 
He issued the first copy of what he called the "New York 
Censor" in April, 1821, with only fifty subscribers and 
not a paying advertisement. He filled an old bedtick with 
straw, bought a second hand coverlid, and slept in the 
office, stuffing his bed into a closet in the daytime, thus 
rendering his living expenses to one dollar per week. By 
the end of the year he had his paper on a paying basis, 
and made a success of it for seventeen years, when he 
sold at a good price and went into the book and station- 
ery trade. He conducted his book store some thirty years 
and retired with a comfortable property. With scarcely 
any advantages of early education, and only twenty years 
old when he established the "Censor," he soon became 
known through the State as a strong thinker and pungent 
writer. In 1844 he was elected member of Assembly, 
having been nominated by the Whig party without his 
knowledge. His associates from this county in the As- 
sembly in 1845 were Samuel A. Brown of Jamestown and 
Jeremiah Mann of Ripley. He was secretary of the Lake 
Shore Railroad Company when it was organized in Fre- 
donia about 1850, and one of the first directors of the 
Fredonia National Bank. He joined the Presbyterian 
church during a revival in 1834, and remained an hon- 
ored member to the end. 

Willard McKinstry was born in Chicopee, Mass., 
May 9, 1815. His great-great-grandfather, Roger Mc- 
Kinstiy, emigrated from Scotland to Ireland about 1669. 
Mr. McKinstry's great-grandfather, John McKinstry, 
was born in Ireland in 1677, graduated from Edinburgh 
University in 1712, emigrated to America in 1718, be- 
coming a Congregational clergyman first at Sutton, 
Mass., then at Ellington, Conn. His grandfather, John 
McKinstry, was born at Sutton in 1723, graduated from 
Yale in 1746, was the first pastor of the Second Congre- 
gational parish of Springfield from 1752 and labored with 
that church until his death in 1813. Perseus McKinstry, 
son of John, of Springfield, was born at Chicopee in 
1772, married Grace Williams in 1803; was a tanner at 
Plainfield, then a farmer at Chicopee and died in 1829. 

Willard McKinstry's character was formed in that 
"I industry, frugality, integrity, patriotism and piety, for 
which New England was then noted. There was much 
work, little play, some schooling, and a small farm fur- 
nished a frugal support for the large family until he was 
fourteen, when his father died. In 1832 he became an 
apprentice in the office of the "Northampton (Mass.) 
Courier." He journeyed on foot to Northampton, four- 
teen miles, carrying his effects in a handkerchief; his 
wages were $30 the first year, $35 the second, $40 the 
third and $50 the fourth. That knowledge of public 
affairs and of the English language which made him 
such a clear and vigorous writer, was chiefly acquired by 
careful study and extensive reading during his appren- 
ticeship and service as a journeyman printer in New 
York, Hartford, Springfield and Mayville. In Spring- 



field he worked three years for G. & C. Merriam, pub- 
lishers of "Webster's Dictionary," and in Mayville he 
worked on the "Sentinel" for his cousin, Beman Brock- 
way, with whom he was a fellow apprentice at North- 
ampton. In the spring of 1842 Mr. McKinstry purchased 
the "Fredonia Censor," which he edited until his death 
in Fredonia, January 26, 1899, at which time he enjoyed 
the distinction of being the oldest editor in the State. He 
married in 1842, Maria A. Durlin, of Fredonia, a per- 
son well adapted for the helpmate of a pioneer printer, 
possessing energy of character, fine literary tastes, whose 
judgment of literary merit was almost unerring. She 
died in April, 1882. Of their four children, three lived 
to maturity : Louis, the eldest, later publisher of the 
"Fredonia Censor;" Willard D., of the "Watertown 
Times;" and Anna, wife of Prof. M. T. Dana. In 1887 
Mr. McKinstry married Mrs. Mary A. Baker of Ackley, 
Iowa, who died in less than a year. 

Mr. McKinstry, when fourteen, united with the same 
Congregational church to which his father had preached 
long before he was born, and was a member of the 
Northampton church from 1832 until 1847, when he 
united with the Presbyterian church in Fredonia. He 
was a Whig, casting his first presidential vote for Henry 
Clay, and a steadfast Republican from the organization 
of that party. He was postmaster at Fredonia for eight 
years, first appointed by President Lincoln in 1863. He 
was "anti-slavery" from youth, and strongly "Union." 
In 1865 he was for a time with the army near Petersburg, 
in the service of the Christian Commission, and was a 
strong friend of the soldiers, having advocated every 
measure for their relief or benefit. He was one of the 
original trustees of Forest Hill Cemetery, of which asso- 
ciation he was president many years ; an original stock- 
holder in the Dunkirk and Fredonia Railway Company, 
of which he was president fourteen years; one of the 
first movers to secure the location of the State Normal 
School in Fredonia, and a member of its first local board 
of managers. He was always opposed to formalism, and 
never departed from those characteristics of simplicity 
and sincerity which he acquired in his early Puritan 
home. He prepared many public addresses and memorials 
of marked vigor and literary merit. 

Louis McKinstry was born in Fredonia, December 9, 
1S44, died there March 5, 1919. He was variously em- 
ployed until July 1, 18' 7, when he became a partner with 
his father, Willard McKinstry, and together they pub- 
lished "The Censor" until the death of the senior partner, 
January 26, 1899, after publishing the paper for fifty- 
seven years. Louis McKinstry continued the publication 
of "The Censor" until January 1, 1919, when he sold to 
Frederick C. Bickers, the present owner (1920). He was 
connected with "The Censor" as partner and owner from 
July 1, 1867, to January 1, 1919. 

Mr. McKinstry has held various offices, and was an 
original member of the local board of managers of the 
State Normal School at Fredonia, appointed in 1874, and 
secretary and treasurer from that date until he resigned 
in December, 1901. In 1894, he was a member of the 
convention to revise the constitution of the State, and 
introduced three amendments — forbidding license of the 
liquor traffic, but providing for its taxation ; making 
county treasurers ineligible for reelection, same as sheriffs ; 
providing that women residents may vote at village elec- 
tions. None became part of the revised constitution, but 
the principle of the first was afterwards adopted in the 
enactment of the liquor tax law framed by Senator John 
Raines. For fifty years Mr. McKinstry was in the cleri- 
cal service of _ the county (not continuous), and until his 
death was assistant clerk to the board of supervisors. He 
married T. Fredonia Houghton, daughter of Judge L. 



THE PRESS 



275 



Sterne Houghton, October 8, 1868, and they were the par- 
ents of two daughters, Grace and Arabelle. 

Willard D. McKinstry was born at Fredonia, New 
York, October I, 1850. His education was obtained in 
the public schools, the Fredonia Academy and the State 
Normal School. He learned the printing business in the 
office of the "Fredonia Censor," of which his father was 
publisher. In 1872 he purchased the "Dunkirk Journal," 
remaining there until 1884, and removed to Watertown in 
1886. He was at first employed as news editor on "The 
Times," then assistant editor, and at the death of Mr. 
Brockway became its editor, and filled that position until 
his death in 1919. He was appointed as the Republican 
member of the State Civil Service Commission by Gov- 
ernor Flower, and served one year under Governor 
Morton's administration, and was again appointed by 
Governor Whitman. 

Beman- Brockway deserves a place in the history of 
Chautauqua county, for it was the scene of his first busi- 
ness venture, his birthplace as a newspaper man, and he 
loved it all his life. He fought his first battles there; 
he married and his children were born there; and he 
always looked back with pleasure to the ten years he 
spent in Mayville, winning splendid success while yet 
almost a boy, and was engaged in newspaper work for 
fifty-nine years, from the time he was nineteen years of 
age until he died at the age of seventy-eight, not count- 
ing his term of apprenticeship. 

He was born on a farm in the town of Southampton, 
Mass., April 12, 1815, died in Watertown, N. Y., Decem- 
ber 16, 1892. He did not like farming, and when he was 
fifteen years of age he became an apprentice in the office 
of the "Northampton Courier." Soon after there came 
to the same office as apprentices, Willard McKinstry, 
afterwards editor of the "Fredonia Censor," and Levi 
L. Pratt, afterwards editor of the "Fredonia Adver- 
tiser." These three apprentice boys remained intimately 
associated all their lives. 

His parents moved to Chautauqua county and there 
he paid them a visit which resulted in his remaining in 
the county for several years, after a brief interval spent 
in New York City, whither he went in search of work 
at his trade. Unsuccessful, he returned to his father's 
farm in Chautauqua county. Soon afterward he obtained 
employment on the "Mayville Sentinel," then conducted 
by Smith, Osborne & Whallon. Judge Osborne, the edi- 
tor, one of the best of writers, gave the lad good advice 
and encouraged him to persevere in his attempts at news- 
paper writing. At the end of the year, Beman Brockway, 
although but nineteen, became sole proprietor of "The 
Sentinel," which he made a power in the Democratic poli- 
tics of Chautauqua county. It gained a large circula- 
tion under his control, and at the end of ten years he had 
saved about five thousand dollars, a fortune in those 
days. In the spring of 1844 he sold "The Sentinel" to 
John F. Phelps, but edited the paper until the close of 
the campaign and then began to look about for a new 
opening. He wanted to see how it would seem to be 
engaged in a contest in which his party might expect to 
now and then elect its nominee. Chautauqua was strongly 
Whig, and after looking around for a few months, Mr. 
Brockway bought the "Oswego Palladium," which he pub- 
lished successfully for eight years and started the daily, 
which still prospers. He then went to New York and 
became day editor of "The Tribune" under Horace 
Greeley, and was one of the distinguished galaxy of 
writers which made "The Tribune" the most powerful 
of the newspapers of the nation in the years immediately 
preceding the Civil War. While here he lost his wife, 
Elizabeth Allen Warner, whom he had married while in 
Mayville in 1837, and life in the metropolis became dis- 



tasteful to him. He went with the "Barnburner" faction 
of the Democratic party to create the new Republican 
party for free speech and free soil, and made vigorous 
speeches for Fremont and Dayton in the campaign of 
1856. In 1858 he was elected to the Legislature. He 
drafted the resolution to submit to the people whether 
or not the colored people of the State should be allowed 
the elective franchise. He was also parent of the first 
registry law. In i860 he went to Watertown, New 
York, and purchased an interest in the "Watertown Re- 
former," and the next year a daily edition under the name 
of the "Watertown Daily Times" was started as an out- 
come of the necessity created by war news. In 1864 he 
advocated the nomination of Reuben E. Fenton for gov- 
ernor, whom he had known from boyhood, and Governor 
Fenton appointed him private secretary, which position 
he filled with credit until appointed one of the Board of 
Canal Appraisers. In 1870 he returned to Watertown 
and resumed his editorial work, in which he continued 
until his death in 1892. He always referred to his ten 
years in Chautauqua county as the happiest period of 
his life, was always interested in its growth and pros- 
perity, and kept in touch with its people. 

John F. Phelps was born in Reading, Schuyler 
county, New York, February 27, 1819. Both his paternal 
and maternal ancestors were of English origin. His par- 
ents settled in Ripley in 1827. He went to Mayville in 
July, 18.17, as an apprentice to the printer's art, under 
Beman Brockway, then publisher of the "Mayville Sen- 
tinel." After serving his apprenticeship, he worked as a 
journeyman in several different places, taught school for 
one year, returned to Mayville in 1842, and was em- 
ployed by Mr. Brockway as a printer and assistant edi- 
tor until April, 1844, when he purchased the establish- 
ment, which he successfully conducted until his death, 
February 2, 1878, ably assisted by his son, Frank C. 
Phelps, in the editorial management. Two other sons, 
Walter S. and John O. Phelps, also learned the printer's 
trade in their father's office. Mr. Phelps did much to 
advance the business interests of Mayville, and held 
many positions of trust. He was deeply concerned in the 
organization of the Union School, and was for years _ a 
member of the Board of Education. He served the vil- 
lage as trustee, a director of the Cross Cut Railroad, 
sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly in 1854, member of 
the county war committee during the War between the 
States, justice of the peace, and county loan commis- 
sioner. He was a vigorous writer, candid and open in 
all his transactions, fair and honorable to opponents, true 
and generous to his friends, a kind and affectionate hus- 
band, a loving father and a faithful worshiper in the 
church of his choice. 

Levi L. Pratt.— When Beman Brockway became pro- 
prietor of the "Mayville Sentinel, the leading Democratic 
organ in the county, the "Fredonia Censor" was the lead- 
ing Whig organ and his most bitter rival. For his per- 
sonal comfort he desired that it should be in friendly 
hands, and so, when the Winchester Brothers offered it 
for sale, he induced his fellow apprentice, Willard Mc- 
Kinstry, who was employed by the Merriam Brothers in 
Springfield, printing Webster's dictionaries, to come to 
Chautauqua county and buy it, which was done. Mr. 
McKinstry being a Democrat, as was Mr. Brockway, it 
was not thought expedient in the heated partisanship of 
that day for a Democrat to edit a Whig paper, so the 
third apprentice of "Northampton Courier" days, Levi L. 
Pratt, who was a pronounced Whig, was brought on to 
do the editorial work on "The Censor." He was editor 
of that paper seven years, then relinquished his position 
to accept appointment by President Taylor as postmaster 
of Fredonia. When the Whig party divided on the Slav- 



2/6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ery question, "The Censor" espoused the Free Soil cause, 
and in 1851 the "Fredonia Advertiser" was started as the 
organ of the Filmore administration. Mr. Pratt was the 
editor of that paper for thirteen years. During his life 
in Fredonia, he also served as village trustee, and was a 
member of the board in 1869 when the Normal School 
was erected. He went from Fredonia to the "Water- 
town Times" and died in Watertown, in very old age. 

Coleman F. Bishop was born at Jamestown, January 
2, 1838, son of Elijah Bishop and wife, who were among 
the early settlers. lie entered upon journalism before he 
reached his majority, becoming editor of the "Jamestown 
Journal," and later the first editor of the "Jamestown 
Evening Journal." After several years with that news- 
paper he went to Oil City and founded "The Derrick." 
He also founded "The Chautauqua Countryside" at 
Jamestown, a magazine in advocacy of progressive forms 
of education, and at one time he edited the "Buffalo Ex- 
press." Later he was editor of the "Merchants' Review" 
at New York, leaving that to become editor of the pic- 
torial "Weekly Judge." Almost from the beginning of 
Chautauqua Assembly, he was associated with that great 
educational movement. For a number of summers he 
was editor of the "Chautauqua Assembly Daily Her- 
ald," contributed many articles to "The Chautauquan" 
and compiled the popular historical work, "Pictures From 
English History," which was part of the regular course 
of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in 1883. 
For two years he resided at Rapid City, South Dakota, 
where he was engaged in correspondence for eastern 
journals. He moved to Washington in 1888, and was 
associated with Hon. Frank W. Palmer, Public Printer, 
and remained in the Government Printing Office for six 
years. Few have equaled him in versatility, and by most 
he was regarded as a genius. Mr. Bishop died at Hyde- 
town, Penn., November 14, 1896. 

The Jamestown Journal began its career as a small 
four-page weekly, established by Adolphus Fletcher, in 
1826. Jamestown was then an insignificant village hid 
away in a wilderness with a saw mill or two, a grist mill 
or two. a few small factories and a few rude dwelling 
houses. The county itself was but sparsely settled, the 
entire population being less than 20,000, and there was 
little to justify the journalistic venture save perhaps the 
demand for a newspaper in Southern Chautauqua, and 
the deep-seated conviction of the founder that James- 
town offered possibilities for future growth. The paper 
was founded during the period of the Anti-Masonic agi- 
tation, and of all the newspapers of the State of New 
York it is safe to say none were more vigorous or effec- 
tive in their opposition to this ancient craft. 

Abner Hazeltine, Sr., and other lawyers in the vil- 
lage, assisted in the preparation of editorial matter, and 
to a more or less degree influenced its policy on political 
matters, the paper being a staunch advocate of the prin- 
ciples and policies of the Whig party and a consistent 
supporter of the doctrine of protection to American 
industries. From the very beginning, the paper was an 
influential factor in the moulding of the public sentiment 
of the community, and with a satisfactory subscription 
list it proved a fairly prosperous venture for the founder. 

The Fletcher family owned the paper for twenty years, 
J. Warren Fletcher, son of the founder, assuming con- 
trol after his father. In 1848 Frank W. Palmer pur- 
chased the paper. Mr. Palmer had learned the trade of 
printer in "The Journal" office, had grown up so to 
speak with the paper and as he was a vigorous writer he 
proved a capable successor to the Fletchers. Associated 
with Mr. Palmer from time to time were F. P. Bailey, 
E. P. Upham and S. C. Green, and under the capable 
direction of these gentlemen the paper became the lead- 
ing Whig organ of Chautauqua county. 



Mr. Palmer had control of the paper for ten years. 
Subsequently he held important editorial position in Chi- 

ci and other cities, was postmaster of Chicago,_ and 

during Harrison's administration he was appointed 
United States Public Printer. 

C. D. Sackett and Coleman E. Bishop took charge of 
"The Journal" after Mr. Palmer left. This was in 1S58. 
At this time the ominous mutterings of the approaching 
Civil War could not be disregarded, and "The Journal" 
from the very beginning insisted that thee cool,] |- K . r ,, 
compromise with treason, that those who raised their 
hands against the government must be sternly repressed, 
and that the Union must be preserved at all hazards. 
This was in line with the policy of Mr. Palmer, who in 
1S-0 supported John C. Fremont, and who at the con- 
clusion of that memorable campaign declared unflinch- 
ingly that he had nothing to retract, and that the prin- 
ciples he had advocated were right and would eventually 
prevail. During the exciting campaign of i860 "The 
Journal" was an ardent supporter of Lincoln, and it is 
to be regretted that space will not permit the reproduction 
of the leading article the week following the election 
when it was known that Lincoln had won. During the 
war, "The Journal" did much to keep warm the patriot- 
ism of the county and to maintain the principles of the 
Republican party, and during no time in its history per- 
haps has its columns been perused with greater eagerness 
by its readers. 
" Mr. Sackett, who was originally associated with Mr. 
Bishop, died during the war. After his death, Mr. Bishop 
associated himself with his brother Prentice, who enlisted 
in the army, was wounded, and died in 1865. In 1866 
Mr. Bishop formed a partnership with A. M. Clark. In 
the summer of 1868 he sold his interest to Mr. Clark, re- 
taining his position as editor for a time. The paper was 
enlarged in 1867 and again in 1868, when it was made a 
six-column eight-page paper. 

An important epoch in the history of the paper occurred 
in 1870, or to be exact, January 1 of that year, when Mr. 
Clark commenced the publication of the "Daily Journal." 
The daily was a small four-page paper, and soon after 
starting it Mr. Clark associated with himself David H. 
Waite, who subsequently became sole proprietor, retain- 
ing the property until May, 1876, when he went West, 
served a term as governor of Colorado, attracting con- 
siderable attention by his vigorous utterances and radical 
policies. 

The paper was purchased by John A. Hall May 20, 
1S76. The property consisted of a four-page daily, an 
eight-page weekly, and mechanical equipment in anything 
but a first-class condition. The establishment was located 
in the building now owned and occupied by the Lin ion 
Trust Company on Main street. The present prosperity 
of "The Journal" dates from the time of the purchase by 
Mr. Hall, who brought to the paper keen business acumen 
and enterprise, a thorough familiarity with politics, and 
an uncompromising devotion to the cause of truth. He 
was. moreover, a graceful and forceful writer, an excel- 
lent judge of human nature, and a kindly dispositioned 
gentleman who believed that the best results could be 
accomplished by impersonal journalism, and who through- 
out his career discussed measures instead of men ; prin- 
ciples instead of persons. That this policy proved profit- 
able in a financial sense is evident from the fact that 
soon after assuming control of the paper it was neces- 
sary to seek larger quarters to meet the demands of the 
steadily increasing business. 

In 1878 the present site on West Second street was 
purchased and a brick building three stories in height was 
erected, the paper enlarged and otherwise improved. The 
rapid growth of the city and county and consequent in- 
crease in circulation soon rendered these quarters too 



THE PRESS 



277 



cramped, and again in 1892 the capacity of the plant was 
doubled by the erection of a three-story block on the 
adjoining lot, all of which is now occupied by the various 
departments of the business. In 1907 the company ac- 
quired the former Democrat building adjoining its prop- _ 
erty on the east, tore down the existing structure, and 
erected a four-story and basement fireproof addition to 
its former buildings, and now occupies the greater part 
of all three buildings. 

In 1876 Frederick P. Hall entered the business office of 
the paper, the father turning over to the son the manage- 
ment of this department. In 1880 he became a full part- 
ner, and the business was conducted under the firm name 
of John A. Hall & Son. The senior member of the firm 
died in 1886, and subsequent to that date the Journal 
Printing Company was organized, consisting of the 
estate of John A. Hall, Frederick P. Hall, Frederick W. 
Hyde and Walter B. Armitage. After the death of 
Mr. Armitage, his interest and that of the estate of 
John A. Hall was purchased by Messrs. Hall and Hyde. 
In 1891 Edwin A. Bradshaw became a partner, and on 
January 1, 1894, the establishment became incorporated 
as the Journal Printing Company, and James A. Clary 
and William S. Bailey becoming stockholders and direc- 
tors with Messrs. Hall, Hyde and Bradshaw. Mr. Bailey 
retired in 1899, to take charge of the publication interests 
of the Chautauqua Institution. 

During the past twenty-five years "The Journal" has 
witnessed the rise and fall of many competitors. Some of 
them it has absorbed — first and most important, the 
"Daily Democrat" in 1S79, and later in 1802 the "Weekly 
Democrat" with the plant of that establishment, at which 
time the "Weekly Journal" was made a semi-weekly. 

A number of dailies have succumbed in the past fifteen 
years, but it has never been the policy of "The Journal" 
to lay a straw in the way of its neighbors, but to deserve 
support entirely on its merits. It has constantly added 
to its plant until it is one of the best equipped newspapers 
of its class in the United States. 

John A. Hall was born in Wardsboro, Vermont, De- 
cember 27, 1813, and died at his home in Jamestown, Jan- 
uary 29, 1886, aged seventy-two years. His father, 
Samuel Hall, removed to Chautauqua county and settled 
in the town of Busti, upon land which he cleared for a 
farm, and which has ever since remained in the posses- 
sion of his descendants. John A. Hall was one of seven 
children, his brothers and sisters being Samuel Davis 
Hall, Elona Hall Aylesworth, Deborah Hall Sears. Edson 
Hall. Chapin Hall and James Monroe Hall. When John 
A. Hall was sixteen years of age, he left the farm to 
seek a livelihood for himself, going to Warren, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he remained twenty years engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits. During ten years of this period he was 
postmaster of Warren. About 1849, his parents having 
reached an age when they felt the need of the care and 
companionship of a son, he severed his connection with 
Warren enterprises and removed with his family back 
upon the homestead. This act was one of purest filial 
devotion, as in leaving Warren, where he had flattering 
business prospects, he abandoned nearly in its beginning 
a career which promised rich returns in influence and 
wealth, for the life of a farmer with its sluggish recom- 
pense for toil and expended energy. But he took the step 
willingly, and it was a source of increasing consolation 
to him in his later years that through his efforts the 
latter portion of the earthly pilgrimage of his parents 
was relieved of care, anxiety and toil. 

During the Rebellion, Mr. Hall spent four winters in 
Washington, District of Columbia, as clerk of the Com- 
mittee on Claims. Here, the duties of his official posi- 
tion did not prevent him from giving much of his time 



and attention to Union soldiers, especially those from 
Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania, and 
many a sick or wounded volunteer has received from 
him comfort and substantial aid. 

In 1872 he removed his family to Jamestown where 
he continued to reside until his death. In 1872 and 1873 
he was associated with B. F. Lounsbery in the wholesale 
and retail grocery business under the firm name of 
Lounsbery & Hall. On May 20th, 1876, he purchased 
"The Journal," daily and weekly, from Davis H. Waite, 
conducting it in his own name until July, 1880, when he 
admitted his youngest son, Frederick P. Hall, to an equal 
ownership in the establishment under the firm name of 
John A. Hall & Son, which continued until his death. 

Though denied a liberal education in his youth, by 
extensive and judicious reading Mr. Hall acquired a large 
fund of general and valuable information. He traveled 
much in the east, south and west in his later years, and 
was a close observer of localities, men and customs. 
During his residence in Washington he wrote much for 
Jamestown newspapers over the nom do plume of "Paul 
Pry," his communications gaining a wide reputation for 
their accuracy and the information they displayed, and 
for their bright and unconventional style. He always 
read and observed with a purpose, and his written or 
spoken expressions were never known to be ambiguous. 
They were clear and direct, like the nature of their 
author. 

In March, 1835, he was united in marriage to Emily 
Perry. To this union were born seven children — Mrs. 
Marian E. Clapsadel ; Ann E. Hall ; Edward L. Hall, of 
Jamestown ; Henri Hall, deceased ; John A. Hall, Jr., 
of Boulder, Colorado; Irene A. Hall, and Frederick P. 
Hall, of Jamestown. It was with his family that Mr. 
Hall found his chief pleasure, and in his home the true 
nobility and purity of his nature were best seen. 

Mr. Hall was never a seeker after public office. 
Though strongly urged many times to seek political pre- 
ferment, and while believing it the duty of no American 
citizen to shirk responsibilities, he never put himself for- 
ward as a candidate for trusts at the disposal of the peo- 
ple. For the years 1859, i860 and 1871 he served the 
town of Busti faithfully and ably on the board of super- 
visors of Chautauqua county. At the time of his death 
he was serving his second term on the Board of Educa- 
tion of Jamestown, and had, besides, filled a number of 
minor offices — trusts which he never betrayed. He was 
president of the New York State Press Association in 
1 88 1, the year it met in Jamestown. With extreme fidel- 
ity he performed the responsible and trying duties of 
administrator of various estates. His sense of honor 
was of such high order and his integrity so uncom- 
promising that the breath of suspicion ever passed him 
by. He believed firmly in the broad rights and active 
duties of American citizenship, and was interested in all 
public movements which promised good results. In the 
course of an extended article, prepared at the time of 
the death of Mr. Hall, Daniel H. Post, who for five years 
was a member of the staff of "The Journal," wrote as 
follows : 

* » * * * jj e ma( ] e his paper a clean, dignified, 
outspoken advocate of whatever is of Rood report. He 
established the old Journal on a firm foundation finan- 
cially and kept it abreast of the growth of the place. 
It is not yet a city newspaper and he could not have 
made it one if he had tried — we are yet out of the 
channels of telegraphic facilities, that would make 
this possible — but it is known as one of the most en- 
terprising and suoessfu] of its class. As citizen and 
editor he was always public spirited and sagacious to 
see. and to aid in whatever would advance the local 
growth and prosperity. He was also an example of 
the class — now becoming more numerous — which is 
known as "independent journalists." How far he 



2 7 8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



realize.] his ideal of independence in journalistic work, 
I do not know, but it is a fact that he was known to 
th.-- profession — and possibly more thoroughly niipri- 
ciated bv it than by his home constituency in this re- 
spect— as one of the editors of his St; if I'm I. !'..y.-d 

principle superior to party policy, and who w not 

afraid to antagonize his party if hi deemed it in the 
wrong. To his position in this regard frequent testi- 
mony has been borne by some of the most influential 
papers of the state. 

The following tribute, written by P. K. Shankland, its 
editor, appeared in the "Jamestown Standard" : 

No man who has lived in Chautauqua county de- 
serves more credit than John A. Hall for the independ- 
ence and fearlessness of character which he often dis- 
played in combatting the unworthy elements of his 
own party. He had little toleration for those who em- 
ploy the Las. r methods in political action, and he dis- 
played the courage on more than one occasion to 
s, verely denounce those who exerted wide influence in 
his own party, and aroused against himself the hos- 
tility of some who assumed to be local leaders of his 
party. This earnest disposition manifested by Mr. Hall 
to be candid and just in his comments on questions in 
which his readers were interested, whether they per- 
tained to measures or men, rendered his writings of 
force and gave them an influence which was probably 
not surpassed by that of any citizen, public or private. 
in the county, during the few years he adorned his 
editorial station. 

The following is taken from the personal recollections 
of Dr. Gilbert W. Hazeltine in his "Early History of 
Ellicott" : 

John A. Hall's character and deportment from youth 
up, never failed to commend itself and to command 
the respect and approbation of all who came in per- 
sonal contact with him. We sincerely believe that 
his most controversial editorials, his most scathing 
articles on morals and on temperance and conduct; 
the sarcastic sentences in his "Paul Pry" letters from 
■Washington and elsewhere, and his failure to support 
the candidature of certain men for office, never made 
for him a pronounced enemy — for they were written 
and prompted by the most generous sentiments, with 
no ill feeling towards individuals, but with a thorough 
hatred of vice and wrong methods and wrong doing. 
His enemies, we may say. dreaded the lash, but bore no 
ill will to him who so thoroughly and correctly applied 
it, and no man had truer or more cordial friends and 
well-wishers in all sections of the country than he. 
No one was ever injured by an unkind word or deed of 
his. Mild and respectful in his intercourse with all 
whom he met — tolerant in his judgments — reasonable 
in his expectations — easy to be pleased — patient and 
cheerful to wait the appointed time for his success — 
content to forego what was denied — he was not a per- 
son calculated to make enemies, hut on the contrary. 
to win the good will and esteem of all. His enemies. 
if he had anv. were those political "shysters" who 
could not bend him by either money or influence, to 
their nefarious purposes. He loved his party, to which 
he was always true — but he loved truth and honesty 
far more. 

(See Frederick P. Hall in biographical volume). 

James Alonzo Clary was born in Hendersonville, 
Mercer county, Penn., May 16, 1859, the youngest son of 
Joseph and Patty Armstrong Clary. When he was five 
years of age the family moved to Sandy Lake, a larger 
village in the same county, the father at that time being 
in the service of his country in the Civil War, as a mem- 
ber of Company G, 100th Pennsylvania Veteran Volun- 
teers. 

James A. Clary attended the public schools at Sandy 
Lake until sixteen years old, when he entered the office 
of the "Sandy Lake News" to learn the trade of printer, 
also taking private lessons in certain branches of study 
with Rev. L. I. Crawford, the editor of the paper. After 
serving an apprenticeship of three years he became asso- 
ciated with Willis R. Eckles in the publication of the 
"Sandy Lake Local." Severing his connection with the 
paper a year later, he entered a general store at Jack- 
son Center and served as deputy postmaster of the 
village. 



Within another year he returned to the "Sandy lake 
News" office, taking complete charge of the mechanical 
department of the paper for two years, coming thence to 
Jamestown in the spring of 1882, where he was em- 
ployed on the "Chautauqua Democrat" as a typesetter, 
later taking the position of foreman of the "Sunday 
Leader." On the suspension of "The Leader" he took a 
position as a compositor on the "Jamestown Journal" on 
January 1st, 1884, and has been connected with the 
paper from that time until the present, being advanced 
from the position of compositor to that of foreman of 
the composing room, and later to the city editorship of 
the "Evening Journal." On the retirement of Major 
Fred. W. Hyde as managing editor of "The Journal," 
Mr. Clary was advanced to that position, which he still 
holds (19201. When the Journal Printing Company was 
incorporated he was one of the stockholders, was elected 
a member of the board of directors of the company, and 
is now vice-president. 

Mr. Clary has always taken an active interest in the 
organized labor movement. He was chosen the first 
president of the Jamestown Typographical Union when 
it was organized in 1882, and was its first representative 
in the fnternational Union held in 1885 in New York 
City. He was a member of the Knights of Labor, hav- 
ing been at the head of the organization in Jamestown 
in 1886, and representing the various assemblies of West- 
ern New York in the National Convention of that order 
in Richmond, Virginia, that year. 

Mr. Clary was elected a member of the common coun- 
cil of the city of Jamestown in 1892, and before the expi- 
ration of his two-year term of office was appointed by 
Mayor Price to fill a vacancy on the board of supervisors 
of Chautauqua county, as a representative of the First, 
Second and Fifth Wards of the city, a position he held 
for ten years, having been repeatedly elected with little or 
no opposition. Since his voluntary retirement from mem- 
bership on the board of supervisors in 1905, he f has been 
the journal clerk of that body, never having had opposi- 
tion to his election to that position. He has been actively 
identified with the Republican party, and a recognized 
leader in its management in Chautauqua county. He was 
appointed chairman of the Chautauqua county Home De- 
fence Committee by Governor Whitman, serving in that 
capacity during the participation by the United States 
in the World War. In 1912 Mr. Clary was again elected 
a member of the common council of the city, and was 
chosen president of that body, declining reelection two 
years later. 

On March 14, 1883, Mr. Clary was united in marriage 
with Elizabeth Eberman, daughter of Captain William S. 
and Isabelle Walker Eberman, of Sandy Lake, Penn. 
Four children were born to this union : Albert B., Alice 
Fay. Frederick E. and Rebekah, all deceased except Fred- 
erick E., who is a law student in the University of Mich- 
igan at Ann Arbor. 

Captain E. B. Briggs, the city editor of the "James- 
town Journal," was born in Jamestown, May 12, 1881, 
and attended the public schools of that city, graduating 
from the high school in 1899. He entered the employ of 
"The Journal" as advertising solicitor the following year 
and, with the exception of a year during which he was 
assistant city editor of the Troy (N. Y.) "Record" and 
three years in the United States army, he has served that 
paper continuously. He was in the advertising depart- 
ment for a year and then became a reporter. In 1907 he 
was promoted city editor to succeed James A. Clary, the 
latter becoming managing editor on the death of Edwin 
A. Bradshaw. 

Captain Briggs has always been interested in military 
matters, and was for twelve years connected with the 



THE PRESS 



2/9 



Jamestown company of the National Guard of New 
York. He went to the Mexican border in July, 1916, as 
a private in Company E, 74th New York Infantry, and 
returned home the following February as one of the 
color sergeants of the regiment. When the 74th was 
again called into the federal service a short time later, 
he was stationed at the regimental headquarters in 
Buffalo, and while there was appointed by Colonel Ar- 
thur Kemp as one of forty non-commissioned officers of 
the regiment to attend the first officers' training camp at 
Madison Barracks, N. Y. There he was commissioned 
captain, and assigned to duty at Camp Dix, N. J. After 
drilling men of the National army for several months, 
he went to France in command of Company I, 8nth 
Pioneer Infantry, serving abroad for seven months. 

Captain Briggs is a member of the municipal civil 
service commission of Jamestown. He is connected with 
Ira Lou Spring Post, American Legion; Jamestown 
Aerie, Fraternal Order of Eagles ; Chautauqua Lodge, 
Sons of St. George; Mt. Moriah Lodge, F. and A. M. ; 
Tamestown Council, R. and S. M. ; and Western Sun 
Chapter, R. A. M. 

Vernelle A. Hatch, of "The Journal" editorial staff, 
was born April 30, 1868. He was educated in the James- 
town High School, taught three terms of district school 
in Chautauqua county, and January 1, 1888. joined the 
reportorial staff of the "Jamestown Morning News," then 
owned by Benjamin S. Dean. He remained with "The 
News" until 1892, when he engaged in newspaper 
work in Buffalo, principally in preparing political 
articles for the "Evening News," although for a short 
time employed by the Associated Press. In 1893 Mr. 
Hatch took charge of the "Jamestown Evening All" as 
managing editor, retaining that position until the paper 
was sold a year later. In 1896 he was again engaged in 
newspaper work in Buffalo, and at the close of the cam- 
paign he entered the law office of John G. Wicks, where 
he remained four years. In 1903 he returned to journal- 
ism, and for seventeen years has been connected with 
the editorial department of the Journal Printing Com- 
pany, having been city editor of the "Evening Journal," 
but now associate editor. 

For a time Air. Hatch was acting city clerk of James- 
town, and during the winter and spring of 1897 repre- 
sented the Fifth Ward on the city Board of Aldermen. 
He served three years as a member of the municipal civil 
service commission, one year as secretary and two years 
as chairman. He is a member of the Masonic order, 
affiliated with Mt. Moriah Lodge, F. and A. M. 

For seven years Mr. Hatch served in the Thirteenth 
Separate Company, National Guard of the State of New 
York, and the same length of time in the Ellicott Hook 
and Ladder Company of Jamestown, being a member of 
that company until its disbandment. He is a member of 
Jamestown Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and of Mount 
Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted" Masons. During the 
World War he was one of Jamestown's group of four- 
minute speakers who were kept busy in the local theatres 
during the various Liberty Loan campaigns. 

Mr. Hatch married, November 24, 1903, Myrtle Rob- 
erts Abel, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Edward Lisle Allen was. born August 14, 1868, at 
Moscow, Livingston county, N. Y., the only child of Elias 
and Rose (Sheldon) Allen. His father, a farmer, lived 
in the town of South Bristol, Ontario county, until the 
boy was nine years old, when he removed to Rochester, 
one of the main objects being to secure better educational 
advantages for his son. In June, 18S7, he was graduated 
from Rochester Free Academy, having shortened his 
course of study in consequence of the death of his father. 

He had previously worked in vacation time as a re- 



porter on the "Rochester Herald," and was regularly 
employed there for the next four years, when he left 
"The Herald" to take a position on the lnc?l staff of the 
"Rochester Union and Advertiser." He returned to the 
"Rochester Herald" as associate editor in April, 1892, 
being at that time one of the youngest editorial writers 
in the State. On January 1, 1895, he became cashier of 
the Rochester post office, but his desire for newspaper 
work led to his resignation in January, 1897, when he 
accepted a position as editorial writer on the "Buffalo 
Enquirer." Later in that year he was transferred to the 
staff of the "Buffalo Courier," when it came under the 
same management as "The Enquirer," and he remained 
with the Courier until his removal to Jamestown in 1901. 

For some time previous to the establishment of the 
"Jamestown Morning Post," Mr. Allen had regarded 
Jamestown as a promising field, for the establishment of 
a morning daily. He succeeded in interesting several 
Jamestown gentlemen in the enterprise, and also his 
former newspaper associate, Robert K. Beach. The Post 
Publishing Company was incorporated early in 1901, 
and on September 2 of that year the first copy of the 
"Morning Post" was issued, with Mr. Allen as its edi- 
tor. The success of the paper has justified his faith in 
the project. 

During his residence in Jamestown, Mr. Allen has 
been active in public affairs. He was one of the organ- 
izers of the Jamestown Board of Commerce, and for its 
first five years was one of its directors. He was a mem- 
ber of the Charter Revision Commission which rewrote 
the city charter during the administration of Mayor 
Weeks, and later served on the Board of Health for three 
years. He is a member of the First Presbyterian 
Church, and was for several years a director of the 
Young Men's Christian Association. He was identified 
with the direct primary movement during the adminis- 
tration of Governor Hughes, and helped organize Chau- 
tauqua county in its support. He has been a delegate to 
several Republican State conventions, and was the Re- 
publican Presidential Elector for this Congressional Dis- 
trict in 1920. He has served as president of the Univer- 
sity Club, and is a member of the Alpha Zeta fraternity. 

Mr. Allen married, December 4, 1895, Martha C. Van 
De Vyver, of Canandaigua, New York, and they are the 
parents of Marjorie, Edward, Robert and Elizabeth 
Allen. 

Robert King Beach was born September 22, 1865, 
at Albion, Orleans county, New York, son of Calvin Gil- 
bert and Juliette (Hey ward) Beach. The family is one 
of the pioneers of Western New York, coming from 
Vermont with those who cut a pathway into the wilder- 
ness. After completing his education, he, following the 
precedent established by his two older brothers, entered 
the office of the "Orleans Republican," a weekly news- 
paper which for more than half a century has been 
owned by his family, and learned the printer's trade. In 
1883 he went to Middleport, New York, where for a year 
he acted as manager of "The Herald," a weekly paper. 
Going thence to Rochester, he became a reporter on the 
staff of the "Daily Herald" of that city, and in the fol- 
lowing years was successively employed in all the various 
lines of reportorial work on the "Herald," "Democrat and 
Chronicle" and "Union and Advertiser." In the fall of 
1802 he was appointed telegraph editor of "The Herald," 
and January 1, 1893, was promoted to city editor. Three 
years later he was made news editor of that paper. In 
1899 he went to Buffalo to take the position of news 
editor of "The Courier," remaining there a year, when 
he joined the editorial staff of the "Chicago Chronicle." 
Mr. Beach left "The Chronicle" in the spring of 1901 to 
aid in the establishment of the "Jamestown Morning 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Post," with which he is yet connected as treasurer and 
manager. He is a member of the Jamestown Municipal 
Board of Park and City Planning Commissioners, having 
served continuously since the creation of the board. In 
religion Mr. Beach is an Episcopalian. 

He married, in October, 1900, Belle, daughter of 
Charles H. Fleetwood, of Brockport, New York, and 
they are the parents of two daughters, Evelyn F. and 
Roberta H. Beach. 

George R. Dean. — In 1851 George R. Dean came to 
Chautauqua county, and on Christmas Day. 1S54. began 
learning the printing trade in the office of the "Mavville 
Sentinel," where he remained until 1862. In i860 he had 
editorial charge of "The Sentinel," and was the first 
printer in the county to report a murder trial in full 
(that of Martin Battles for killing Cornelius Lynch, near 
Sinclairville), filling almost the entire sheet with the 
evidence. In the spring of 1863 he became an editor of 
the "Buffalo Courier" and the "Evening Courier and Re- 
public," papers for which he had been Chautauqua county 
correspondent for several years. From June, 1863, until 
May, 1866, he was owner of the "Dunkirk Union." In 
1867 he bought the Evans farm of sixty-three acres in 
Mavville. and in the fall of i8'8 began publishing "Rural 
Miscellany," which he continued for two years. In 
April, 1871, he moved to Dunkirk to take charge of the 
"Dunkirk Journal" for Rev. Isaac George. During the 
year he bought the plant, and in March, 1872, sold it to 
Willard McKinstry of Fredonia, now editor of the "Wa- 
tertown Daily Times." Returning to Mavville, he found 
employment in the office of "The Sentinel" most of the 
time for about eight years. 

August 30, 1880, he started the "Chautauqua Era," at 
Mavville, and two years later bought the "Mavville Sen- 
tinel," publishing both papers until the fall of 1892 — 
"The Era" a Republican organ, and "The Sentinel" a 
Democratic sheet. January 1, 1898, he bought the "West- 
field Record," which had been started something like a 
year before, and continued the same, without paying 
results, until the fall of the same year, when it was dis- 
continued. September 18, 1899. he bought the "Sinclair- 
ville Commercial" and the "Stockton and Cassadaga 
Spectator." After a year of prosperous business he sold 
the plant at a fair profit and returned to Mayville. May 
6, 1901, he bought the "Silver Creek Gazette," and pub- 
lished it for three months, when he sold out at a profit- 
able advance. October 6, 1902, he bought the "Ripley 

Julien T. Williams, M. D. — Born in Dunkirk, where 
his life was spent, Dr. Williams, although a graduate in 
medicine and long a practitioner, is better known as the 
able editor of the "Dunkirk Observer," a paper which 
stands as a monument to his ability as a journalist. He 
was born in Dunkirk, November 15, 1828, died there 
April 10, 1905, son of Dr. Ezra and Sarah King ( Clark 1 
Williams, his parents coming from Oneida county, New 
York, to Dunkirk, in 1820. 

He was a graduate of Fredonia Academy, class of 1840. 
He had previously read medicine, and after graduation 
from the academy spent two years at Buffalo Medical 
College. Later he entered Castleton Medical College 
C Vermont), whence he was graduated M. D. in Novem- 
ber, 1851. 

From 1851 until 1882, Dr. Williams practiced his pro- 
fession and conducted a drug business in Dunkirk, retir- 
ing in 1882, after purchasing the plant of the Dunkirk 
Printing Company. He became editor of the "Dunkirk 
Observer," and later of the "Grape Belt and Chautauqua 
Farmer," both papers then and now owned and published 
by the Dunkirk Printing Company. He was an able 
journalist and "The Observer" under both Dr. Williams 



and his sons has been and is one of the prosperous influ- 
ential journals of Western New York. 

From youth until old age, Dr. Williams was actively 
interested in public affairs, beginning in 1858, when he 
was elected a member of the Dunkirk Board of Educa- 
tion. He represented Dunkirk in the State Legislature in 
1865 and 1885, and in 1865 was appointed one of three 
commissioners to locate and erect Willard Hospital. 
From 1887 until 1891 he represented Dunkirk on the 
county Board of Supervisors, while his service on the 
Board of Education was almost continuous for nearly 
half a century, beginning in 1856. He was a Republican 
in politics, his voice a potent one in party councils. He 
married, in Dunkirk, December 15, 1851, Julia King 
Thompson. The two sons of Dr. Williams, Henrv K. 
and Gerald B.,are continuing the Dunkirk Printing Com- 
pany and its two newspapers until the present (1020). 

Henry K. Williams, son of Dr. Julien T. Williams, was 
born in Dunkirk, May 8, 1856, and is yet a resident of 
that city. He was educated in Dunkirk public schools, 
and Cornell University, class of 1880. He was engineer 
in charge of the construction of the New York, Chicago 
& St. Louis Railroad between Brocton and Angola, but 
in 1882 became an oil worker at Bradford, Perm. In 
1884 he was elected president of the Bermuda Oil Com- 
pany, remaining in that position until 1888, when _ he 
became associated with his father in the Dunkirk Print- 
ing Company as general manager. Upon the retirement 
of Dr. Williams, he was succeeded by his son, Henry K. 
Williams, now president, treasurer and general manager. 
The company is highly prosperous, located in its own 
building on East Second street. The "Evening Observer," 
a daily, and the "Grape Belt and Chautauqua Farmer," a 
semi-weekly, issuing from the modern plant of the com- 
pany. 

Gerald Bismark Williams, son of Dr. Julien T. Wil- 
liams, was born at Dunkirk, New York, April 1, 1870. 
He was educated in the Dunkirk Union Schools, and at 
the age of nineteen entered the employ of the Dunkirk 
Printing Company, a corporation controlled by his father 
and brother. He became a member of the company in 
1900, being elected vice-president and secretary. Later 
he became editor of the "Evening Observer" and the 
"Grape Belt and Chautauqua Farmer." 

John- Hale Cobb, who spent his active life as a coun- 
try printer and editor, was born in Sinclairville, New 
York, in 1842, and passed away at his home in Brocton, 
Chautauqua county. May 19, 1903. He was in the West 
for a time, then published a newspaper at Ripley, Chau- 
tauqua county, finally moving to Brocton, where he pub- 
lished the "Brocton Mirror" until his death. He was 
more than an ordinary writer. His clear thinking and 
strong convictions were added to an ability to express 
himself in a pungent, entertaining way, which his readers 
found very interesting. 

Hugh W. Thompson.— For thirty-one years (1889- 
1920) the destinies of the "Westfield Republican" have 
been controlled bv Hugh W. Thompson. He was born at 
Westfield, New York, October 2, 1858, son of Hugh W. 
and Eliza (McDowell) Thompson, his parents born in 
County Down, Ireland. In 185 1 they came to Westfield, 
where the father followed the carpenter's trade until his 
death, March 28, 1896. 

Hugh W. Thompson attended Westfield Academy until 
eighteen years of age, then began learning the printer's 
trade in the office of "The Sentinel," at Mayville. From 
July, 1885, until May 13, 18S9, he was a compositor on 
the "Westfield Republican," a journal which he purchased 
from Alfred E. Rose on the latter date. "The Republi- 
can" was then in its thirty-fourth year, having been 
founded April 25, 1855, by a company including George 



THE PRESS 



W. Patterson, William H. Seward, Alvin Plum and 
Austin Smith. 

Mr. Thompson, an Independent in his own political 
opinions, conducts "The Republican" along the same lines, 
proclaiming it on the title page — "An independent Re- 
publican paper." As a newspaper it has always been 
above sordid considerations, and as edited by Mr. Thomp- 
son commands the respect and support of the business 
and reading public it designs to serve. A modern plant 
has been built up, and the surroundings of "The Repub- 
lican" are in keeping with the high purpose of the editor. 

The Jamestown Morning Post, the only morning 
daily published in Chautauqua county, was first issued 
September 2, 1901, and has enjoyed substantial circula- 
tion and advertising patronage from the very first. It 
is owned by the Post Publishing Company, and occupies 
a modern fireproof building erected entirely for its own 
use on Washington street, near the Federal building, 
completed in 1912. 

This company was organized May 29, 1901, with the 
following stockholders, all of whom were named as direc- 
tors: Cyrus E. Jones, Ralph C. Sheldon, Arthur C. 
Wade, Robert K. Beach and Edward L. Allen. The 
officers elected were : President, Cyrus E. Jones ; vice- 
president, Ralph C. Sheldon ; secretary, Edward L. Al- 
len ; treasurer, Robert K. Beach. The officers and direc- 
tors remained the same until May 7, 1904, when the 
retirement of Cyrus E. Jones from the company created 
a vacancy in the office of president, which was filled by 
the election of Ralph C. Sheldon. Arthur C. Wade suc- 
ceeded Mr. Sheldon as vice-president. Mr. Wade's death 
in 1914 left Messrs. Sheldon, Beach and Allen as the 
only officers and directors of the company. 

In view of many previous newspaper failures in James- 
town, it required considerable faith to launch another 
newspaper enterprise in that city, but the promoters of 
the "Morning Post" had a clear perception of the grow- 
ing need of a first-class morning daily in this corner of 
the State. With the best of local backing, and command- 
ing the newspaper experience of men trained in the 
larger cities, the "Morning Post" was able from the 
first tc give the city and county a newspaper which met 
the expectations of all the people. It is a member of the 
Associated Press and receives the complete report of that 
great news-gathering agency. It employs a competent 
local staff to gather the news of Jamestown and its cor- 
respondents are scattered through Chautauqua and Cat- 
taraugus counties, beside Warren county, Pennsylvania. 

From the founding of "The Post," Edward L. Allen 
has been in charge of the editorial department, while the 
business management has been in the hands of Robert 
K. Beach. The mechanical equipment is modern and 
complete, including a Hoe 36-page web perfecting press 
with Koehler automatic electric control, six Mergenthaler 
linotype machines, and a Ludlow typograph which me- 
chanically sets large sizes of type, no hand composition 
being necessary in the production of the paper. 

Special features of "The Post" are its fearless, timely 
editorials on topics of general and local importance, its 
complete daily market reports, and its large number of 
correspondence pages classified geographically, making 
it easy to find a given item. The "Morning Post" is 



emphatically a "home paper," Republican in politics, but 
notably independent in its treatment of public questions. 
It now has the largest circulation of any paper in James- 
town or Chautauqua county, approximately 10,000. The 
list of employees in the office numbers nearly forty men 
and women, beside a large force of carrier boys. The 
officers of the Post Publishing Company are: Ralph C. 
Sheldon, president ; Edward L. Allen, secretary and edi- 
tor; Robert K. Beach, treasurer and business manager. 

Charles Edgerton Sheldon, editor and proprietor of 
the "Chautauqua News," at Sherman, New York, for 
thirty-nine years, was born in Westfield, Chautauqua 
county, June 7, 1844. His father, Franklin Sheldon, was 
born in Pawlet, Vermont, and settled near Nettle Hill in 
1840, where he died in 1892, aged eighty-three. 

Charles E. Sheldon, after completing his school years, 
engaged in the grocery business with J. S. Dunbar at Sher- 
man, beginning February 28, 186S, and continuing three 
years. He then spent three years in the hardware busi- 
ness with W. R. Reed, losing his entire stock of hard- 
ware by fire. In 1S76 he became editor of the "Chautau- 
qua News" of Sherman, and for thirty-nine years edited, 
owned and published the paper. In 1918 he sold "The 
News" to the Dorman Printing Company, they consoli- 
dating with it their own paper, the "Sherman Advance." 

Mr. Sheldon married Emily M. Wood, of Chautauqua. 
Their daughter, Nella A. Sheldon, was born September 

11, 1873. She received her education at the Sherman 
High School, from which she was graduated in June, 
1890, also being graduated from the business department 
of Bryant & Stratton's Business College, in Buffalo, in 
May, 1892. 

Miss Sheldon at one time enjoyed the distinction of 
being the youngest editor in the United States, as she was 
the editor and publisher of "The Sunbeam," a little 
monthly publication, in 1882 and 1883. She learned the 
printer's trade when six years old and published a paper 
at the age of nine. She is now associate editor of the 
"Sherman News." 

Charles F. White, of Dunkirk, was born in Hornby, 
Steuben county, New York, June 29, 1842, son of Joseph 
H. White, born in Philadelphia, died in British Columbia 
in 1861. 

After receiving the education afforded by the public 
schools of his native village, Mr. White was about to 
engage in business, when on June 20, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company K, 17th Regiment, New York Infantry, being 
attached to the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth 
Army Corps. He was given an honorable discharge 
June 2, 1863, his term of enlistment having expired. In 
1864 in the "Havana Journal" office Mr. White com- 
menced to learn the printer's trade. He purchased the 
"Allegany Democrat" in 1871, at Wellsville, and dis- 
posed of that newspaper property three years later. He 
bought an interest in the "Dunkirk Advertiser and 
Union" November 12, 1875, and in 1890 established the 
"Dunkirk Daily Herald," an influential Democratic paper. 
During its existence his various partners in the Herald 
Printing Company were : Charles E. Benton, November 

12, 1875, to January I, 1877; M. F. Durrell, January 1, 
1877, to August 1, 1877; A. H. Hilton and W. R. Mor- 
gan, August 1, 1877 to March 1, 1900. 



BOOKS, LIBRARIES AND AUTHORS. 

The following paper was prepared for, and read Book Trails of Chautauqua County — When the 

before, the Chautauqua County Historical Society, May- urge of a larger opportunity and the eagerness to over- 

ville, New York, September 11, 1920, by Lucia Tiffany come natural difficulties led our ancestors to open this 

Henderson, Librarian, James Prendergast Free Library : region of splendid timberland to future development, 



282 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



certain time-honored Pilgrim trails were projected by 
them from New England. These trails have ever been 
taken up and extended by other later pioneers further 
toward the setting sun. 

The trails we mean are traced upon no map, but 
rather, in the lives and destinies of our people. So it is 
that today I am asked to take you with me over one of 
these old paths, — the Trail of the Printed Book in our 
county, as it may be followed by us without undue at- 
tention to detail along the way ; but hoping to reach 
some point where a comprehensive and pleasant view 
may prove to us that those who preceded us were not 
lacking in vision, while they contended with the hard- 
ships of frontier life, — that their descendants, in days 
made easier by that pioneer devotion, have also left 
creditable record and have shown us the way in our 
turn to carry on this goodly trail. 

The research necessary to the preparation of such a 
paper has led to much delving among old pamphlets 
and histories, as well as to some interesting correspond- 
ence, and has also awakened memories of home con- 
versations relative to early books and reading habits. 
It is not my intention to develop this subject as a mere 
book-list, quoting you every author and title, with 
painstaking record of bibliographic detail. However 
informing it might be, this method could only interest a 
book-collector. 

I must be content rather, to show the human interest 
of these few scattered volumes as they touched the lives 
dependent upon them almost entirely for mental and 
spiritual refreshment and guidance. From all accounts 
of the rigors of pioneer life in this region a hundred 
and more years ago, it is easy to realize the scant op- 
portunity for book-culture. Our forefathers must have 
had largely to find their "books in the running brooks," 
their "sermons in stones." The task of subduing the 
wilderness conditions attracted men and women of 
hardy, enterprising type, prepared to lead laborious lives, 
with the hope at heart, no doubt, that one day they or 
their children would win through to leisure and the 
things of leisure. There is record of certain pioneers 
making room for a box of books in the limited packing 
space of their wagons which were to toil so slowly 
and painfully through the wild unbroken wilderness. 
For some of these families from New England and 
the established places of Northern and Eastern New 
York, brought with them traditions of culture, and 
prized their small collections of well selected books. 
A few of these people were strongly intellectual, had 
advantages of schooling and, in some cases, a college 
education. Religion and education were traditions too 
precious to be thrown aside as burdensome impedimenta 
on this trek to their new home, therefore among early 
arrivals were the minister and the schoolmaster pro- 
vided with a few needed books. 

It has passed into a proverb that as they moved west, 
our New England ancestors "carried in one hand a 
Bible and in the other a spelling-book." Were it possi- 
ble to look in upon such an early settlement, we might 
be at a loss to discover "Who's Who" — would not guess 
that the capable miller standing flour-dusted at the door 
of his mill was one of the scholarly young men of the 
New England town from which he came, and a young 
patriot of the Revolution as well. It was of this man 
that his fellow-villager, a Scotchman, is quoted as say- 
ing: "Mr. J is a powerful smart man. He knows 

e'en-a-most as much as the meenester." High praise 
in those times. 

Again, having noticed the smith at his anvil, we would 
belittle prepared to behold him next day addressing his 
neighbors with impressive reasoning and fervid utter- 



ance from the pulpit! Indeed, the eminent early mis- 
sionary to this region, Father Spencer, said that "A 
man to make a good pioneer-preacher should first 
learn blacksmithing — the best recommend he could 
carry into the wilderness." 

Need of all manner of service was great, and a person 
of versatile talents had ample chance to exercise them. 

It is said "they had no newspaper, few books, and a 
sermon was a treat," which leads us to mention the 
"first Sermon preached in Chautauqua County." This 
was at the close of the Revolutionary War. A mis- 
sionary to the Six Nations found himself wandering on 
the shores of Chautauqua Lake. At nightfall he bent his 
steps toward a light he saw in the woods, the cabin of 
an Indian chief, where he was hospitably sheltered. In 
the morning, after a good breakfast of venison, the chief 
asked him to sit with him on a log in front of his 
cabin. No sooner was he seated than he was asked 
to move along. This was repeated until Kirkland re- 
plied he could not move farther without falling off the 
log. "Well," said the Indian, "That is just the way 
you white people treat us. We once owned all this 
land, but we have been driven from place to place until 
there is no place left. The next push will drive us into 
the Lakes, and why are we treated thus ?" "That," says 
the Rev. Charles Burgess, "is what I call the first sermon 
preached in Chautauqua county." It was an illustrated 
sermon, it was a moving and an effective sermon. It 
had one of the grandest of subjects, — Christian ethics 
and the rights of man. 

He tells another anecdote of Father Spencer, mention- 
ed before. A visiting minister once said, "Mr. Spencer, 
your sermon is very able. I cannot answer it, but I do 
not believe a word of it!" Father Spencer replied: "I 
am very sorry to hear you say so ; very little of it is 
mine, nearly all of it was taken from the Bible !" 

As to the early physician: The only means he had of 
finding his patients was to follow the track of the Hol- 
land Land Company's surveyors, indicated by the trees 
they had blazed. Miss Clara Harrington, of the town 
of Poland, has old medical text-books used by her great- 
grandfather in his practice in those early times. 

But though daily tasks were arduous, most of those 
early men and women improved their moments of 
leisure. It was at candle-light that the few books were 
enjoyed, or maybe at noon rest in the wood or field 
over his lunch, the studious, or imaginative, youth made 
the most of his precious opportunity to read. The 
industrious daughter, washing the family dishes, studied 
her Daybald's Arithmetic, supported open above the 
sink; (the thought suggests itself that in this divided 
interest fractions might have been demonstrated in 
broken bits of crockery; but this is mere conjecture.) 

The young schoolmistress read as she road horseback 
over the corduroy road through the long woods to her 
school; often hearing the howling of the wolves, I have 
heard my grandmother say. Then it is told that at a 
later day, a boy in love with science lay on the flat top- 
board of a fence deeply absorbed in a volume of his 
cherished Humboldt's "Cosmos." Such are the scenes 
and episodes of a bygone day which are thrown back 
upon our mind's eye as on the screen at a photo-play, as 
we drive through our smiling countryside over good 
State roads, which nearly all follow the early trails, 
now petrified, we might say, and so perpetuated at the 
demand of modern travel and commerce. 

In regard to the coming of that great institution, the 
newspaper, to these western New York settlements, we 
have a picturesque account of Mr. McKinstry. He says: 
"One difficulty with the publication of a newspaper was 
the limited mail facilities. The first mail route through 



BOOKS, LIBRARIES AND AUTHORS 



283 



the county was between Buffalo and Erie. Once in two 
weeks, mail was carried by a man on foot or horseback. 
There was intense interest in this first mail-carrier as 
he came along in the service of the United States, with 
his hand-bag, which easily accommodated all the let- 
ters and papers for our people." 

Our first post office was established at Canadaway, 
now Fredonia, eight years before our first newspaper, 
— the "Chautauqua Gazette," in 1817, which publication 
continued one year. Of the early county papers there 
are two still published, — the "Fredonia Censor," founded 
1821, and the "Jamestown Journal," in 1826. Mr. Ed- 
son also contributes to this topic : "Few newspapers 
reached this then distant frontier, and those often weeks 
after publication. Sometimes a single newspaper was 
taken in a whole community ; for instance, the only one 
received in the town of Charlotte for some time was the 
'Albany Gazette,' taken by Maj. Samuel Sinclear; its 
arrival at the Fredonia post office was watched with 
interest. It was publicly read by some young man as- 
signed to that duty. This brought all they knew of 
what went on outside the wilderness. Events of the 
last war with England and of Napoleon's campaigns 
were learned by this means." Judge Foote collected 
about one hundred volumes of early newspapers of the 
county, few of which can be duplicated. Some of these 
are in possession of the Prendergast Library. A little 
later there were many who received the "New York 
Tribune ;" the "Anti-slavery Standard," published by 
William Lloyd Garrison ; trie "New York World," the 
"Ledger," and other papers. 

It is interesting to know that in colonial times there 
were all told but eight thousand volumes produced in 
these colonies, including sermons and almanacs. By 
contrast we may state that last year there were publish- 
ed in our country upwards of nine thousand different 
titles, which ran into hundreds of millions of volumes. 
Among the exhibits at our County Centennial at West- 
field, 1902, were many early books of considerable in- 
terest, some of them typical of those to be found in the 
majority of early homes: — The Bible, perhaps Watts' 
Hymns, one or two other devotional books, Pilgrim's 
Progress, and the precious Almanac. 

Old singing-books opening the long way, bound some- 
times in wooden covers, were owned by many who at- 
tended singing-school and used them at church, at home, 
and on most occasions when neighbors met for enter- 
tainment. It will be convenient to classify these old 
books in general into (1) Bibles, and other religious 
books ; (2) Literary and other miscellaneous writings ; 
(3) School-books. We must remember that for many 
years a recognized line was drawn between the books 
considered strictly religious and those 'Called secular, — 
a distinction handed down from Puritan times, resulting 
in the dictum that only religious and highly moral 
writings were to be read on Sunday, even by children. 
Let us read a delightful entry in the diary of a little 
girl of the fifties, showing this prejudice still pre- 
vailing. "Sunday, March 20, 1853. Mrs. Judge Taylor 
said we ought not to read our Sunday School Books on 
Sunday. I always do. Mine today was entitled 'Cheap 
Repository Tracts' by Hannah More, and it did not 
seem unreligious at all." Another entry reads : "Sun- 
day. Grandmother gave Anna, 'Doddridge's Rise and 
Progress of Religion in the Soul' to read today; Anna 
says she thinks she will have to rise and progress a good 
deal before she will be able to appreciate it. 'Baxter's 
Saint's Rest' would probably suit her better !" Again, on 
Sunday I find this : "Grandma gave us 'The Dairyman's 
Daughter' and 'Jane the Young Cottager' to read. I don't 
see how they happened to be so awfully good. Anna 
says they died of 'early piety.' Grandma will give me 



10 cents if I will learn the verses in the 'New Eng- 
land Primer' that John Rogers left for his wife and 
nine small children when he was burned at the stake. I 
learned 'In Adam's fall we sinned all;' 'My Book and 
Heart shall never Part;' 'The Cat doth Play and After 
Slay.' " 

I might record here the full title of "The New Eng- 
land Primer: An easy and pleasant guide to the art of 
reading ; to which is added the Assembly Catechism." 
These childish references are so typical of the reading 
of an earlier generation that we can not do better than 
quote once more : "Miss Clarke reads to us from the 
'Life of Queen Elizabeth.' Have just read 'David Cop- 
perfield' and could not leave it alone till I finished it." 
I may say in this connection that in a letter from our 
good friend and member of this Society, Mrs. Newell 
Cheney, she tells me of her enjoyment as a girl of a 
book called "Ollapodiana" and she also speaks of read- 
ing Dickens' "Dombey and Son" as it appeared in the 
"New York Tribune." I have also heard my elders 
recount the eagerness with which these instalments were 
awaited. We had some of the early paper copies of 
the first editions of Dickens in this country. To return 
to the Diary for one more entry, we read : "I was 
straightening a room to be cleaned and found a little 
book 'Child's Pilgrim's Progress Illustrated.' Grandma 
sent Anna to see what I was doing. She told her I was 
so absorbed in Pilgrim's Progress I had made none my- 
self." "Father sent us 'Gulliver's Travels.' Before I go 
to school every morning I read three chapters in the 
Bible, five on Sunday, and that takes me through in a 
year." Of other children's books, Mrs. Cheney speaks 
of "Merry's Museum," a magazine she had. Mrs. L. 
B. Warner tells me of two books which she was per- 
mitted to read on Sunday in her girlhood, — "Aesop's 
Fables," and "The Universal Traveler." We find record 
of one copy of "Mother Goose," two hundred years old, 
in the town of Stockton. Names to conjure with were 
Letitia Barbauld and Maria Edgeworth, writers of moral 
tales and hymns for children. Miss Edgeworth is still 
brought out in attractive new editions for children, most 
entertaining in their quaint delineation of English child 
life many years ago. The novels of Scott, Mrs. Rad- 
cliffe and Mrs. Inchbald were favorites at an early day. 
Of Mrs. Radcliffe's "Mysteries of Udolpho" one writer 
says she "could not lay it down, but finished it in two 
days," her "hair standing on end the whole time." 

Jane Porter was one of the best known, with her 
"Thaddeus of Warsaw," which went through fourteen 
editions, and "Scottish Chiefs," twelve editions. So 
much for children's reading at different periods earlier 
than ours ; and some of the sermons and other re- 
ligious books which were so generally read. Certain 
of these sermons were the subject of very general dis- 
cussion. People felt a real concern as to such matters, 
and as a rule held simple and definite views of their 
relation to God and their fellow-men, in the constant 
arguing of which they felt a keener interest than do we 
in our day. 

Examples of these books still existing in our country 
are : Many old Bibles, Psalm books, and Hymnals ; 
Yorick's Sermons ; Romain's Sermons ; Sermons on 
Faith. 1755; Sermons of Rev. Reuben Tinker, pastor of 
First Presbyterian Church of Westfield, 1856 ; Religion 
Delineated ; American Preacher ; Evangelical Primer ; 
"Devout Exercises of the Heart" ; "Imitation of Christ" 
(early editions) ; "Derham's Theology" (which is fre- 
quently mentioned) ; "Hervey's Meditations" (another 
favorite) ; "Watts' Hymns ;" Baxter's "Saint's Rest ;" 
"Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ;" Taylor's "Holy Living 
and Dying." 

Other books of more general character were in some 



284 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



homes, and are keepsakes still. Of such may be men- 
tioned : Pope's "Essay on Man ;" Young's "Night 
Thoughts;" "The Spectator", of Addison and Steele; 
"Writings of Tom Paine", 1791, (the cause of much spir- 
ited controversy) ; "Military Instructions ;" "Book of 
Surveying;" "Patriot Manual", 1828 ; Poems of Scott and 
Burns; Lockhart's "Life of Scott;" Pomphret's Poems; 
"Sky Lark;" "Art of Speaking;" Taylor's "Philip Van 
Artevelde;" "Shepherd of Salisbury Plain," 1812; "Irish 
Rebellion" (which has a familiar sound in our own 
ears). 

An old book of my father's is entitled "American 
Antiquities and Discoveries in the West — Evidences of 
an Ancient Population differing entirely from the pres- 
ent Indians, who peopled America centuries before its 
discovery by Columbus ;" and so on down a characteris- 
tic title-page of the time. 

Thomson's "Seasons" was a favorite book of poetry. 
In the Prendergast family library is a tiny old copy 
with microscopic print and curious old engravings. Who 
has not heard the invocation of its opening verse: 
"Come, gentle Spring; etherial mildness, come!" 

Of these books, five, viz: "Thomson's Seasons," "Art 
of Speaking," "Hervey's Meditations, " "Pomphret's 
Poems" and the "Sky Lark," were all advertised in 
Thomas's "Old Farmer's Almanac" of the day, books 
published and sold by the remarkable compiler of that 
important little annual which came to so many homes. 
A book-rarity in my possession is called "Historical 
Collections of New York." It is an illustrated and de- 
scriptive gazetteer, and has numerous quaint woodcuts 
of interest, especially those of scenes in Chautauqua 
county. 

The vogue of the early Almanac deserves special men- 
tion ; a collection of forty-one of these was exhibited 
by Frank Lamb at the County Centennial, and the 
writer has an interesting lot in her collection ; among 
them are : "The Farmer's Calendar, or Western Al- 
manac," published at Fredonia, 1826, '27; "Farmer's Cal- 
endar, or Buffalo Almanac." and "Steele's & Edward 
Butler's Western Almanac," Buffalo, 1825, '35, '38, '39; 
also "Poor Richard's Almanac," 1831, Rochester. N. Y. : 
"Evening Journal Almanac of Albany," 1859, and later. 

For your edification I shall quote from "Poor Rich- 
ard's" a selection entitled "Elegant Extracts :" "Behold 
yon venerable remnant of human life, sinking beneath 
the weight of time into eternity! His scale of mortality 
is nearly poised," etc., etc. ; and I also find this timely 
warning : "The most eminent physicians are full in 
the opinion, that nearly every case reported of death 
from drinking cold water, is, in fact, a death from 
drinking rum." However. I would not have you think 
the selections all in this vein; there is great variety of 
matter and manner. 

Of course, most of the early books were published in 
England, though the colonial and later presses of our 
own country put forth many of those quoted here. 
Chautauqua county has never been nor is it likely to be- 
come a publishing center ; however, there are precious 
copies of the few early books published within it-; 
borders, to be found now and then. Copies of the fol- 
lowing are in the Foote collection of the Prendergast 
Library. The first is "Contrast between Christianity and 
Calvinism, by a Western Clergyman." Judge Foote 
mentions Rev. David Brown as the author of this book, 
published anonymously, Fredonia. 1824. The author was 
the first Episcopal clergyman of Fredonia, and it was 
he who made the address of welcome on the occasion 
of Lafayette's visit to Chautauqua county at Fredonia, 
in 1825. His address was translated into French and 
sent to France, where it was published. Then, "Todd's 



Abridgment of English Grammar," Fredonia, 1827. Next 
comes Linus W. Miller's "Notes of an Exile to Van 
Dieman's Land," containing incidents of the Canadian 
Rebellion, Fredonia, 1846; and Warren's little history 
of Chautaugiff County, Jamestown, 1846. However, the 
earliest recorded history of the permanent settlement 
of our county was the series of articles by Hon. Samuel 
A. Brown, an early lawyer of Jamestown, this sketch 
appearing in the "Jamestown Journal" in 1834. Twelve 
years later, Hon. E. F. Warren, county judge, prepared 
the small history before mentioned, only a few copies of 
which remain. Thanks to Hon. Obed Edson, the Pren- 
dergast Library possesses a copy of the quaint little 
volume. Next in chronological order is Dr. Elial T. 
Foote, who came to Jamestown in 1815, and of whom 
it is written that "no one has contributed so much in 
preserving the facts relating to the history of the coun- 
ty." Our later historians of note are: Dr. Gilbert W. 
Hazeltine, whose "Early History of Ellicott" is most 
readable, written in familiar vein; a vivid picture of 
early residents, their characteristics, and the life of the 
period. There is an interesting history of the town of 
Portland, by the late Dr. Taylor, of Brocton. The latest 
and most eminent of this group, the well-beloved Obed 
Edson, has left a numerous and valuable contribution 
of published works of local history which constitute a 
worthy monument to his memory. Young's and Ed- 
son's histories, and the "Centennial History" in two 
volumes, are excellent works of reference. 

The archives of the Chautauqua County Historical 
Society contain contributions to local history, antiquities, 
biography and scientific research, by members whose 
i'<v, ] iii'.iii.'catii'iis enable them tn - j 1 > ■ : 1 k wiih aut'mr- 
ity. These writings attest our county's share in the 
source-material of history distinctly worthy of record. 

I would not omit reference to an enterprise of the 
Jamestown High School Seniors of 1913, inspired by 
their history teacher, Professor (now Superintendent) 
Milton J. Fletcher. This was the publication of an 
historical outline called "Jamestown, Past and Present." 
As an accurate and handy little book for ready refer- 
ence, this reflects much credit upon those who produced 
it, and it should be very generally in our homes and 
public libraries. 

Besides these early Chautauqua county writers and 
the group of our historians, there is a distinguished list 
of authors born in this county or residing here at some 
time; but as their record is the subject of a separate 
paper, I shall refrain from paying them further tribute 
here. 

But to return to our record of early days: Let us say, 
that of English Classics brought by some scholarly pio- 
neers, there was an occasional volume or set of Shake- 
speare. The writer has the beautiful set of small fat 
volumes in their tree-calf binding, valued and intimate 
possessions of the grandfather who from a young man 
had his Shakespeare at his tongue's end. There were 
a few Greek and Latin Bibles, testaments and lexicons. 
Dutch families who settled in Clymer brought with them 
books from Holland. Some French people brought 
their own books ; while the Swedes settling principally in 
Jamestown and vicinity, had their Bibles, hymnals, and 
a few other volumes. Just a word as to the old 
school-books, from Mr. Henry Leworthy's collection of 
old Chautauqua county books, and several from other 
sources: Morse's Universal Geography, 1793; Lindley 
.Murray's English Reader, 1823; Olney's School Atlas; 
Webster's Spelling Book ; Columbian Spelling Book ; 
Peter Parley Grammar. 1836 ; A New Guide to the 
English Tongue, by Thomas Dillworth, Bost, 1781 : 
Mental Arithmetic, 1784. These were household words 



BOOKS, LIBRARIES AND AUTHORS 



of the earlier generations of Chautauqua county youth 
in quest of an education. 

I find mention of the first appearance of book agents 
in our county as early as 1825. They are said to have in- 
troduced for the most part, good, useful books, bought 
and read by many people. 

As the age of more isolated settlement gave way to 
the better organized community life of towns and vil- 
lages, there began an epoch of Young Men's Associa- 
tions for debating, reading, and mutual improvement. 
From these, in most instances, library enterprises de- 
veloped. There were also groups of women who were 
most efficient and untiring in the work of establishing 
and conducting the early village library centers. Then, 
too, we find some record of encouragement offered 
library establishment by individual settlers very early; 
an instance is given by Dr. Taylor in his sketch of 
James Dunn, the pioneer settler of Portland, the gen- 
ial inn-keeper of the place. Of him Dr. Taylor says: 
"Although he and his family lacked the polish of a 
finished education, they were greatly interested in the 
dissemination of knowledge among the people; and in 
establishing a public library in 1824, they lent their in- 
fluence and contributed liberally." 

Mr. Edson has given us a good idea of the origin and 
development of our libraries. After mentioning several 
of the early efforts which lasted but a few years, he 
speaks of one founded at Charlotte Center, 1832, which 
existed ten years, and had two or three hundred volumes. 
Then he states a fact of much significance which ex- 
plains the cause of the discontinuance of the first li- 
braries; this was the establishment by law of school- 
district libraries in 1838. The Academies of the time 
partook of this so-called literature fund. "No public 
appropriation of so little outlay." says Mr. Edson, "has 
been of such mental and moral benefit as these school- 
district libraries of standard books; they contained 
oyer 26,000 volumes." In February, 1870, the Sinclair- 
ville Library Association was founded by Rev. E. P. 
McElroy, who donated his library of 185 volumes, and 
twenty-five dollars. This is the oldest existing public 
circulating library in the county. Obed Edson and 
W. W. Henderson are among the trustees designated by 
the donor. 

Mr. Edson, then a member of Assembly, in 1875 drew, 

presented to that body and procured the passage of the 

first act in New York State authorizing the incorpora- 

, tion of county libraries. Under this law many libraries 

sprung up throughout the State. 

From these beginnings we now have at least fifteen 
registered libraries in Chautauqua county, several of 
considerable size and activity, occupying handsome 
buildings especially designed for their accommodation. 
Brief mention of these locally well known institutions 
will serve our purpose here. Most prominent, the James- 
town Prendergast Free Library, Jamestown, founded 
1880, by the will of the late Hon. James Prendergast. 



Building and collection, including art gallery, dedicated 
1891 ; has now 28,000 volumes, largest annual circulation 
reaching nearly 96,000 volumes. 

Other Memorial libraries are the Brooks Memorial, 
the gift of the H. G. Brooks property for a permanent 
home of the Young Men's Association. It is now the 
Dunkirk Free Library, housed in its own fine building 
opposite. The D. R. Barker Library, Fredonia, began 
in a free public reading-room opened in 1874, followed 
by a subscription association. The first books, a set of 
sixteen volumes of the works of Mark Twain, given 
by the author. In 1883, Mr. D. R. Barker presented 
the family mansion and lot to the village for a 
library. 

The beautiful Patterson Memorial Library of West- 
field is the gift of the late Hannah W. Patterson, to 
the memory of her parents, Lieut. Gov. George W. and 
Hannah W. (Dickey) Patterson. 

The Minerva Free Library of Sherman, in the words 
of its historian, "in 1906 meant fourteen books in a 
market-basket." In 1908 Mr. O. W. Norton of Chicago 
proposed to build a $10,000 library completely equipped, 
provided the town raise $500 annually toward its sup- 
port. He later added to his gift. 

The Mary E. Seymour Memorial Library of Stock- 
ton was founded in 1899 by H. W. Seymour, in memory 
of his only daughter. 

The Ahira Hall Free Library of Brocton was given 
to the town of Portland in 1904 by Mr. Ralph H. Hall, 
Fredonia, son of Ahira Hall, who settled in Portland 
in 1816. The grounds were presented by G. E. Ryckman, 
grandson of Elijah Fay, who settled there in 1811. 

Mayville, Falconer, Bemus Point, Ashville, Sinclair- 
ville, Fluvanna, Ripley and Silver Creek, are some of 
our other small but active library centers worthy of 
praise and liberal support. 

No outline of popular culture in Chautauqua county 
would be complete which failed to mention that great 
source of inspiration, the Chautauqua Institution ; its 
system of summer classes and public lectures, as well as 
courses of reading and home-study, bring it within the 
scope of the present paper. We read that "ALL the 
detailed plans of the University Extension movement 
were in use at Chautauqua in 1873, the very year when 
this movement, unknown to Chautauqua leaders, began 
in England." About 1870 the thought entered the mind 
of its founder that a great assemblage could be handled 
not only for prayer, song and preaching, but for Bible 
study and for general literary culture. With what large 
measure of success this idea has been developed, we are 
all familiar. 

After this retrospective view, which has left us not 
without feelings of gratitude and satisfaction for the 
share of culture attained by our people, we look forward 
with assurance to a bright future, the symbol of which, 
we might say, is Chautauqua, the Summer City of the 
Open Book. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY LIBRARIES. 
By Lucia Tiffany Henderson and Carlina M. Monchow. 



James Prendergast Free Library— James Prender- 
gast died in 1879, at the age of thirty-one ; all who knew 
him agree regarding his pronounced ability, his dis- 
tinguished appearance, and charm of personality. He 
would have gained more than local prominence had he 
lived. He had already represented his district in the 
Assembly. 

Among his papers were found memoranda for a will, 



one item devoting the income from the Prendergast 
block erected by him in 1876, to a fund for a free 
library in Jamestown. This wish was executed by his 
parents but a month after his death, January 29, 1880, 
when they transferred to the James Prendergast Library 
Association of Jamestown, New York, which had been 
incorporated under a charter prepared by Eleazer Green 
and passed as a special act of Legislature, (Laws of 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



1880, Chap. Ill) the Prendergast building, the property 
to be held inviolate as an endowment for a library. The 
charter named as trustees, Robert Newland, W. C. J. 
Hall F E. Gifford, Eleazer Green, Jr., Solomon Jones, 
L. B. Warner, and W. H. Proudfit. 

Some years later, the father and mother chose a most 
favorable site — the open square at the top of the hill 
bounded by Fifth and Sixth streets and Cherry and 
Washington streets, where the trustees were empowered 
to erect a lire-proof stone building. The parents did not 
live to see this memorial completed. This building is of 
Medina sandstone, completely furnished and decorated 
from funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Prendergast. 
The trustees purchased the books for the circulating 
department, and organized and equipped the library from 
the accrued funds of their trust. Mrs. Prendergast 
bequeathed the Association $5,000 for reference books. 

Appropriate dedication ceremonies were held at the 
library, December 1, 1891. The library since that day 
has maintained a high standard of excellence as an 
integral part of the educational and cultural influences 
of the city. It is resorted to by a steadily increasing 
number of patrons from many walks of life. With the 
growth of the work and changing methods of library 
service, it has been possible to adapt the original interior 
and equipment to modern conditions ; a notable instance 
was the removal of the charging counter, a barrier be- 
tween entrance hall and book-stacks, retiring this loan- 
desk within the room, and admitting the public directly 
to the shelves, permitting personal choice of books for 
home use. This proved, as elsewhere, a popular im- 
provement. 

The library has availed itself of the excellent steel 
shelving and catalogue and filing cases of the local Art 
Metal Construction Company, and has already several 
sections of two-storied metal book-stack replacing those 
of oak, which it is intended to entirely replace eventually 
with metal. A separate collection of books for the chil- 
dren in the Junior department occupies the cheerful and 
well-equipped corner, or tower room. 

The Reference collection is uncommonly good and 
complete for general use, and is much consulted by 
club workers, debaters, business and professional men 
and women, students, artisans, and others, in search of 
the material for papers and addresses, or the answer to 
questions arising at work or in argument. A complete 
set of indexes with monthly supplements up-to-date is 
the key to a storehouse of magazine material in bound 
files. An excellent genealogical collection is in con- 
stant use, many visitors from out-of-town coming to 
pursue researches here. 

During the period of the war the Prendergast Library- 
did its ample share in publicity work, distributed hun- 
dreds of government leaflets on food-conservation, home 
recipes, Red-Cross aid, War-gardening, Army and Navy 
enlistment, and the like, making striking displays of a 
large and choice collection of posters and bulletin lists, 
the latter frequently printed in the local press ; while as 
county chairman for the A. L. A., the librarian by pub- 
lished requests and appeals to clubs and other organiza- 
tions, collected at the library, personally examined and 
selected, over six thousand volumes (contributed by 
Jamestowners alone) which were shipped overseas — 
as well as to the training camps of our own country. 

The library aided in every activity needing its ser- 
vice during the war. Since that time it has made a 
specialty of providing vocational books for the re- 
turned men, and its service has met with cordial recogni- 
tion. The library has at present upwards of 28,000 
volumes. 

The first librarian was Samuel G. Love, who died 



December 12, 1893. He was succeeded by Mary Emo- 
gene Hazeltine, who resigned in January, 1906, and was 
succeeded the following month by Lucia Tiffany Hen- 
derson, the present librarian. The original trustees who 
remain are: President, Mr. Proudfit; secretary, Mr. 
Green; chairman of library committee, Mr. Gifford. 
Other members are: Elliot Snell Hall, treasurer; Ralph 
C. Sheldon, Shelden B. Broadhead, and Charles C. 
Wilson. 

By the will of Mary Norton Prendergast, who died 
December 22, 1889, the sum of $25,000 was left for 
"oil-paintings, works of art," to be placed in the Art 
Gallery, a separate wing of the library building. This 
provision was ably carried out by its executors, Mr. 
Robert X. Marvin and Mr. Willis O. Benedict. Besides 
these paintings, the gallery contains admirable portraits 
of the Prendergast family by the eminent portrait 
painter, Huntington. The collection has now appreciated 
in value to double its original cost. 

The Library and its Art Gallery stand as a lasting 
and fitting monument to the wisdom and taste of its 
donors, an honored family whose ancestor, Judge James 
Prendergast, in 1810 founded the city which bears his 
name. 

Dunkirk Free Library — The history of the library 
movement in Dunkirk begins with the formation of a 
Library Association on January 13th, 1872. It was a 
joint stock company, the shares of which were $5 each. 
The constitution provided for three classes of members 
— life members who paid $50; annual members, who paid 
$3 a year; and members for six months who paid 
$1.50. Stockholders and members were entitled to use 
the books by paying yearly dues not to exceed two 
dollars. The total amount of capital stock was $2,375, 
which enabled the executive committee to purchase 
about two thousand books, and rooms were rented in the 
Monroe Block, and with Mrs. John Lee as librarian 
the Dunkirk Library started out. 

For a time all went well, then came the panic of 
1873, and it became necessary to give up the rooms, 
the membership having fallen off, and the Library was 
finally lodged in the City Hall in a room now used as 
the Tax Receiver's office. After a time the city needed 
the room for other purposes, so the Women's Educa- 
tional and Industrial Union gave it comfortable quar- 
ters in their building on Central avenue. The dues were 
reduced to one dollar a year, and the annual circula- 
tion dropped to about five hundred volumes, and the 
income was so small that a librarian could be em- 
ployed but part of one day a week. 

A new era dawned for the Library when on May 9th, 

1898. the heirs of the late Horatio G. Brooks and Julia 
A. Brooks transferred to the Young Men's Association 
in trust, the Brooks homestead, corner of Central ave- 
nue and Sixth street, to have and to hold so long as 
they should maintain thereon a Hospital or a Free 
Library, or both. Preparations were begun at once to 
transform the building into a Hospital, the drawing 
rooms being reserved for Library purposes, and the 
surviving stockholders of the Dunkirk Library Associa- 
tion transferred the remaining stock of books, which 
were removed to the Brooks homestead, and the 
Brooks Memorial Library, conducted by the Young 
Men's Association, began its career on January nth, 

1899, with Miss Jessie Underwood as librarian. 

The Library continued to expand until the portion of 
the building given for its use was outgrown, and it 
was necessary to secure a suitable home. Mr. A. L. 
Peck, a member of the New York State Committee on 
Library Legislation, and lecturer at Chautauqua, came 
over to attend a meeting of the library board called to 





PATTERSuX J/Ii:l:\k1 -WESTFIKLD 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY LIBRARIES 



287 



discuss ways and means, and advised the committee to 
present the situation to Mr. Andrew Carnegie, which 
was acted upon at once. This was in August of 1903. 
The immediate reply was most encouraging, and a com- 
mittee of the library board approached the common 
council with the proposition, and February 2, 1904, a 
resolution heartily approving of the action of the Young 
Men's Association and of any and all steps or proceed- 
ings which have been or may be taken to the end that a 
fit and proper library to be known as the Dunkirk Free 
Library may be obtained, built, and equipped, in and 
for the said city of Dunkirk. The Young Men's As- 
sociation generously turned over to the library board its 
sole negotiable asset, its equity in a lot on Central ave- 
nue : this with a donation of $1,000 from Mr. M. L. 
Hinman and various small donations from other public- 
spirited citizens enabled the committee to purchase a 
lot on the northeast corner of Central avenue and Sixth 
street, plans were secured for a Library building, and 
with the $25,000 gift of Andrew Carnegie the Dunkirk 
Free Library was duly incorporated on June 30th, 1904. 

On Saturday, February 17th, 1906, the Library was 
opened to the public in the new Carnegie building, a 
most convenient attractive home with club and assembly 
rooms on the ground floor, the main floor containing 
adult's reading room, children's room, director's room, 
librarian's office, and radial stack room. At this time 
the Library contains about 20,000 volumes, and the 
annual circulation is between 70,000 and 80,000 volumes. 
The Women's Literary Club hold all their meetings in 
the club room, also the W. C. T. U., and numerous 
committee meetings of an educational nature are held 
in this room and in the Assembly room, which dur- 
ing the period of the war was used for Red Cross 
work. 

The members of the board are: F. B. Barnard, pres- 
ident; F. D. Light, vice-president; E. D. Warner, treas- 
urer; C. M. Monchow, secretary; F. R. Darling; C. D. 
Armstrong; Dr. Joseph Rieger. Librarian, Carlina M. 
Monchow ; assistants, Helen G. Atwood, Mrs. N. P. 
Horton. 

The Patterson Library, Westfield — The library his- 
tory and library activities in Westfield may be said to 
begin with the incorporation and founding of the Pat- 
terson Library in 1896. Previous to this date there 
had been a few sporadic attempts to establish circulat- 
ing libraries in connection with some commercial busi- 
ness, but these attempts were shortlived. The only really 
successful library was the one in connection with the 
Westfield Academy. This consisted of several thousand 
volumes, and was used by the pupils in the school and 
by some other members of the community. 

The public library idea, a library for the use of all 
the people, had not been agitated, so that when after the 
death of Miss Hannah Whiting Patterson in May, 1894, 
it became known that she had left $100,000 in her will 
for the purpose of establishing a free public library in 
Westfield as a memorial to her parents, it was felt to 
be a heaven-sent gift. Lieutenant-Governor George W. 
Patterson and his wife, Hannah Whiting Patterson, in 
whose memory this gift was made, had been prominent 
residents of Westfield. Governor Patterson had served 
not only as member of Congress, as lieutenant-governor 
of the State of New York, and in other positions of na- 
tional and State importance, but also had served faith- 
fully in local positions of trust. Educational matters, 
village and town improvement and the welfare of all 
the people, had such a large hold on his time and 
sympathies that he made himself universally beloved. 
No memorial to him could have been more appropriate 
than this one which benefits all the people for all time. 



In March, 1896, the Patterson Library was incorporat- 
ed under the laws of the State of New York with a 
charter from the Board of Regents, thus placing it un- 
der the State Education Department. Miss Patterson 
in her will instructed her brother, Mr. George W. Pat- 
terson, Jr., to carry out its terms with reference to the 
Library, and most faithfully did he and his wife, Frances 
D. Patterson, during the remainder of their lives, work 
to put into material form the idea expressed in the 
bequest. The success of their undertaking is indeed a 
memorial to them as well as to the parents of Miss 
Patterson. Until their death, both Mr. and Mrs. Patter- 
son, always with the good of the Library in their minds, 
were the indefatigable working heads of the corporation. 
Since that time their children and grandchildren have 
carried on the work. They comprise the board of trus- 
tees, and are giving unstintingly of their time and 
energies for the betterment of the Library. 

The Library was opened to the public in July, 1897, 
with Miss Katherine M. Mack (now Mrs. Wm. Morri- 
son, of Erie, Penna.) as librarian, and with an initial 
collection of about 6,000 volumes from which to choose. 
The American Library Association's 5,000-volume ex- 
hibit at the World's Fair in Chicago was duplicated to 
form the nucleus of the modest beginning. Through 
the generosity of Mr. George W. Patterson, the build- 
ing on South Portage street, now the Y. W. C. A. build- 
ing, was the rent-free home of the Library for the 
years before the present permanent building was erected. 
The policy of the financial management of the Associa- 
tion was to delay building until a sufficiently large fund 
had accumulated to assure an appropriate building and 
still leave a fund for permanent maintenance. Experi- 
ence has shown the wisdom of this plan, for not only 
has it been possible to erect the present library build- 
ing but to collect a fine reference library and books of 
more popular recreative reading, totalling 20,000 
volumes, and still have intact the sum originally be- 
queathed by Miss Patterson. In 1905 the new library 
building was begun and on August I, 1908, with im- 
pressive though simple ceremonies, the completed build- 
ing was dedicated and formally opened to the public. 
It is a gem in point of architecture and in artistic finish 
and coloring. Time and experience have shown that 
the interior arrangement from the point of view of 
convenience could not be improved. It is one of the 
show buildings of Western New York, and is an object 
of pride to all inhabitants of Westfield. 

From the beginning, the board of trustees realized 
that a public library is an educational institution and a 
university of the people, and decided that contrary to 
usual custom the Library should be accessable to all, 
regardless of whether they lived in Westfield or else- 
where ; in other words that it should be of service to 
the largest possible number. This policy has been con- 
sistently followed. In a sense, the Patterson Library 
may be called a county library, as from all parts of the 
county people come to consult reference or other books, 
all of which are gladly placed at their disposal. Statis- 
tics of books circulated make no record of this im- 
portant feature of the work, but without counting such 
outside circulation, the annual number of books taken 
from the Library for reading totals nearly 30,000 
volumes. For years the Chautauqua Library School has 
come in a body during its sessions to use the reference 
collection ; and clubs and other organizations from 
here and surrounding towns depend upon the Patter- 
son Library for their material. The cooperation be- 
tween the Library and the schools is of the closest. 
Teachers and professional men and women engaged in 
special lines of work are privileged to take out more 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



books and keep them for longer periods of time than is 
granted to the general public. 

During the World War, the Patterson Library, like 
most other libraries, forsook the beaten paths of library 
work and made every effort to assist in the imperative 
duty of the times: — to help win the war. The gov- 
ernment publicity work and food conservation were 
aided with posters, circulars, and the distribution of 
thousands of pamphlets. In Red Cross drives, United 
War Work Fund drives. War Saving Stamps and Lib- 
erty Bond sales, the Library took an important part and 
acted as agent. During the last months of the war. 
the Red Cross headquarters were moved to the Library, 
where they still remain. 

With the end of the war and the reestablishment of 
normal reading conditions and normal library activities, 
the Patterson Library stands ready to help in every 
possible way in the reconstruction days now before us. 
The close cooperation of the people during the war- 
days has taught us a valuable lesson and has had the 
effect of bringing about at the present time a closer 
relation between the Library and the reader. In the 
future as in the past, it stands ready to supply the read- 
ing and reference work, recreative and informational, 
desired by all the people who will come to use it. 

Miss Katherine M. Mack was librarian from 1897 to 
1898; Miss Sarah H. Ames from 1898 to 1918, except one 
year, 1910-11, when Miss Avery acted as librarian dur- 
ing the absence of Miss Ames. Miss Emma W. Piehl 
has been librarian since January, 1919. 

At present the Library affairs are administered by the 
following board : President, Prof. George W. Patterson 
(III), Ann Arbor, Mich.; vice-president, Mrs. Cather- 
ine L. (Patterson) Crandall, Westfield; secretary, Mrs. 
Frances T. (Patterson) Faust, Westfield ; treasurer, Mr. 
Frank W. Crandall, Westfield ; trustees, Mrs. George 
W. Patterson, Ann Arbor, Mich. ; Lieut.-Comdr. W. H. 
Faust, U. S. Navy, Westfield; Mr. George Patterson 
Crandall, Westfield. Other members of the corporation 
are: Major Francis W. Crandall, U. S. R. ; Mrs. George 
Patterson Crandall; Sous-Lieut. George W. Patterson 
(IV), French armv, R. ; Mrs. George W. Patterson 
(IV) ; Major Carroll Parse Haff, U. S. R. ; Mrs. Ger- 
trude (Patterson) Haff; Second Lieut. Robert R. Pat- 
terson, U. S. R. ; Lieut, (j. g.) Duncan Patterson 
Forbes, U. S. N. R. F. ; Capt. Howard Patterson Faust, 
U. S. A. 

Darwin R. Barker Library— The history of the 
Darwin R. Barker Library begins with the te'mperance 
crusade in 1874, when the women of Fredonia opened 
public parlors and a reading room in an empty store in 
the Lake Block, with the view of laying the founda- 
tion of a public library. 

Before the year was out, it was seen by those in au- 
thority that if the work was to continue it must be as a 
library with a permanent organization, and steps were 
taken to bring this about. As a result, a Library As- 
sociation was formed and the library opened its doors 
to the public November 1, 1876. 

In 1882. Darwin R. Barker, whose wife had been 
interested in the Library from the beginning, pre- 
sented the home built by his father in 1818 (claimed 
to be the first brick building in the county) to the 
village of Fredonia as a permanent home for the 
Library. The Library was now incorporated, Mr. Bark- 
er naming several men to serve as life members, and 
appointed a committee of women, requesting the man- 
agement be left to them. The name was changed from 
the Fredonia Library Association to Darwin R. Barker 
Library, and tickets were sold to residents of the vil- 
lage for $2, entitling holders to a year's use of the library. 



In 1806 the village board voted an annual library ap- 
propriation of $350. on the condition that it be made free 
to all residents of the village. In November, 1909. the 
taxpayers of the town of Pomfret voted an annual 
appropriation of $1,000, and on February 1st the Library 
extended its privileges to the entire township, maintain- 
ing a branch at the home of Mr. Frank Hall, at Lam- 
berton. From the first, an historical exhibit has occupied 
a room on the second floor, containing many objects of 
local interest. On November 4th, 1919, the taxpayers 
of Pomfret voted the Library an increased appropria- 
tion of $1,500, making the annual appropriation $2,500, 
and a new era of increased usefulness began at that 
date. 

In the history of library activities in Fredonia special 
mention should be made of Mrs. Leverett B. Greene, 
whose death occurred in 191 1, member of the Board of 
Managers and for fifteen years its faithful librarian, and 
of Mrs. B. F. Skinner, chairman of the Board of Man- 
agers, whose death occurred in 1918. 

Minerva Free Library — The Minerva Free Library 
of Sherman, like many another successful enterprise, 
had its day of small beginnings. At the close of the 
club year in May. 1906, the Minerva Club found itself 
with less than fifteen dollars in its treasury. It had 
for several years been the cherished hope of the club 
to sometime provide a free library for the town, and 
small as the sum on hand was, it was then and there 
decided to use it for the purchase of a few books, the 
nucleus of the much desired library. 

Early in the following year, 1907, a board of trustees 
(five in number) was elected, and the Minerva Free 
Library Association was formally organized and a 
provisional charter from the State Board of Regents 
applied for and secured. A pleasant room on the first 
floor of the village building, with bookcases, electric 
light, telephone service and heat, was placed at the dis- 
posal of the Association. With about five hundred 
volumes on hand, the Minerva Free Library was opened 
to the public, September 21st. A free library in Sher- 
man had become an established fact. 

On April 17, 1908, a letter was received from Oliver 
W. Norton, of Chicago, Illinois, in which he proposed 
to "build a $10,000 library building, completely fur- 
nished and equipped with every modern convenience, 
provided the town of Sherman would raise by taxation 
$500 annually toward its support." A few days later 
Mr. Norton added a further gift of $1,000 for a suit- 
able site for the building. February 13th, 1009, the 
library building was opened to the public, with ap- 
proximately 2,000 books upon its shelves, and a read- 
ing room with current magazines. The service of a 
librarian was secured, and on June 6th, 1909, an abso- 
lute charter was granted by the State Board of Regents. 
Mr. Norton has from time to time added books, and has 
fitted up in the basement a fine dining room and kitchen 
for the use of the Minerva Club. 

In the passing of Mrs. Julia H. Thayer, the Library 
lost one of its strongest supporters and zealous work- 
ers, she having been president of the organization since 
its foundation. 

Mary E. Seymour Memorial Free Library — The 
Mary E. Seymour Memorial Free Library of Stockton 
was founded in 1899, by Henry W. Seymour, in memory 
of his only daughter, and chartered under the name, 
The Stockton Free Library. In 1901 this name was 
changed to its present form by an amendment of the 
original charter. 

Mr. Seymour's death occurred June 9, 1907, and since 
that time the work has been carried on by his wife, 
Mrs. F. Florelle Seymour. The names of the follow- 




K AHiUA MALI. MKMoKIAI. I,II;I:AI:Y. I : !;■ M 'KT" >X. X V 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY LIBRARIES 



ing assistants may be mentioned : Glenn C. Hart, Misses 
Jessie T. and Doris L. Wakeman, Blanche L. Stratton. 

In 1908 the Library contained 2,647 volumes, when the 
State organizer commenced classifying and cataloguing 
the books, a work which has been continued by Miss 
Edith Rowley, of Stockton, librarian of Allegheny Col- 
lege, Meadville, Penn. The growth of the Library may 
be noted in that it now contains 5.3S8 volumes, of which 
an unusually large number are religious works. The 
total criculation for the year ending June 30, 1919, was 
6,324. 

The Stockton Library is one of thirty-two in the 
State recently reporting a per capita circulation of two 
or more volumes of non-fiction, with a total per capita 
circulation of eight or more volumes, that of Stockton 
being fourteen volumes. During the first years, the 
local Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, Young 
Men's Christian Association, and other social activities, 
were connected with the library. Cooperation with 
the faculty and pupils of the Union School has been a 
happy feature of the Library work. 

Ahira Hall Memorial Library — This Memorial Li- 
brary was presented to the town of Portland in 1904, 
by Ralph H. Hall, of Fredonia, a son of Ahira Hall, 
who located in the town of Portland in 1816. The 
grounds in the village of Brocton upon which the library 
building stands, were presented by Garrett E. Ryckman, 
a grandson of Elijah Fay, who located in the town in 
1811. The Library is supported by a town appropria- 
tion of $1,000 annually. 

There are now upon the shelves about 4,000 volumes, 
the annual circulation of books being about 14,000 
volumes annually. The Library is open three days each 
week from 2 p. m. until 9 p. m., and is well patronized 
by the residents of the town, the younger portion of 
the community especially availing themselves of the 
Library and its privileges. 

Sinclairville Free Library— This is the oldest free 
circulating library in Chautauqua county. It was begun 
in February, 1870, when Rev. E. P. McElroy gave 185 
volumes from his private library, and $25 for the pur- 
pose of encouraging in the youth of the community a 
taste for reading and mental improvement, and naming 
eleven prominent business men as trustees of the 
foundation. 

The idea of a public library at once became popular; 
a dime society was formed by the women, the young 
people gave dramatic entertainments, there were rounds 
of socials, fairs, concerts and festivals — all serving to 
create and increase public interest. From a library for 
the youth, it grew into one for all ages, classes and 
tastes. In December, 1894, it was incorporated under 
the Regents by the above name and, as a Free Circulat- 
ing Library, is second only in this county to the Pren- 
dergast Library of Jamestown. 

It has always had the hearty support of the village 
and large surrounding community and has been recipient 
of various legacies, notablv from Mrs. B. W. Field, 
Mrs. Dora Eldridge and John H. Losee. While far 
more books have been worn out than now remain, the 
Library at present contains several hundred volumes, 
besides having a substantial sum in the treasury. 

The Tuesday Club Library of Mayville — Aside 
from the early library movement which lapsed with the 
introduction of school district libraries introduced in 
1838, the Tuesday Club Library is the first to achieve 
permanence in this village. The Tuesday Club Library 
was established in 1901 by the literary club of that name, 
the ladies of its membership taking charge of the work 
for ten years before a regular librarian was employed. 
The Library received a provisional charter from the 
Chau— 19 



State in 1901, and a permanent charter in 1905. There 
are at present about 3,900 volumes, housed in the fire- 
proof building which is shared by the Chautauqua Coun- 
ty Historical Society, each having its half of the fire- 
proof building formerly occupied by the county clerk's 
office. Miss Martha Gifford is the librarian. 

Bemus Point Library— It was in the summer of 1907 
that Mrs. Elizabeth A. Bemus, president of the Bemus 
Point Study Club, conceived the idea of establishing a 
free library for the benefit of the village of Bemus 
Point and town of Ellery. A special meeting was 
called to discuss ways and means by which this could 
be accomplished, as there was not then one cent avail- 
able. By getting in communication with Mrs. Frank 
Thomas, of Utica, New York, chairman of the Library 
Committee of the State Federation of Woman's Clubs, 
books from the different clubs of her city were re- 
ceived to the number of about 300. Mrs. Bemus donated 
the use of her home as a library during the first winter 
(1907-08), and the books were loaned to those who 
desired them. In January, 1908, the gift of a suitable 
lot for a library site and $100 toward a building fund 
by Charles W. Bemus, made it possible with help from 
members of the Study Club to proceed with the work of 
securing a library home. During the summer of 1908 
a cozy cement building with one room and basement 
was completed at a cost of $800. Book stacks from the 
Art Metal Construction Company of Jamestown were 
installed, and later an asbestos roof was put on the 
building. The summer guests in the village caught the 
spirit of enthusiasm which inspired the little band of 
workers and contributed books to the number of about 
200, as well as gifts of money in amounts from five to 
fifteen dollars, until with the proceeds of a party, a fund 
of $400 resulted. On December 15. 1908, the books were 
installed in the new library building, their permanent 
home, thus proving again the old adage : "Where there's 
a will there's a way." The debt incurred was to Mr. 
Bemus, who carried it at three per cent, interest, and 
nearly every year that was omitted. Early in the year 
1914, metal work stacks were placed around the entire 
room, and in 1916 a small annex was added. The 
Library now (1919) has about 3,000 volumes, is out of 
debt, and has a good cash balance in the treasury. The 
Library revenue is derived from the readers among the 
summer guests, from entertainments, and from dona- 
tions. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Bemus is president of the 
Library Association, and librarian. 

Ashville Free Library Association — The idea of a 
library at Ashville was suggested by members of a 
little social organization in the village, and under the 
auspices of this society a meeting of citizens, November 
4, 1913, formed the Ashville Free Library Association, 
whose object as incorporated in its by-laws was "the 
free distribution of books and periodicals to Ashville 
and vicinity." A board of nine trustees was elected 
from the membership, the terms of one-third to expire 
each year, the first board consisting of the following 
persons : Mrs. Bertha K. Bly, Mrs. Josephine G. Loomis, 
Airs. Lillian Skinner. Miss Mable Truesdell, Mrs. Grace 
Ramsey, Mrs. Eliza Abbott, W. H. Blv, J. A. Powers, 
and B. P. Dimly. 

A hundred dollars was raised in the community, this 
amount being duplicated by the State, and this sum 
has formed the nucleus of the library book fund. Up 
to the present time, the Library has been financed en- 
tirely by yearly membership fees, by local entertain- 
ments for money raising purposes, and by voluntary 
contributions. The most important gift was a dona- 
tion of $100 from J. W. Packard, of Lakewood, New 
York, that being particularly timely as it came when the 



290 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



treasury was nearly empty. Through the good offices 
of another friend it was made possible for the Library 
to purchase a sample section of Art Metal book stack 
for a comparatively small price. Valuable gifts of 
books have been received, probably one-half of the total 
collection having been donated by interested friends. 
At present the Library is. located in an upper room of 
the village hotel, and is opened three afternoons of 
each week, with Airs. Josephine G. Loomis acting as 
librarian. The Library contains about 1,300 volumes, 
and has nearly 400 book borrowers, with an annual 
circulation of about 3,000 volumes, in a community and 
countrvside that would otherwise be without library 
privileges. The value of the library in Ashville is due 
in a large measure to the ability and enthusiasm of the 
president of its board, Earle W. Gage. 

Falconer Free Library— This was organized on May 
19, 1913, through the efforts of the local chapter, Chau- 
tauqua Literary Scientilic Circle, and received its char- 
ter from the State Regents. A building and lot were 
fully paid for by popular subscription in 1919. The 
Library is supported by a village tax of $300 annually. 
The Falconer Library will be housed eventually in the 
proposed community building. At present the Library 
has about 2,500 volumes, and is open to the public three 
days a week, averaging a circulation daily of 60 volumes. 
Mrs. Kate Davis acts as librarian, assisted by ladies of 
the village. Three remaining days of the week, Mrs. 
Davis serves at the library of the high school. 

The Fluvanna Free Library — The Fluvanna Girls' 
Club, the object of which was study and self-improve- 
ment, was organized under the direction of Mrs. Bertha 
S. Phillips, on February 3rd, 1912. The club grew and 
flourished, and in September, 1914, at the suggestion 
of Mrs. Phillips, who was leaving to make her home in 
the west, a meeting of the people of the vicinity was 
called for the purpose of forming a Library Associa- 
tion. At this meeting, twenty men and women signified 
their interest by agreeing to become members of the 
association. Books were also asked for, and quite a 
number received at this time. On September 28th a 
meeting was held at the home of G. E. Bentley. Five 
trustees were elected, with officers as follows : Mrs. 
Hetty Sherwin, president ; Edwin Sample, vice-presi- 
dent': Mary Camp, secretary; Fred Strunk, treasurer; 
Jay Chapin, trustee. 

The first monev contributed for the library was given 
by the Girls' Club. They gave $30 for a book fund and 
$17 for supplies, besides a small bookcase and table. 



With these gifts and the membership fees of the twenty 
associate members, the trustees were able to set aside 
at once $45 for new books. This amount was duplicated 
by the State, as is customary for free libraries, and the 
first books, fifty-eight adult and thirty-three children's 
books, were purchased. 

On November 19th, 1914, the Regents of the Uni- 
versity of the State of New York granted the library 
a provisional charter. The work of the trustees now 
began in earnest as funds had to be raised to equip the 
library. A donation of boards was asked for, and 
enough were given to make three stacks. These were 
built without charge, and this solved the problem of 
shelving for a time. 

The library is established in the Fluvanna school hall. 
It is open to the public every Friday afternoon from one 
o'clock to four. The first year it was kept open, Miss 
Anna Sondell volunteered her services as librarian. The 
library is supported by the membership fees of the 
Association and money raised by entertainments of 
various kinds. On November 28, 1916, the Library was 
registered as the Fluvanna Free Library, by a vote of 
the Board of Regents. In 1917 the trustees, acting for 
the Association, purchased a well situated lot 54 by 100 
feet, upon which it is hoped a library building may be 
erected in the not far distant future. 

In March, 1919, a campaign was conducted to obtain 
new members. The work was done by the Girls' Club, 
and a thorough canvass made with the gratifying result 
that 275 additional members were secured and $293 in 
membership fees and gifts. This enabled the trustees to 
make the final payment on the lot, set aside $210 as a 
nucleus for a permanent fund in the bank, besides fur- 
nishing $50 for new books. In addition to the books 
owned by the library, the traveling libraries provided 
by the State are used. The library opened with 214 
volumes, 151 adult and 63 juvenile works. The number 
circulated in the first year was 227. In the five years 
of the library's existence the interest felt in it has in- 
creased steadily. At the close of its fifth year it has a 
total of 1,350 books, and in 1918 the number circulated 
was 1,162. 

Chautauqua also has a small library used by its peo- 
ple and by the summer library-training class during the 
season of its study. There are excellent libraries con- 
nected with the high schools of the county, seventeen in 
number, and other schools have book collections to some 
extent. 



SOME MEN AND WOMEN WRITERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 
By Mrs. Olive R. Schlender. 



Chautauqua county writers seem to have invaded 
nearly all realms of literature— History, Fiction, Essay 
and Poetry— all have their quota of contributors. I 
failed to find a dramatist, but hope in my future search- 
ings one may be revealed. The wonderful hardy spirit 
of the pioneer was never beaten or broken in the early 
struggles for a foothold in this country, but sang and 
spoke through the cold icebound winters and the busy 
summers. Their diaries and letters formed a nucleus for 
our histories, and there are many rare and interesting 
documents which testify to the early literary tastes and 
talents of the founders of our county. 

Almost the first mention found of a writer in Chau- 
tauqua county is in 1820. James H. Price, a lawyer 
practising in Jamestown, contributed poems to the 
"Eagle," a newspaper edited by Robert Curtis. Two 



)f his poems are given in the county history — "Ode to 
1 Grasshopper," and a hymn. I quote one verse of the 



"Be calm, ye winds; ve floods that roar, 
With gentlest music, kiss the shore; 
Ye storms by winter whirled 
Smooth every harsh discordant sound 
And whisper as ye travel round 
A Savior of the World." 

He collected his verse and prose and published it in a 
small volume at about that time. One history gives 
the first book as "A Contrast Between Christianity and 
Calvinism," by Rev. Brown, in 1824. 

Chautauqua county has contributed much to the liter- 
ature of education, and one of the first text-book writ- 
ers of the country was Rev. Lewis A. Todd, also of 



SOME MEN AND WOMEN WRITERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



291 



Jamestown. In 1824 he produced a work on Arithmetic, 
and one on Grammar. Both very superior for the time. 
The hardships and burdens of pioneer life could 
have not weighed very heavily on one, Oliver Barbour, 
for he has to his credit no less than 140 volumes on law. 
He attended Fredonia Academy in 1821, and practised 
law in that place. His "Chancery Practise" and 
"Treatise on Criminal Law" are probably his most 
valuable works. 

One of the first novels, if not the first, written by a 
Chautauquan, was by a Fredonia school-teacher, Orphia 
Turner Hammond, entitled "Love versus Fascination." 
The book mentions many characters of local fame. On 
the shelves of a dear "Olde Book Shoppe," so fascinat- 
ing and so unusual that one almost expects to rub 
shoulders with Christopher Morley poring over some 
rare old edition, presided over by a kindly gentleman, 
with an unconventional science of salesmanship but with 
a marvellous fund of delicious reminiscences, you may 
find collection of these books by early Chautauqua coun- 
ty writers. There is a story dealing with Indian tradi- 
tions, "Ida Norton," by the Rev. H. H. Moore, a Metho- 
dist minister; a volume of story sermons by the Rev. 
E. P. Adams, of Dunkirk, written for his daughter; 
and Eber M. Pettit, of Fredonia, in a group of sketches 
told of the activities of the underground railway in 
this region. There are many graphically told stories of 
narrow escapes and thrilling flights. One of the very 
rarest books of this period is "The History of the 30 
Days Campaign of the 68th Regiment," by Silas W. 
Lewis. This is a compilation of diaries written by the 
men of the regiment, and gives a vivid impression of 
those turbulent times. 

There is a little book of verse called "Thoughts," by 
Julia Doolittle ; a collection of essays and addresses by 
Oscar Johnson ; and other equally interesting volumes. 
The collection was a labor of love, and the people of 
the county should be most sincerely grateful to the 
thoughtful connoisseur of our local literature. , 

In the "Geneological Sketch of the Andrew Putnam 
Family" I found this reference, "Worthy Putnam was 
appointed Supt. of Schools of Chautauqua County. He 
had a practical knowledge of elocution and oratory, and 
taught and lectured and gave readings. He published a 
book in 1854 entitled, 'The Science and Art of Elocu- 
tion and Oratory,' which became sufficiently popular 
to have a second edition." 

Grace Greenwood (Sara Jane Clark Lippincott) was 
born in Fredonia, and educated in the local Academy. 
The "Fredonia Censor" was the first publication to 
recognize her literary gifts. I was told that at one time 
she conducted a select private school in that place. 

Possibly one of the best known authors which we 
claim as our own is Judge Tourgee. Though not a 
native Chautauquan, he made his home for some years 
in Mayville, and much of his writing was done there. 
Besides his reputation as a writer, he held an enviable 
position as a lawyer of prominence. His group of books 
is well known to us, and to most readers of twenty or 
thirty years ago. His introduction to "Hot Plowshares" 
gives his aim and purpose clearly and distinctly. He 
says, "Many years ago the author conceived the idea 
that he might aid some of the fellow countrymen and 
countrywomen to a'juster comprehension of these things 
by a series of works which should give in the form of 
fictitious narrative the effect of these distinct and con- 
trasted civilizations upon various types of character and 
during specific periods of the great transition." Of 
course, "Button's Inn" is particularly interesting to us 
because of the location of the scene of action. His 



best known books are: "Hot Plowshares," "Figs and 
lhistles," "A Royal Gentleman," "A Fool's Errand" 
and 'Bricks Without Straw." 

One of the first books on manual training was by 
Samuel G. Love, of Jamestown, called "Industrial 
h-ducation. I was told that Miss Mary Willard assisted 
m the work. Dr. Berthat Stoneman has written a book 
on South African botany which is wonderfully illus- 
trated, and now in its second edition. Mrs. Susan 
Blodget Pulver, of Jamestown, wrote a small volume 
called "The Legends of Chautauqua," about fifteen years 
ago. 

In the Centennial History of our county is this 
tribute to Mr. Johnson, whose book is mentioned as 
being in Mr. Leworthy's collection : "There is no writer 
of merit that so entirely belongs to our county or in 
whose literary excellence we may take a more just pride 
than Oscar W. Johnson. He is the author of many 
essays and addresses, and for clearness of expression 
and purity of style he has no superior." 

The name "Harry Castleman" was as familiar to the 
twelve year old boy of twenty or twenty-five years ago 
as Alger and Oliver Optic to the average boy reader of 
today. Castleman was the pseudonym for Charles Fos- 
dick. the son of John Fosdick, principal of the Westfield 
schools. "Harry Castleman" was a hero to hundreds of 
boys, and every mail brought many letters from his 
youthful admirers. Other residents say that for in- 
spiration he would take long walks, and "then while the 
spirit was on him, he would remain in seclusion for days 
until the book was finished. "Frank on a Gun Boat" 
was particularly popular with his young clientele. 

Mrs. E. M. H. Edwards was a well known figure in 
Western New York newspaper work and particularly in 
Dunkirk, until her death a few years ago. She was the 
author of the "Life of Commander William Barker 
Cushing." 

The clergy of Chautauqua county have among their 
members many men who wield a forceful pen, and 
among them is Dr. C. E. Smith, of Fredonia, who wrote 
"The Baptism of Fire," and "The World Lighted." Dr. 
Smith is a profound student and writer on theological 
subjects. 

I found two books by Albert Osborne, of Mayville — 
"Picture Towns of Europe," and "Finding the Worth- 
while in Europe;" both are very readable and well 
illustrated. The latter is a plea for the tourist to for- 
sake the beaten path of the Beadeker in Europe, to be 
unhampered by a sense of duty, rather than visit places 
he thinks he ought to see. 

Edith Sessions Tupper is a descendant of an old 
family of Panama. She has several books to her 
credit, possibly the best known being "Hearts Triumph- 
ant." 

The men and women of our county have always been 
keenly interested in local history. I think there is here 
a stronger feeling, a more intense love for the past, a 
greater reverence for those who made our country's 
history, than is often manifested in other localities. Al- 
most every part of the county has contributed its his- 
torian. Loving hands have gathered together scattered 
letters and diaries, reminiscences and anecdotes, to pre- 
serve them for the inspiration and instruction of the 
next generation. There are many names that well be- 
long with Chautauqua county history, and the men 
whose efforts have preserved its annals are deserving 
of our deepest gratitude and reverence— such names as 
Hon. Obed Edson, Daniel Parker, Judge Foote, Dr 
Taylor, Dr. Rogers, Phin Miller, E. F. Warren, Dr. 
Hazeltine, Andrew Young, Dr. Henderson, Judge Bug- 



292 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



bee, Capt. Newell Cheney, and many more — some of 
them mentioned elsewhere in this paper, and others, no 
doubt, equally important but unknown to the writer. 

Many of more or less distinction in the literary world 
have lived among us for a time. Horace Greeley spent 
some years in Jamestown and Fredonia, and mentions 
both places in his reminiscences. Mark Twain was a 
notable guest of friends and relatives in Fredonia at 
different times. "Pansy," a fragrant memory of our 
girlhood days, with her sweet unsophisticated stories, 
too much so for our blase daughters of today, was a 
•summer resident of Chautauqua. 

William B. Howland lived at some time, I believe, in 
Ellington ; he was the founder and publisher of "Out- 
ing," and at different times president of the "Outlook" 
and "Independent," and also a trustee of Chautauqua. 
It was through Mr. Howland's policy that the "Outlook" 
broadened from a strictly religious publication to its 
present status of a magazine of current topics and 
events. At the time of his death he was president of 
the "Independent." The tributes to Mr. Howland's 
memory from the great, all over the earth, attest to his 
high position in the editorial world. One writer speaks 
of him as the best loved publisher in New York. 

One of the most notable men to live among us for a 
time was Jacob Riis. For some time he was in James- 
town, with the family of Nicholas Romer. Mrs. Romer 
and her daughter live now in Dunkirk, and it is through 
the kindness" of Miss Romer that I have the following 
information and the letter incidentally mentions an- 
other writer. 

My dear Mrs. Schlender: — My father, always ready to 
lend a helping hand to everybody, probably offered 
our home to Mr. Riis. He had a good jolly time while 
he was there. About a score of years after he came 
to Buffalo to lecture and to renew his acquaintance 
with the old haunts. In "The Making of an American." 
Mr. Riis mentions a young countryman of his by the 
name of Anton B. Ronne, a young man about the same 
age as Mr. Riis, and of whom he became very fond of. 
I do not know how long Mr. Ronne resided in James- 
town, but it was a little longer than Mr. Riis. Mr. Riis 
speaks of Mr. Ronne as being serious-minded. Indeed, 
a more marked contrast could scarcely be found than 
between the dispositions of these two men. The one 
was almost a pessimist, while the other was a great 
optimist, the bright spots of life standing out most 
conspicuously. Thev were both destined to become 
writers of note. Mr. Ronne settled in Hartford and be- 
came deeply interested in labor problems and sociologi- 
cal questions. He wrote several articles which were 
published in the "Popular Science Monthly," and was 
a frequent contributor to the Hartford newspapers. 
Mr. Ronne prepared an essay on Herbert Spencer's 
"Svnthetic Philosophy," not, however, designed for 
publication. A friend of his who was interested in 
hearing it read, obtained a copy to send to Mr. Spen- 
cer and another for publication in the "Hartford Daily 
Times." The friend, Mr. Albert H. Walker, said: "It 
must be real satisfaction to Mr. Spencer in his old age 
and retirement to receive evidence that his life work 
is being appreciated among the people as well as 
among the scholars of the United States. He is prob- 
ably the nmst intellectual man now living on this plan- 
et 'and it must be a just satisfaction to Mr. Ronne to 
have received his attention and his approval." 

The information concerning Mr. Riis I have taken 
from a little pamphlet I happened to have. It does not 
give a complete list of Mr. Riis' works, for it was writ- 
ten several years ago. 

Sincerely yours. 

JENNIE C. ROMER. 

Jacob Riis was one of the most picturesque and com- 
pelling figures in American literature ten years ago. 
He can be compared very truly to Theodore Roosevelt, 
his lifelong friend and admirer. The two were intensely 
sympathetic. Mr. Roosevelt said of him, "He and I 
look at life and its problems from substantially the 
same standpoint. Our ideals and principles and purposes 
and our beliefs as to the methods necessary to realize 



them were alike." He was one of the greatest reformers 
America ever had. He fought almost singlehanded 
against the politicians and landlords of New York City, 
backed by all the power of selfishness and graft, and 
he stuck to it until he won, until he had wiped out a 
dozen blocks of the worst tenements in the city. The 
story is recorded in "The Making of an American"— 
one of the most affecting things in recent American 
literature. 

Charles M. Dow, of Jamestown, has found time in his 
busy and useful life to record the results of his years 
of study and research. Besides many articles in "Out- 
look" and "Review of Reviews," he has written a history 
of "100 Years of Finance and Commerce in Chautauqua 
County," and "A History of the State Reservation at 
Niagara." In the introduction to the lastmentioned book, 
Mr. William B. Howland says, "The History of the 
State Reservation at Niagara is recited in these pages 
by a man who has for fifteen years given his great 
ability to the work of opening to the whole world under 
agreeable conditions and without the sordid influence 
of commercialism, the stupendous natural wonders of 
Niagara Falls." Mr. Dow has just completed a very 
exhaustive "Bibliography and Anthology of Niagara 
Falls." Mrs. Dow has written some very graceful, 
fanciful Indian legends of Chautauqua Lake. 

There are many men and women who write much and 
well for magazines and periodicals. There is not time 
to go into detail about their work or to even mention 
them all; but Chautauqua county may be proud of its 
long list of literary folk. Just a few of them: James 
Parker Hall, dean of the Chicago Law School ; Willis 
R. Whitney, an authority on scientific subjects, principal- 
ly chemistry ; Miss Mary Hazeltine has contributed to 
library periodicals. Also Hon. Benj. Dean, Lynn Lew 
Sprague, Ernest Cawcroft, Dr. Palmer, Daniel Post, 
Mary R. Willard, Lewis McKinstry, Miss Grace R. Mc- 
Kinstry, Mary Barrett Howard, William S. Rann. 

In "The Atlantic Monthly" of November, 1918, and 
February, 1919, appear two stories written by Hascal 
Avery, a former resident of Forestville, now a lawyer 
of New York City. "Caveat Emptor" is the story of the 
bartering and trading of Silas Ball's old horse, "Dob- 
bin," in and about Forestport. Forestport is Forestville, 
and Pompton is Pom fret or Fredonia. The story is well 
remembered by local raconteurs. "A Change of Venue" 
takes place also in the Arkwright Hills, and character- 
izes Fredonia thus : "It is now necessary to explain that 
Pompton was an attractive place for widows and old 
maids, and that its chief business enterprise was a State 
Normal School." Mr. Avery has the gift of being a 
natural story teller. 

Forest Crissey was born in Stockton, and received 
training for his literary achievements with the "Chicago 
Times" and "Chicago Post." He has contributed to 
"Country Gentleman," "Harpers" and "Saturday Even- 
ing Post." His short story. "The Pretender," in "Har- 
pers," is a splendid delineation of boy character, and his 
book, "Country Boy," shows a keen understanding of 
things youthful. Of late Mr. Crissey's writings have 
taken a more serious trend. His articles in the "Satur- 
day Evening Post" show an understanding grasp of 
world problems. "White Lights and Lean Larder," in 
a recent number, was especially good, also "Our Soviet 
Sleeping Sickness," and "Larger Leisure." He is also 
a regular contributor to "Collier's Weekly." Mr. Crissey 
has the faculty of presenting facts interestingly and 
forcefully. He is also the author of "In Thompson's 
Woods;" "Tattlings of a Retired Politician;" "The 
Story of Foods." He wrote the poem, "Chautauqua 
County," which prefaces our "Centennial History." Mr. 



SOME MEN AND WOMEN WRITERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



Crissey's "The Story of Foods" is, I believe, unique, 
and I want to quote from its introduction. "The book 
is a vivid presentation of a subject of daily interest 
to every pupil and teacher in school, as well as to every 
other member of the household and community. Mr. 
Crissey's book has an important function to perform 
in the school, but it also deserves a place as a working 
handbook in the home, for it holds a rich fund of prac- 
tical information." Let me mention some of the chap- 
ter headings : "The World's Commerce in Meats," 
"Vegetable Oils," "The Story of the Salmon," "Tea, 
The World's Social Drink," "What the Wholesaler 
Does," "What the Retailer Does." 

One of the great men who has achieved fame as a 
writer, a former resident of our county, is Richard 
Ely, row head of the Department of Economics of the 
University of Wisconsin. Mr. Ely has an international 
reputation as an authority upon political economy, and 
is probably the best known writer on that subject. 
Among his later books are "The World War," and 
"Leadership in a Democracy." At the close of the war 
he was decorated by the French government in recogni- 
tion of his splendid services in organization work in the 
State of Wisconsin. 

Jean Webster (Mrs. Glenn Ford McKinney) is es- 
sentially a Chautauqua county product, and has the dis- 
tinction of being the author of at least two best sellers. 
Her "Patty" stories gave her some measure of fame, 
but it remained to "Daddy Long Legs" and "Dear 
Enemy" to give her the position in the front rank of 
story tellers. All are familiar with the stories — the two 
last have the merit of being written for a purpose. Jean 
Webster had a message and she put it across. "Dear 
Enemy" is perhaps the best book she has written. There 
is not alone fun in the book, there is solid stuff of life, 
with the young society woman suddenly placed at the 
head of the orphan asylum, a drear gray place, full of 
pasty faced small persons in gingham, oppressed by 
dull rules and bad food. The story is told in drear, sad, 
quaint funny letters, and one wouldn't want it told in 
any other way. 

Fredonia has another woman writer of whom it is 
justly proud, Grace Richmond. The "Ladies' Home 
Journal" published her first stories in 1891. Since then 
she has written many others, and about twenty books. 
Her "Juliet" stories endeared her to the younger read- 
ers, and she may well be classed as one of the very 
finest story writers of today. She has, more than most 
of her contemporaries, the gift for disclosing the 
simplest and deepest feelings of men and women every- 
where in just those words which are at the back of our 
heads and hardly ever on our lips. They are the words 
we ache to utter, but never quite bring ourselves to say. 
Her humor is so natural, especially in her stories of the 
newly married. She has created several types ; "Red 
Pepper Burns" is the best known. We like Mrs. Rich- 
mond because we are all emotional creatures and she 
reflects our emotions for us. "On Christmas Day in 
the Morning" is a tiny book in size, but it is a world- 
wide sermon, a sermon without being preachy, too. 

The newspapers of the county have discovered and 
helped develop many men; among them, George V. H. 
Philpot, now known as George V. Hobart. While in 
Jamestown he petitioned the county court of Chautauqua 
county to allow him to abandon his surname and be 
known as George V. Hobart, the latter being his moth- 
er's name. The petition was drawn by Marvin Smith, 
a brilliant lawyer, twenty-five or thirty years ago, and 
it is often quoted as an example of legal wit. Those 
who remember Mr. Hobart when he was a telegraph 
operator taking the United Press reports for the "James- 



town Morning News," say that he was a dreamer, and 
of little use in practical work, often declaring the lines 
out of order, so as not to be disturbed in his own more 
congenial work of writing and drawing. After leaving 
Jamestown he did special work with other papers, and 
finally drifted to New York. My informant says he 
wrote several light operas with touches of Chautauqua 
county in them, and later developed his funny page in 
colors for the newspaper, in which he has achieved great 
success, and is most prosperous. 

John R. Spears was the publisher of a newspaper in 
Sliver Creek many years ago, leaving that place for New 
York, and later being on the "New York Sun." Mr. 
Spears is the author of the "History of the United 
States Navy," which is authority above any other books 
on that subject. Ray Spears, his son, is a writer of 
stories of adventures for such magazines as "Argosy." 

Another newspaper man who ranked among the fore- 
most in the profession was the late Don Martin, of 
Silver Creek. Mr. Martin began his career with the 
papers of Buffalo, going from there to the "New York 
American" and later to the "Herald," where he re- 
mained twenty years. In the November "American" is 
an article telling of his almost uncanny predictions of 
presidential elections and incidentally giving some in- 
teresting sidelights on his personality. The author says, 
"A better companion on the wait-over at the trolley 
junction would be difficult to find. I have known Don 
for fifteen years and don't know whether he is a Demo- 
crat or a Republican. He is like the man who, speaking 
of Eternity, said he had friends in both places. But 
he does get vehement when the question of American- 
ism is touched upon, and he can cry 'traitor' and 'sedi- 
tion' as loudly as the best of them when he hears some 
one say Uncle Sam isn't the same invincible old chap 
he was in former historic periods." The article goes on 
to tell of Mr. Martin's successful foretelling of presi- 
dential election results for the past fourteen years. The 
newspapers and magazines paid wonderful tributes to 
his memory at the time of his death, all attesting to the 
high regard in which he was held. 

One of our younger writers who has won distinction 
is Harold Stearns, of Dunkirk. Mr. Stearns is a con- 
tributor of verse to such high class poetry magazine as 
"Bellman" and "Contemporary Verse," as well as "Bos- 
ton Transcript," New York "Tribune" and "Sun." A 
collection of his poems has been presented in book 
form called "Interludes," and he is now at work on an 
"Anthology of Andover Verse." He is an instructor 
at Andover, and is a member of the exclusive Authors 
Club of Boston, which numbers among its members 
such celebrities as Amy Lowell and Robert Frost. 

As we know, our county has a long list of illustrious 
men and women in the literary world that she can claim 
as her own, but there is no one to whom we point with 
greater pride than the world-famous war-correspondent, 
author and lecturer, Mr. Frederick Palmer. It would 
be impossible in the short space allotted to adequately 
review Mr. Palmer's activities. To quote from a maga- 
zine article : 

"The man who campaigns year in and year out, as a 
profession and not as an occasional lark, has no time 
to play to the grand-stand. Frederick Palmer is one 
of these. He is a war-correspondent because he likes 
it and because he knows the game. Here are a few 
of his assignments covering a relatively short time. 
The First Rush to the Klondike, the Greek War, the 
Philippines, on the Olympia with Dewey, back to the 
Philippines, with the Allied Columns to Peking, from 
China to Korea, to Europe over the Trans-Siberian 
Railway, to Panama, to Kiel. Europe, with Special 
Work in Paris and Rome; to the Balkans. Russo-Japa- 
nese War. We know that since then he has been cor- 
respondingly busy. During the trouble in Tien Tsin 



294 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



they tell of his covering two thousand miles in a week, 
l>v land and water, in many kinds of cratt, to get his 
story in the earliest mail. Such feats as these in the 
dav's work preach the fact that added to the gift of 
the ability to write a good descriptive story, Mr. Pal- 
mer possesses initiative and daring." 

Besides his newspaper work, he has been a steady con- 
tributor to the magazines of late, principally "Collier's." 
Among his best known articles are : "England's Man of 
Common Sense," "In the Canadian Trenches," "On the 
Belgian Bread-line," "Smiles among Ruins," and "Tak- 
ing it out of the Tourist." The last is a keen scathing 
indictment of the traveller who is so gullible as to 
imagine he is making an impression by his lavish ex- 
penditure of money; the final sentence, is "bear in mind 
that the American who spends his money like a fool, 
will be considered nothing else by the members of the 
guild who greet his liberality with ingratiating smiles." 

Mr. Palmer has written many books : "Going to War 



in Green," "The Ways of the Service," "Central An 
and Its Problems," "My Year of the War," "My Sec- 
ond Year of the War," and some fiction: "Over the 
Pass," "The Last Shot," "Our Greatest Battle." There is 
in his novels more idealism than one expects from the 
hardheaded newspaper correspondent. But Mr. Palmer 
combines those qualities that we knew too in Richard 
Harding Davis, the quality of the idealist and the seer 
of visions with that of the practical man of action. 

When this paper was first suggested, it was the idea 
to include in it only the distinguished writers of our 
county — those men and women who had written books 
of importance — but later it was decided to mention as 
many others as possible — those, perhaps, who were not 
so prominent, and the list is a long one, and Chautauqua 
county can feel that she has contributed no mean share 
to the literature of the country. 



CONSERVATION OF FISH AND GAME. 
By Richard H. Heppell. 



The early history of Chautauqua seems a romance 
when read by the present younger generation, and it 
seems difficult for it to realize the stern life of the early 
settlers and the obstacles which they faced and overcame. 

Here was a section of country in its virgin simplicity 
and grandeur; a land of hills and valleys; level tracts 
of high and low altitudes covered with a wealth of forest 
and dotted with beautiful lakes and streams. It was 
situated on the south-east shore of the inland sea called 
"Conti" by the Indians, and "Lake Erie" by the white 
settlers. Early historians assure us that at that period 
buffalo, deer, bear and other animals in abundance roam- 
ed the county; birds of numerous varieties found here 
ideal conditions for nesting and feeding, and fish of 
many species abounded in the lakes and streams. The 
climate was of unusual variety, stern and rugged easter- 
ly of the range of hills during the winter months, and 
temperate in summer. Along the shore of the lake it 
was mild and windy during the winter, but also mild and 
pleasant during the summer, and delightful during the 
early fall. It was so tempered by the water of the in- 
land sea that late spring and early fall frosts were rare, 
a prolonged favorable condition for all life, a charm 
not found in other parts of the new country. It is no 
wonder the red men coveted this territory and waged 
fierce war for possession, later to look with disfavor 
on the advent of the white man whose mode of life 
was not theirs and whose first act was to fell the timber 
and clear the land, thus driving away the buffalo, deer 
and other animals that had furnished food and sport 
for the Indians from time immemorial. 

Of course man must live and the congested humanity 
of Europe having learned of a new continent rich in all 
of nature's endowments had started a pilgrimage toward 
the west. They were to satisfy a great yearning to pos- 
sess land, and to experience liberty hitherto unknown. 
History furnishes the story of their arrival and their 
conquest of the red man, the wild animals and the 
forests; the building of homes, their forming of ham- 
lets, these in time to grow to villages and cities. It 
may be asked what this has to do with the conservation 
in Chautauqua county. Conservation is a very broad 
subject, though many think of it only in the familiar 
term as applies to forests, foods and to fish and game, 
subjects of present day use, and also the now widely dis- 
cussed conservation of health. In fact, the word seems 
to have taken possession of the people, and an awakening 



of conscience is spreading over the land, as education 
in the many forms of conservation is being furthered. 
The answer is the happiness, prosperity and life itself 
of the present and coming generations. 

The early settlers felled the brush and trees so they 
might clear the land and plant grain and other crops on 
which to keep life. The timber and brush were heaped 
in huge piles and burned as there was no use for them. 
This indeed seemed needful and necessity knew no law. 
With the great increase of immigration and subsequent 
natural increase of population, mercantile industry de- 
veloped. Lumber was needed for the building of homes 
and factories, and saw mills flourished throughout the 
land. Timber seemed so plentiful as to be almost in- 
exhaustible. As a result only the best was in demand, 
the remainder being burned or left to decay. So the 
history of waste started with a people striving for ex- 
istence and waste has continued through the methods 
employed by the lumber interests to the present. The 
result was soon apparent to those of foresight. Di- 
minished forests afforded but little conservation of the 
winter's snow and spring and fall rains. Springs "dried 
up" and streams diminished, and man continued to 
slaughter the wild animals, good and bad alike. 

From James Macauley's volume, "The Natural, Statis- 
tical and Civil History of the State of New York," 
under date of 1829, under the heading "Zoology," the 
following is quoted: 

The black moose is the largest quadruped found in 
our State. It inhabits the extensive forests lying be- 
tween the Mi. hawk and the St. Lawrence rivers and 
lakes Champlain and Ontario. In the summer the 
moose go in families. In winter they congregate to 
the number of twenty or thirty. They choose the cold- 
nut places, and when the snow is deep, they form a kind 
of yard, consisting of several acres, in which they con- 
stantly trample, or beat down the snow that they 
mav more easily range around. The hunting of this 
animal is with some a favorite amusement. 

The elk, at present, inhabits the forests of Alle- 
ghany, Cattaraugus and Chatauque. It is very swift 
on foot, and often escapes the hunter. When hard 
pressed, it plunges into rivers and lakes, and either 
swims across, or keeps in the water till its pursuers 
abandon the chase. Its meat is highly relished by 

The deer originally inhabited all the counties in the 
State, but at present, it is chiefly confined to the north- 
ern and western forests. The hunters, in the new set- 
tlements, bordering the forests, kill great numbers 
every vear. In half a century, very few, if any, will 
remain. None are now to be seen in the old settle- 



CONSERVATION OF FISH AND GAME 



295 



merits, some on Long Island excepted. Half a century 
ago they were to be seen in herds within a mile or 
two of the Mohawk river; but now there are none. In 
1762, these animals were so numerous in Queen's 
and Suffolk counties that they were taken in pits. 
The legislature, in December, the same year, passed 
a law to prevent taking them in this way. 

This reads like a dream, as our largest wild animal 
today is the red fox, whose chief ambition is to eat the 
few grouse man has left. Thus has the large game be- 
come extinct in the county, and the fish have not been 
spared. Lack of forest protection has resulted in great- 
ly diminished streams, whose water in summer soon 
becomes too warm for the brook trout, and man's in- 
difference to the welfare of others, not to mention the 
fish, has allowed municipal and other sewage to pollute 
the waters which should have been kept pure. Streams 
that abounded in bass, pickerel, pike or trout, now 
contain mullett, suckers, horndace and chubs. 

Lake Erie was famous for black bass, pike, trout, 
white fish and sturgeon, but the wasteful methods of 
the early commercial fishermen were about equal to 
those of the lumbermen. "Pound" and "trap" nets, set 
on reefs, frequented by bass and sturgeon in spawning 
time, took everything large and small. Sturgeon were 
in demand for the eggs, which were shipped in quanti- 
ties to the East, where they were put up in cans and 
sold for "Russian Caviar." The carcass was usually 
discarded, being thought of little value for food, and 
thousands of tons of sturgeon were used for fertilizer 
or were discarded. The few who realized the good 
quality of sturgeon meat profited however, as the fisher- 
men of 1876, who gladly accepted twenty-five to fifty 
cents for choice fish weighing thirty to forty pounds. 
The "gill" nets were devised to stretch across the cur- 
rents to catch the deeper water fish, and a thriving busi- 
ness was soon established, most of the catch of this 
vicinity being shipped from Dunkirk and Westfield. 
The catch started as soon as the ice began moving down 
the lake, the first catch being white fish. The meat is 
prime at this time. Next came blue and grey pike 
(perch pike), then "ciscoes," which had little value, and 
later in the fall came the second catch of pike. 

The ruthless catching of fish at spawning time and 
the indiscriminate and wasteful methods of net fishing 
aroused the indignation of the real sportsman, as the 
supply became greatly diminished as the fishing business 
increased. Sportsmen met and organized fish and game 
clubs, and petitions were sent to the legislature urging 
the passage of more stringent laws to regulate the 
catching of fish and taking and killing of game in the 
county. Later the Commission of Fisheries was created 
(now the Conservation Commission with greater field 
and powers), and an effort was made to propagate and 
protect the wild life. Small appropriations made by the 
legislature allowed only a limited amount of work to 
be done by the Commission, probably as the impression 
of the general public was that the sportsmen only were 
benefited. Today we more fully realize the need of 
"out-of-door" recreation, to maintain healthful condi- 
tions of body and mind. 

The few game wardens and protectors appointed were 
soon in great demand and frequent visits were made to 
Chautauqua county. Thousands of dollars worth of 
"pound" and "trap" nets were seized and destroyed, 
and other violators of the game laws apprehended and 
punished. 

It is related that Dr. Peter Wilson, an educated 
Seneca Chief, communicated to O. H. Marshall, Esq., 
the following Seneca tradition : 



lake, passed into the lake, and while paddling through 
it caught a fish, of a kind with which they were not 
familiar, and they threw it in the bottom of their 
canoe. Reaching the head of the lake, they mad" a 
portage across to the Chautauqua Creek, then swollen 
with the spring freshets. Descending the creek to 
Lake Erie, they found, to their astonishment, the fish 
still alive. They threw it into the lake and it disap- 
peared. In process of time the same fish appeared 
abundantly in the lake, having never been caught in it 
before. They concluded ihev all sprang from the Chau- 
tauqua progenitor, and hence they named the lake "Ga- 
ja-dah-gwah," compounded of two Seneca words, "Ga- 
jah," 'fish,' and "Ga-dah-wah," 'taken out.' In pro- 
cess of time the word became contracted into "Jad- 
dah-gwah;' the prefix Ga being dropped as is often the 
ease. 

Other authorities give other versions ; however, many 
of the older authorities hold to the fish legend and 
there is reason to believe that the fish referred to was 
the mascollonge or muskallonge, on account of its lively 
habits, large size and general game qualities that ap- 
pealed to the early sportsmen and continues to draw the 
Isaac Waltons to the lakes of our county. These war- 
riors of the water began to diminish in number, due 
largely to the many improper methods employed to take 
them, and the anglers began to fear that the species 
would soon be exterminated. It is most fortunate that 
the efforts of Mr. Seth Green and Mr. Eleazer Green 
of Jamestown, N. Y„ were attracted at this time tothe 
artificial propagation of the muskallonge, and it is a 
pleasure to submit the series of correspondence, furnish- 
ed through the efforts and courtesy of Mr. Grant E. 
Winchester, that passed on the subject and finally re- 
sulted in the erection and maintenance of the present 
hatchery at Bemus Point. 

Bemus Point. N. T., June 22, 1920. 
Mr. R. H. Heppell. 

Dunkirk. N. T. , , . 

Dear Mr. Heppell: At last I have succeeded in get- 
ting nearly a full record of muskallonge work done at 
Chautauqua Lake of which I am inclosing on separate 

e< As you will note I am asking that Mr. Green's let- 
ters he returned to me. Frank Cheney took charge 
of the work after 1888 for two or three years and he 
has Inst his records, but tells me that he planted from 
1 tn 2 nun, 000 each year. Frank Redband of Caledonia, 
N Y was here one or two vears, of which I have no 
record. Randall R. Brown took charge about 1894. He 
had no record until 1896. Brown was foreman from 
1895 to 1910. The first hatching, or nearly all in fact, 
until the butchery was built, was done in boxes in the 
lake. In 189S the first eggs were hatched in the hatch- 
ing iars, with the sky for a roof, where the hatchery 
now' stands, and this was continued for about five 
years, when the present hatchery was erected in 1903. 

In 1895 I did mv first work for the Fish Commission 
at Chautauqua Lake. In 1899 I went to the Adiron- 
dack as for. -man of the Saranae Inn Hatchery. I re- 
ma iimd there until 1907. when I was transferred to 
the Hudson River at Linlithgo. N. Y.. where a new 

hatcherv and ponds were .-1 ted for the "had and bass 

propagating I remained there until July 11. 1910, 
when I was again transferred to Chautauqua Hatchery, 
Bemus Point, N. Y., to the place of beginning. 

I trust this report will coyer what you want. If 
anything is lacking, let me know and I will furnish 
such as I am able to. 

e <3RANT K. WINCHESTER, Foreman. 

Chautauqua Fish Hatchery, Bemus Point, N. Y., June 

22. 1920. Report of Muskallonge Fry planted in 

Chautauqua Lake. . . . , , . 

I can only give estimate of number batched and 

planted from 1SS7 or 18S8, when the first fry were 

hatched to 1896, as I am unable to get any record. 

Date ^'o. Fr v. 

1888 to 1896 (estimate) 'M™ ,'"™ 

!806 1.000. 000 

1007 ' ' ' 1.815.000 

Isqs • 900.000 

io q . . 3,055.000 

iqob '.'.'.'.'.'.. 3.290.000 

i9oi :::::: 2,370,000 



296 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



1905 
1906 
1907 



inn; 

1917 
1918 



1.090.000 

2.3S2.6O0 
957,100 
1.000,001) 
2,402.3011 
2.500.000 
1.500, OHO 
3.510,000 
2.170.X50 

5 . s r, i j . 1 1 1 1 1 1 

5. 100. OHO 

2.500, 

1,000,000 
2.7511.111111 

3.2511. 

4.037.5OO 

1.360. 

3.S76.500 
4. 2111.720 



REPORT ON HATCHING MUSKALLONGE. 



To theCommissioners of Fisheries of New York- 

gentlemen: On behalf of my late father T h»ro 

with respectfully submit for your consideration a "%- 

port of the experiment made at Chautauaua I ake 

longe- ' jn the artificial Propagatio/of th Q e muskalJ 

While the attempt made in the spring of 1887 was not 

vof.n^T 8 ' in S ° far aS the actual Produc ion of ?he 
young try was concerned, our experiment was valua- 
undertake the work this' sea- 
£dge of the needs of the case, 
lit make no mistake as to the 
muskallonge, I placed myself 
town. New York" a"g»-*- - -" Green, of James- 
gradual decrease' of t 
lake, and has manifested much "interest"... 

* ith whom the following ' 



son with a better knc 

In order that we rr 

spawning season of t 

in communication wii 



Jalllosto 



■•n, N. Y., 



the 



November 28, 1887. 
Ashville, passing up 



Yesterday I drove 
ore of Chautauqua 

~? , h „ 0m , e *? f , a fis . h e r man to get a muskal- 
10 the lake with him and he had a box 

•ods trom shore in which he had " 



stopped at the 
longe. I went 
anchored a fev 
twe£tv-si3rthi Ch i h t Said he " ca >ight the day before "(the 

gt. SmSt.on^" 1oV2 &£ O^TninV^UuTc! 

seem to me to indicate that the spawning sei", 
earlier than your assistant, Mr. MisorV who w ' 1 Vre 
lt S ± Sp S' n 5- was informed that it was' I can not tell 
ipn of spawn as to its state of ad- 
mature, though this 



from the 
vancement 
seems to n__ ., 

Should you wish any furth 
can obtain — "■- 



ficial 



developed. 



ob aiiiwr V s ,, any u T rther , '"formation which I 

v, , ,. ,, ! e .J ne and l wiu & et it for you, as I 

ly be" macfe' S^SaKif 00 " 0f muska »onge arti- 



ccessful. 
Very truly yours, 

ELEAZER GREEN. 



To which the following reply was made : 



which I was very 1 
should judge that i 
— about the latter r 
it would be diliicul 
1 would like to h 



with spawn inclosed. 
From its appearance I 
ure early in the spring 



ity. 



Ion. 



V'u ascertain front this fisher- 
tout the habits of the muskal- 
hinks there could be arrange- 
number of the 
our disposal 
e find 



and also if h 

made whereby he could keep 

er until next spring. The mon 

admit of any very great outlay unt 



KTSS&WiffSMisslSiSE 



thing 

matter and v 
think there w 
yided we can 



make a regular 

... * am much interested in the 

ould hke to see it made a success. I 

no difficulty in hatching them, pro- 

■-- ^ipe spawning 



to procure the 



e„,i, r* „ ^ o Jamestown, December 2, 1887. 

Seth Green, Esq., Superintendent etc ■ 

Dear Sir: Yours of the thirtieth ult. received ves- 
terday I am highly pleased at vour interest in our 
muskallonge They are a noble fish, and I trust that 
s™eeTs 6 artificial propagation of them a 

,»>?££ ? s ! ler , m! i2 from whom I obtained the fish from 
E, f?,™*«h 0ol V t > < ; Sp 'V vn sent you ' would " ot be able 
to furnish reliable information as to the habits of the 
Hid ,\T?nS e J "■■ however, from others and will do so. 
Had the lake not already frozen over I could get I 
think, fifteen or twenty by engaging a number of fish- 
ermen and then building a large crate and anchoring 
wnv ,hf J ake over winter. Would they live in this 
" ! ;» mk t J" ou '."" t ' 1 . s Pr'ng? If you advise it I will 
try and do this if the ice goes out soon, so as to allow 
more Hshing this fall. I think there would be no trou- 
ble in the spring getting all needed by drawing a seine, 
noi^ i o an ? h the r , ldea i, There are Iar ^ e springs at one 

point near the lake shore; whv not buy the pr rtv 

on which they are and start a hatchery' I believe 
"l?,^"!,". 1 " ->""^»< water and that . he" muskallongl 
would thrive there; as they frequent the lake at the 
P™ « where these springs empty it is a favorable point 
fs snei T^ hem -, The ay ,°f the land about the springs 
an of ™* J?.^Sio m°U1 ~ ? made at^small expense. If 
from yc 
me to see the sprini 



December 8, 1887. 



_, Rochester 

Eleazer Green, Esq.: 

„„^ ear ,, Sil l : Yo " rs received. I shall be pleased to have 
™»n ek° C t information as you can from the fish- 

ermen on 1 liau au.jun lake, and forward it to me. We 
from them" 6 t0 Set S ° me points of value 

The muskallonge would not live in crates all win- 
* er e ^!. t i? u l!? edi - n ?:_. I .. thlnk . we . sh all be able to man- 



ge some way to get them in the early spring. I do 

ot think it would he advisable to make any purchase 

— learn how to hatch them. After 

know what we require to go on 



property until 
is is done we wi 
th the work. 



SETH GREEN. 



Green. Superintendent, etc.: 

r Sir: Since writing you some time ago I have 

8 of the Chautauqua lake fish- 

skallonge spawn, and 



been talking with so 
ermen about the time when 

from information and opinions received I am inclined 
°" be, ' e f f V?'" 1 ' muskallonge spawn earlier than we 
had thought; that they spawn before the ice goes out, 

I believe that it would be a good idea for you to 
come on here and catch a fish and examine the spawn. 
and to do so soon. If you should come on I will sup- 
ply the necessary appliances, some that I had on hand 
when the law prohibiting spearing through the ice 
went in effect. Should you find it impossible to come 
- md send you if desired, and permia- 
;o do so. 

Very truly yours. 

ELEAZER GREEN, 
eazer Green, Esq., Jamestown, N. Y.: 
Dear Sir: Yours of the tenth inst. is received and 
reply will say that if you can do so I would like to 
ve you catch a muskallonge and forward it to me 
may be possible, as you say, that they cast their 
before the ice goes out. I hope you will not 
hers permission to catch any. as it might con- 
vrong impression among the people and lead to 
Yours, 

SETH GREEN. 



sion 



giv 



-■pa 



lestown, N. Y., Fe 



16, '88. 



Seth Green. Superintendent 

Dear Sir: Yours of the thirteenth inst. came duly to 
nana. 1 will certainly not give any one permission to 
catch, and will catch only what I send you myself 
rn ,' a , n ;, v,,, "y 'Ij-sjrous that the efforts" to propagate 
muskallonge artificially may succeed. I am much in- 
terested in their increase and preservation in Chau- 
tauqua Jake, as you will readily see when I state that 
t £^ n >. SU !T n l er . resort" property on the lake shore. 
1 Had hoped that you would come and personally sup- 
et intend the catching, but as vou do not I have caused 
SLIS??}, ■? r be P ub » shea in , one of our papers to the 
effect that I am acting under your directions and au- 



CONSERVATION OF FISH AND GAME 



297 



thority, and I shall act openly and publicly, so that 
mv a.'is can not lie misconstrued. I had a talk with 
one of our most intelligent fishermen yesterday, and 
he stated that he had caught muskallonge through the 
ice in March that would be discharging spawn when 
he took them from the water; that though the dis- 
charge was, of course, caused by the shock and tne 
wound from the spear, yet he did not believe it would 
have occurred if the spawn had not been substantially 
ripe; he is quite positive that they spawn in March. 

I will go up the first dav that seems favorable and 
see what I can get for you; I shall send it by express 
to the address printed on your letter-heads. 
Very truly yours. 

ELEAZEE GREEN. 

Jamestown, N. T., March 1, 1S88. 
Seth Green, Superintendent, etc.: 

Dear Sir: I send vou today by American Express a 
muskallonge caught this day. I strongly suspect that 
it is a male, but as I did not feel at liberty to catch 
another I send it along. Please let me hear from you 
upon its receipt, and if you desire another, inform me 
at once, as the water is getting so roily that it is al- 
most impossible to see them now. 
Very truly yours, 

ELEAZEE GREEN. 

Rochester, N. T., March 3, 1888. 
Eleazer Green, Esq., Jamestown, N. Y.: 

Dear Sir: Yours received, and also muskallonge. I 
have made an examination of it. I found it to be a 
female which certainly would not have cast her spawn 
In less than a month from the time she was caught. 
Yours, 

SETH GREEN. 

Rochester, N. Y., March 24, '88. 
Eleazer Green, Esq., Jamestown, N. Y.: 

My Dear Sir: If we make another attempt at mus- 
kallonge catching it will not be a great while before 
we will have to be at it, and I write to inquire what 
assistance, if any, my man can depend upon from your 
people. The expense attending the experiment this 
season I expect will be somewhat greater than last, 
and there is no funds set apart by the commission 
for this purpose except what may be used from the 
amount allotted to the Caledonia hatchery, and I 
would therefore like to know if we can depend upon 
any financial aid from your people; and if so, how 
much. 

I would also like to know if you have learned any- 
thing more concerning the spawning of the muskal- 
longe since you wrote me last. Mr. Mason is of the 
opinion that they had not spawned when he was there 
last summer, which was from April twenty-seventh to 
Slav sixth, but in regard to this I think he must be 
mistaken. At any rate, we have yet to find out be- 
fore we know for certain. 

Yours, 

SETH GREEN. 

Jamestown, N. Y., March 26, 1888. 
Seth Green: 

Dear Sir: Yours of the twenty-fourth inst. just at 
hand. I have learned nothing new about the spawn- 
ing of the muskallonge, but if you desire it, will catch 
and send you another, if can do it at once, before ice 
and water get any worse than now. Please state 
amount of financial aid you desire, and I think I can 
raise it if not too much. I will let you know at once 
whether I can raise the amount you state. 

E. GREEN. 

Rochester, N. Y., March 27, 1888. 
Eleazer Green, Esq.: 

Dear Sir: Yours received, if you can do so, I would 

like to have you catch me another muskallonge as 

soon as possible. If you could raise from twenty-five 

to fifty dollars it would help matters very much. 

Very truly, 

SETH GREEN. 

Jamestown, N. Y., April 2d, 1888. 
Seth Green: 

Dear Sir: I have not been able to get you another 
muskallonge, and the ice is now unsafe. Will try again 
as soon as the ice goes out. I can assure you of at 
least twenty-five dollars towards expenses. Winter 
ice will be out within five or six days. 

Yours truly, 

E. GREEN. 



Jamestown, N. Y., April 10, 1888. 
Seth Green, Superintendent, etc.: 

Dear Sir: I have been unable since writing you last 
to procure a muskallonge. The water has not been 
still when clear since ice went out. I do not believe 1 
shall lie able to get one before you should come on. 
but will try for a day or two longer. I think it unsafe 
to wait much longer before coming. When will you be 



Yours truly 



GREEN. 
April 19, 1888. 



Rochester, N. 

Dear 6 Sir: S Yours of the eighteenth inst. is received. 
I expect to send my man, Mr. Mason 
about next week Tuesday, April tv 
will have him call upon you or I wi 
time so you can meet him at the tram. 1 l "':") h i 
shall have him bring a seine and catch some of the 
muskallonge, if possible, and put them in cars an- 
chored in the lake. I think this is the only way we 
can get ripe fish to take the spawn from. I hope 



to Jamestown 

•niv-fourth. I 

notify you in 



lay be 



your 



this season. Was glad 
Yours, 

SETH GREEN. 

1, 1888. 



Rochester, N. Y., Apri 
E. Green, Esq., Jamestown. N. Y.: 

My Dear Sir: Yours received and also muskallonge. 
which 1 have examined and am of theopimon that it 
would have spawned in about a week s time. I win 
have Mr. Mason start as soon as possible, and if he 
can do so he will reach Jamestown next Monday night, 
if not, then Tuesday sure. 

I have talked with Mr. Mason and given htm my 
ideas in regard to the matter, and you will find him 
a thoroughly honest and conscientious man. who win 
do all in his power to make a success. I regret ex- 
ceedingly that I am not able to come myself but my 
health is very poor and I have been confined to the 
house for about two months. I sincerely hope a suc- 
cess will be made, and from the appearance of the fe- 
male you sent me I have strong faith that we will 
succeed. 

° UrS ' SETH GREEN. 

The time having arrived for operations, Mr. Jonathan 
Mason, an assistant to the Caledonia hatchery and fish 
culturist of many years experience, was dispatched by 
Mr Seth Green to Jamestown, on Chautauqua Lake. 
The following is Mr. Mason's report, which will be 
found of interest: 

April 23— Left Mumford at 6.04 P. M.; arrived at 
J ^ S .l ^i-Met 1 Mr. P El^azer Green and went up the 
lake with hm four miles to Jones' Hotel, and con- 
cluded to try and secure some muskallonge there 

April 25— Made fish-cars in the forenoon, in which 
to deposit the muskallonge. and fished with seine in 
the afternoon, but did not succeed in catching any 
"AraS-Hired four men to assist in hauling seine; 
fished in forenoon; caught two muskallonge both 
males; fished again at night; caught two males. 

April 27— Went to Long Point; caught one nine 
nound female not ripe, and one six-pound male, put 
them in fish car and towed them down to Jones' 
H April 28— Fished all day; caught seven muskallonge. 
two small ones, put them back; one of them was a 
six-pound female, nearly spawned out; got about two 
thousand eggs, looking very nice and measuring ten 
^April^^Did not fish, it being Sunday; looked the 



fislTover confined in ears, but did 

April 30 — Fished all day; caught .. 
one large female weighing sixteen pounds but could 
not tret an v milt onlv bv opening one of the males 
and TressFngTt out secured about 60,000 eggs from 
fht large TnVa/night the two females weighing re 
sneetivelv nine and six pounds, were ripe, but the 
milt was again scarce, so opened two more males and 
took about 40,000 eggs from the two: put them ,n five 
shad-hatching boxes and kept them in still water 
^Ma^l-Stormy day; took spawn 1 across ; the lake to 
Southlands creek, where there was a little current, 
temperature of water, fifty-one degrees Fahrenheit 

Miv "—fold wast wind; spawn looking good; tem- 
perature of water forty-five degrees 
degrees P. M. 



iiiskallo 



fifty- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



May 3 — The unimpregn 
have white spots in them 
fifty-two degrees P. M. 

May 4 — Wind south and 
storm in the afternoon; 
fifty-two degrees P. M. 

May 5 — Cold north wind; spawn forming; in clusters 
some; can see formation of fish in the "eggs; water 
fifty degrees and fifty-two degrees. 

May 6 — Water warming considerably; can see the 
formation of fish plainly; water fifty degrees and fif- 
ty-six degrees. 

May 7 — Eggs doing well; the bad eggs are cluster- 
ing, and can be taken out easily with small scoop net; 
temperature of water, fifty-two degrees A. M., fifty- 
eight degrees P. M. 

May Sth — Eggs looking good; bad eggs most all 
taken out; the eggs are heavier than those 
" vater fifty-four degrees 



the 



tifu 



;ht de 



P. M. 



May :> Kggs looking good; warm in the forenoon; 
had a heavy rain in the afternoon; made the creek 
ruddy and was obliged to stay with the eggs 



rater fiftj 



a circulation of 



and tow the boxes 
water: temperatur 
fifty-eight degrees P. M. 

May 10 — Water clearing up in creek; in the after- 
noon the wind came down the lake strong and was 
obliged to put the boxes again in the creek; 8.30 A. M. 
saw the first movement of the fish in the eggs; tem- 
perature of water, fifty-five degrees A. M., sixty-five 
degrees P. M. 

May 11 — Some of the eggs commenced hatching; the 
fry were not as lively as should think thev ought to 
be; temperature of water fifty-six degrees A. M., 
sixty-six degrees P. M. 

May 12 — Eggs hatching out fast in the morning; ob- 
served minnows trying to suck the fry through the 
wire on bottom of boxes and to overcome this I put 
on double bottoms; most all the eggs hatched out dur- 
ing the night, temperature of water fifty-six degrees 
A. M., sixty-eight degrees P. M. 

May 13 — Young fry doing well; cold day; tempera- 
ture of water fifty-six degrees A. M., sixty-live degrees 
P. M. 

May 14th — Put the young fry in the lake, and as 
close an estimate as I can make there were 60.000 frv; 
they should have been kept longer, but as the place 
was not suitable I was obliged to turn them out. 

On Mr. Mason's return from Chautauqua Lake he 
brought with him a jar containing several of the 
young fry over which I kept a constant watch and ex- 
amined them with a microscope daily; the voung fry 
when first hatched are certainly the most helpless lit- 
tle creatures it has ever been my fortune to see; they 
are just three-eighths of an inch in length and show 
no movement of the gill covers or signs of breathing 
until they are nine days old, though with the aid of 
the microscope the heart action and circulation of the 
Mood are seen to be strong and vigorous. So quiet did 
they lie for hours at a time that, if I had not been 
able to see the blood circulate, I should have been 
tempted to have thrown them awav for dead. When 
the fry are eight days old they commence to show 
some signs of activity and are found clinging to the 
blades of grass placed in the vessels and also lying 
upon the partly submerged blades. At nine days old. 
with the aid of the microscope, can be discerned the 
mouth and gill covers in motion; the fry are then a 



half an inc 


i" in 


length and 


he yoke 


sac, which 


s of 


good size \ 


1. ;n 


first hatche 


i, is two- 


thirds absorbed 






nperature of 


which a.y 


erage sixty 


de- 


grees Fahre 


llhei 










When the 




are t\\ elve d 




e motion o 


the 


mouth and 








tie naked 


eye 


and the fish 












sumed a m 










At 


fourteen da 










■ 


this species 










the 


yolk sac is 








fish commi 


nces 


looking for 


food 


The fish at 


e then ready to be tu 


rned 


into the wa 




nd seek thei 


r subsiste 






From the 


: nc 


wledge thus 


gained a 


id upon consul- 


tation with 


Mr. 


Jonathan Mason 


Duld recomr 


nend 


to your hon 


.rab 


e body that 


n order tc 


make the work 



best results, that a suitabl 
hatchery building should be erected on the shores of 
I'hautauqua lake at some convenient point which may 
her. alter be selected. The building need not be an 
elaborate affair; a plain frame structure, thirty-five 
feet long and thirty feet wide, would be sufficient. 
This should be equipped with from one to two dozen 
chase automatic hatching jars in which to place the 
eggs until they reach the hatching point, and also 



twelve troughs about sixteen feet in length and four- 
teen inches wide; in these the fry should be kept un- 
til the yolk sac is absorbed and then turned into the 
open waters. 

As there appears to be no suitable place on the lake 
where the necessary fall of water for the hatchery can 
be obtained, the water supply must, of necessity, be 
pumped from the lake into a receiving tank or reser- 
voir and from thence distributed into the hatching 
apparatus. The amount of water necessary for the 
work is estimated at three inches of volume. 

On consultation with Commissioner Sherman, I was 
requested to ascertain the cost of the building, equip- 
ments, engine, pump, etc., and herewith present the 
following statement: 

Estimated cost of building $500 00 

Estimated cost of equipment 150 00 

Cost of Shipman engine 200 00 

Cost of pump 135 00 

Estimated cost of forty rods of seine 75 00 

Estimated cost of row boat 30 00 

Total $1.000 00 

The Shipman engine above referred to is described 
as follows: Stationary engine No. 2, with cast iron 
boiler, full two-horse power, weight complete, 750 
pounds; floor space, 52x32 inches; cylinder, three 
inches diameter, stroke four inches; pulley fourteen 
inches diameter, three inch face; 400 revolutions. Price 
$200.00. 

This engine is very simple in construction and a per- 
son of ordinary intellect can learn to manage it in 
from one hour to a half day's time. The fuel used is 
kerosene oil, costing about four and one-quarter cents 
per gallon and about one and one-half gallons are 
consumed per hour, making the cost per twenty-four 
hours not to exceed one dollar and fifty cents. The 
cost of the engine and pump includes putting them in 
place, with the exception of the transportation and 
railroad fare of man. 

At the request of Mr. James Fitt, superintendent of 
the Shipman Manufacturing Company, in company 
with Mr. Mason, we visited such an engine as above 



inch stream of 
nd doing the 



elevati 



ok 



ibly. 



mg a 
ighty 



deliberation, your honorable body should 
decide to undertake this work the coming spring, 
permit me to suggest that it would be advisable to 
erect the building this fall in order that everything 
might be in readiness in time for operations. 

The entire cost of last season's experiment, includ- 
ing Mr. Mason's time, was $120.78. 

On my suggestion to Commissioner Sherman he 
thought it advisable to write to Chautauqua Lake and 
ascertain if sufficient funds could not be raised at 
Chautauqua Lake to defray, at least, a part of the ex- 
pense of establishing the plant, concerning which the 
following correspondence took place: 



Roche 



r, N. T., August 13, 

N. T. 



the fish com- 
mission held at the Caledonia hatchery, August ninth, 
the artificial propagation of the muskallonge was dis- 
cussed and it was decided to take active steps in that 
direction. 

As you undoubtedly understand, by far the larger 
share of such hatching operations will be for the 
benefit of Chautauqua Lake, and before going further 
in the matter it has been deemed advisable to write 
you and ascertain if there is not suliieient interest 
among the hotel people at the lake and those who 
make their homes there a whole or part of the year 
provide the necessa 



men 



the 



of land and furnish the 
f the building, the esti- 
neighborhood of $300.00. 



intain the hatch- 
ery after it is constructed and do all in their power to 
make the work a great success, and I have no doubt 
but that sufficient enthusiasm can be raised among 
vour people to contribute the above amount toward a 
project which promises them such abundant returns. I 
should like to know, if possible, just what we may 
expect by September first, so as to report at the next 
meeting of the commission to be held early in Sep- 
tember. The building should be erected in the fall so 
as to be ready for operations in the spring. 

Kindly let me hear from you early as convenient and 
oblige. Yours. 

SETH GREEN', 

Per C. K. G. 



CONSERVATION OF FISH AND GAME 



299 



Jamestown, N. T., August 16, 18S8. 
Seth Green, Superintendent, etc.: 

Dear Sir: Yours of the thirteenth inst. was duly re- 
ceived, and I have seen some of the parties interested 
in the artificial propagation of muskallonge in Chau- 
tauqua Lake and am satisfied that sonn-thing substan- 
tial can he raised towards establishing that hatchery 
here but whether $50(1.00 can be raised I am not clear. 
I will ascertain and write you more definitely be- 
fore September first. 

Yours truly. 

E. GREEN. 

Since writing the above, I am in receipt of a letter 
from Mr. Eleazer Green In which he gives considerable 
encouragement that $500.00 can be raised by the peo- 
ple interested in Chautauq.ua Lake to aid in establish- 
ing the work. 

Respectfully submitted. 



Brook trout, lake herring, lake trout and black bass 
have also been hatched at this hatchery, though the 
work at present is confined principally to muskallonge 
and brook trout. 

The report of the Commission for the year 1908 show- 
ed that a new enemy was making himself felt, none 
other thar ;he lazy, no-account, German carp (Cypunus 
Carpo). The report quotes as follows: "The Sports- 
man's Asociation of Chautauqua County claim the carp 
a great 'estroyer of spawning beds of black bass. The 
annual latch of bullheads and black bass has decreased 
materia ly each year since carp became abundant." 

Regarding muskallonge the report gives the following 
info" lation : "In Chautauqua Lake the fish spawns soon 
aftf the ice leaves the lake, usually in April. The eggs 
are iertilized by the dry process ; they are hatched in 
jets from which they are transferred by hand to egg 
■■■ays placed in troughs, through which a constant 
scream of artesian water flows. The hatching period 
depends upon the temperature of the water, but usually 
occupies twenty-one days in water at 48 to 50° F. 
They are distributed in May and the early part of June. 
The muskallonge is one of the worst cannibals known 
and the Commission never attempts to rear it to finger- 
ling size, but liberates it as soon as it can swim freely." 

The lake herring (Argyrosomus Artedi) also re- 
ceived consideration at this time, for the report con- 
tinues : "For the first time in recent years an effort 
was made to secure eggs in Dunkirk. The Desmond 
Fish Company co-operated with the State in the work 
of collecting eggs. This company desired to have men 
placed on all their boats for the purpose of securing 
spawn. The work continued until Dec. 2ist, about 200 
quarts, or 15,373,000 eggs, being secured. Foreman 
Frank Redband of the Caledonia Hatchery assisted." 
Mr. Redband is now in charge of the Dunkirk Hatchery. 

The commercial fishing at Dunkirk continued to 
grow rapidly, and the need of a hatchery at this point 
for this industry became apparent. The fact that great 
quantities of eggs could be secured here, and also that 
the fry could be "planted" without the loss occasioned 
by transporting long distances by railroad, impressed the 
State Legislature and the Conservation Commission, and 
through the efforts of the Desmond Fish Company 
and the Dunkirk Board of Commerce a bill was passed 



authorizing the purchase of a site and erection of build- 
ings. The hatchery was ready for operation in 1918 
with Mr. Frank Redband in charge as foreman, and 
eggs were secured that fall, and 106,978,000 fry were 
liberated early in 1919, and about 220,000,000 in 1920. 
The equipment of the hatchery at present is 906 jars, 
each holding 3 quarts. About 780,000 eggs are contained 
in each quart, which gives a hatching of 224,640,000 
each season. 

Numerous sportsmen's clubs have been organized at 
various times and each has done its part in furthering 
the work of conservation of wild life. The largest or- 
ganization at present in the county is the Northern 
Chautauqua Fish and Game Club, organized at Dunkirk 
in February, 1919, with branches at Silver Creek, Fre- 
donia, Brocton, Sinclairville, Hamlet and other villages. 
Through the efforts of this club, assisted by the Con- 
servation Commission, excellent work has been accom- 
plished. During the year 1919 about 18,000 brook and 
brown trout were liberated in the small streams ; 450 
adult bull heads were liberated in Bear Lake ; 750 
eggs of the English or Ringneck Pheasants were fur- 
nished by the Commission, about fifty per cent, of the 
total being hatched and liberated ; 105 young pheasants 
furnished by the Commission were liberated in the 800 
acre game preserve secured by this club. The most 
commendable work of the club was that of forestry. 
Extensive educational publicity was given this branch 
of conservation, and 10,000 young trees were secured 
from the Conservation Commission and planted by vari- 
ous individuals. The start in this line was not a large 
one, but as land owners more fully realize the need of 
growing timber to protect the streams by conserving the 
spring and fall moisture, and assuring their children and 
grandchildren the great benefits resulting therefrom, 
greater work will be done in reforestry. New York 
is the greatest consumer of timber of any State in the 
Union, and unless strict laws are soon enacted regulat- 
ing the cutting of timber and all "waste" land planted 
to young trees, a condition similar to that existing in 
China will confront the entire nation within the next 
fifty years. 

During the year 1920, 252 snow-shoe rabbits (varying 
hare) were purchased and liberated in the county; 
300,000 yellow perch "planted" in Bear Lake and Cas- 
sadaga Lake ; about 25,000 brook trout from the hatchery 
at Bemus Point, placed in the streams ; and 400 young 
pheasants liberated in various parts of the county. 

The exhibit of live fish, pheasants and young trees 
at the County Fair, all of which were furnished by the 
Conservation Commission, and the educational work 
of a number of conservation enthusiasts of the club, 
did much to further the great work of Conservation. 
Still greater results must be accomplished to assure 
the welfare of the coming generations. Such places as 
Arkwright Falls and Panama Rocks should be pur- 
chased by either the County or State and maintained as 
public preserves. No greater or better tonic for tired 
humanity exists than sunshine and fresh air, and if our 
people hope to continue a strong and vigorous race it is 
essential that they find time to enjoy the great "out 
door life," and learn and adore nature. 



THE UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 
By Clare A. Pickard, Former County Food Administrator. 



The United States Food Administration was created 
by an Act of Congress passed in August, 1917, known as 
the Lever Act. The necessity for this department of 
governmental activity arose in consequence of the di- 



version of labor from agricultural pursuits throughout 
the world. Europe was one vast military camp and the 
energies of the people of that continent were largely 
given over to war. The food necessary to sustain im- 



300 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



mense armies and millions of civilians had to be secured 
from foreign lands, principally the United States. The 
declaration of war by the American Congress necessarily 
rendered the question of the food supply still more 
difficult of solution. Our manufacturing institutions 
were converted into munitions factories. Vast military 
camps were erected. Hundreds of thousands of our 
young men were drafted into the military service, and 
of these large numbers were recruited from the farms, 
already in peace times suffering from insufficient labor. 
Many who were not drafted were attracted from the 
farms to mechanical pursuits, in factories, in the 
camps, and elsewhere, owing to the exorbitant wages 
offered to labor in the promotion of the vast war pro- 
gram which had been inaugurated. It was soon evident 
that the world was facing a crisis in the matter of its 
food, and that unless measures looking not only to 
enhanced production but to conservation of the available 
supply were adopted, the great war would fail. Food 
is the first essential in military operations, and supplies 
to armies and the supporting civilian propulation must 
be maintained if military operations are to succeed. 
Great apprehension was felt in the summer of 1017 
as to whether sufficient food could be produced and 
transported to Europe to maintain the physical condi- 
tion, as well as the morale, of the people. The problems 
incident to the feeding of the Allies were intensified by 
the transportation of the American army across the 
Atlantic and the activities of the submarine. 

It soon became evident that stringent regulations in- 
volving the production and consumption of food must 
be made, and it became a slogan throughout the world 
that "food will win the war." This subject took pre- 
cedence and importance over all others, and as a result 
the Congress of the United States created what was 
known as the "United States Food Administration," 
with powers of autocratic character. No war can be 
waged within the limitations of the Constitution of the 
United States. The rights, privileges, and liberties of 
the people must, of necessity, be suspended in large 
measure and discipline instituted in the place thereof. 

The American people had become wasteful and ex- 
travagant with food, and, in consequence of our great 
industrial growth and expansion, agriculture had come 
to be regarded as unprofitable. The arduous work upon 
the farm, the long hours, the loneliness of life, the 
distance from scenes of gaiety and entertainment, had 
led to an exodus of the young men to the cities, where 
remuneration was large and pleasure easily obtainable. 
It was necessary, therefore, to stimulate the production 
on the farms, and to carefully conserve that which was 
produced. 

The name of only one man was considered as the 
head of the Food Administration. Herbert Hoover, 
who had been conspicuous in directing the feeding of 
the Belgian nation following the invasion of that coun- 
try by the German armies, had given careful study to the 
varied and complex questions involved in the food 
supply, and had acquired profound knowledge of the 
various matters of regulation and administration in this 
important field. Upon the enactment of the Lever law, 
Mr. Hoover was named by President Wilson as "United 
States Food Administrator." He immediately entered 
upon the discharge of his duties and proceeded to the 
creation of an organization throughout the United 
States. 

The Legislature of the State of New York had 
theretofore passed a food control act; and soon after 
the United States Food Administration had commenced 
to function, it was found that in the State of New 
York the Federal and State administrations were likely 



to conflict. An amalgamation, in effect, was therefore 
consummated, and the two organizations were brought 
together under what was termed the New York Federal 
Food Board, and under which food control within the 
State of New York was largely administered. Its 
chairman was Mr. John Mitchell, since deceased. 

The organization of the United States Food Adminis- 
tration comprised, in addition to the various bodies 
having to do with particular subjects, and the executive 
body in Washington with its thousands of employees, 
an Administrator for each State, and subordinate to 
him Administrators in the various counties. Because 
of the large population of the State of New York and 
the great and varied problems involved, a Federal Food 
Administrator was named for the Greater City of 
New York in the person of Hon. Arthur Williams. 
Hon. Charles E. Treman, of Ithaca, was designated as 
Federal Food Administrator for the balance of the 
State. 

Mr. Treman was widely known. He had long been 
conspciuous as a business man and banker, and had 
displayed great ability as the head of the Board of 
Public Works of the State of New York, to which 
position he was appointed by Governor Dix in 191 1 at 
a time when not only great administrative skill and 
efficiency was needed, but unimpeachable character as 
well. Mr. Treman, in the great work which he per- 
formed as Federal Food Administrator of the State, 
established a fame which will endure. His position was 
one of great responsibility, and the perplexities and 
difficulties with which he was at all times confronted 
can be fully appreciated only by those who were asso- 
ciated with him in the work. He displayed executive 
qualities of a high order; a keen understanding of vast 
and complex problems; and a fine sense of justice sel- 
dom paralleled by any man in public life. 

Through the New York Federal Food Board the Food 
Administration organization of the State was created. 
A Food Administrator was named in each county, un- 
der the designation of "Deputy Food Administrator," 
soon changed, however, to that of "County Food Ad- 
ministrator." Various boards and divisions at head- 
quarters were established for handling the several 
branches of the work involved. 

The writer was named County Food Administrator 
for Chautauqua County. He was not consulted in ad- 
vance of the appointment, and the first knowledge which 
he acquired of the purpose to draft him into the work 
of the Food Administration, was the receipt by him of 
the following telegram from New York : 

New York, X. Y., Dec. 28, 1917. 
C. A. Pickard, Jamestown. X. Y. : 

The Federal Food Board have appointed you to the 
position of Deputy Food Administrator for Chautau- 
qua County and as a patriotic duty request you to 
wire acceptance. 



C'lla 



JOHX MITCHELL, 
man Federal Food Board tor the State of : 
York. 



A call to duty on such grounds could have but one 
answer, and his acceptance was on the wire within 
fifteen minutes from the time of the receipt of the 
notification. He was quite ignorant of the character 
of the duties which were involved in the appointment, 
or the powers which the office conferred. A meeting 
of the newly created State organization was quickly 
called and held in the city of New York ; and at that 
time the County Food Administrators of the State began 
their intimate acquaintance with their chief, Hon. 
Charles E. Treman, who at once won their affection and 
confidence, which were increased as the intimate per- 



UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



301 



sonal and official relations progressed. We were given 
general instructions as to the scope of our duties, and 
we left the New York conference with the understand- 
ing that, regardless of the difficulties and unpleasant- 
nesses which the w'ork promised, our first duty was in 
its prosecution ; that we were to play an important part 
in the winning of the great war, and that personal 
affairs should be completely subordinated to the dis- 
charge of the duties which we had assumed. 

The local County Food Administrator was confronted 
at the outset by the necessity for the creation of an 
active, efficient, unselfish, patriotic organization, and he 
feels a justifiable pride in the splendid body of men and 
women of Chautauqua county whom he called to his 
assistance, and who gave their energies and their abili- 
ties so willingly, unselfishly, and efficiently, to the great 
cause in which the American nation was enlisted. 

The local organization was made up, first, of the 
office staff of the County Food Administrator; second, 
of the county organization known as the County Food 
Council ; third, of the City Food Councils of the city 
of Jamestown and the city of Dunkirk ; and of various 
committees of a special character throughout the county. 

The County Food Administrator named Mrs. Alice G. 
Moynihan, of Jamestown, as his personal assistant. 
Mrs. Moynihan had had a wide experience in the busi- 
ness world. She is a woman of unusual intelligence, is 
keen of perception, and is possessed of the peculiar 
ability essential in the complexities of the work in- 
volved. Her wide experience made her an invaluable 
aid in the work of the Food Administration, and too 
much credit cannot be given her for the important and 
arduous duties which she performed during those trying 
times. 

A considerable force of stenographers and clerks were 
necessarily maintained at the office of the Food Ad- 
ministrator. At times a large volunteer clerical force 
was added for the purpose of tabulating various rec- 
ords, etc. Whenever the need came, there was a 
generous and ready response from Jamestown women, 
which fully met the requirements of all emergencies. 

Attached to the office of the Administrator was an 
inspection department, for the purpose of detecting 
violations of the laws and regulations of the United 
States Food Administration, and in the promotion of 
the various plans of the department. The position of 
inspector was filled by C. Arthur Rugg and A. G. Mc- 
Donald, business men of Jamestown, who volunteered 
their entire time and energies to the work of the Food 
Administrator. Their patriotic devotion to the cause 
will always be a source of gratification to the local Food 
Administration and to all patriotic people who knew 
of the difficult and at times distressing work which 
they performed. 

The Food Council of the city of Jamestown was 
made up of men and women engaged in various lines 
of business, and their devotion, counsel, aid, and as- 
sistance were invaluable. This Council was constituted 
as follows : Crawford N. Bargar, wholesale grocer ; 
Henry Bauer, restaurant; F. W. Bigelow, department 
store; George F. Clark, baker; Miss Edith Farman, 
principal Economics, Public Schools ; M. Ferrari, grocer ; 
Benjamin H. Gardner, sugar broker; Felix V. Hanson, 
clergyman; George A. Harris, baker; Mrs. Ray Hazel- 
tine, housewife; Theodore E. Hopkins, retail grocer; 
George F. Hulbert, hotel proprietor ; Mrs. Axel Z. 
Johnson, housewife; Charles G. Johnson, railroad audi- 
tor ; Earl C. Lovejoy, fish market ; Daniel G. Ogilvie, 
wholesale fruit dealer; Alfred E. Randell, clergyman; 
H. B. Rogers, manager Farm Bureau ; Mrs. J. B. Sher- 
man, baker ; William A. Torrance, principal Grammar 



School; Frank A. Wilcox, wholesale grocer; Carl O. 
Wood, meat dealer. 

Mrs. Ray Hazeltine, in addition to her membership 
upon the Food Council, reported each week to the gov- 
ernment direct, as well as to the Council, prices charged 
for various staples of food within the city. 

The County Food Council were the personal repre- 
sentatives of the County Food Administrator throughout 
the county of Chautauqua, and sustained practically the 
same relation to him that the County Food Administra- 
tor did to the Federal Food Administrator of the State. 
They executed in their several localities the various 
orders which were promulgated from time to time, and 
administered the law and regulations in their several 
communities. The County Food Council was consti- 
tuted as follows: 

Levi Amidon. Frewsburg, Manufacturer. 

Leon Bligh, Sherman. Retired. 

J. W. Burrows, Ripley, Banker. 

William J. Cook, Mayville, Real Estate and Insur- 
ance. 

Charles L. Dix, Porestville, Merchant. 

C. L. Edwards, Cherry Creek, Merchant. 

S. Ray Fairbanks, Fredonia, Attorney. 

Fred Flanders, Dewittville, Farmer. 

Earl Gage, Ashville, Broker. 

J. D. Gallup. c.'Iymer, Former County Clerk. 

H. E. Goodell. Irving. Merchant. 

Mrs. Benjamin Haskins, Bemus Point, Housewife. 

Delmar U. Herrick, Sheridan, Retired Farmer. 

A. P. Hoitink, Panama, Merchant. 

Fred M. Lowell, Fredonia, Fruit Grower and Mas- 
ter of County Grange. 

Bert F. Merriam, Falconer. Manufacturer. 

C. E. Olson, Stockton. Banker. 

Mrs. C. B. Persell, Lakewood, Housewife. 

Frank M. Potter. Chautauqua, Real Estate. 

Mrs. James Pringle. Steadman, Housewife. 

Ira D. Rowley, Silver Creek. Retired. 

N. R. Saxton, Kennedy, Miller. 

J. F. Scott, Portland. Merchant. 

C. E. Skiff, Cassadaga, Merchant. 

Alburn E. Skinner, Westfield, Banker. 

Mrs. Ernest E. Smith. Lakewood. Housewife. 

Fred H. Sylvester, Sinclairville, Attorney. 

Bert C. Wade. Ellington. Farmer. 

Joseph C. White, Dunkirk, Attorney. 

Glenn W. Woodin, Dunkirk, Attorney. 

Some changes were necessarily made during the course 
of the administration. Mr. Glenn W. Woodin, of Dun- 
kirk, who had done a splendid and patriotic service in 
that community, was compelled by reason of sickness 
and death in his family to resign his place upon the 
council, and he was succeeded by Mr. Joseph C. White, 
another Dunkirk attorney, who most ably and worthily 
filled the place to which he was called. Mrs. Charles 
B. Persell, representative at Lakewood, was obliged to 
relinquish her duties because of her removal to the 
village of Mayville. Mrs. Ernest E. Smith was desig- 
nated in her place and faithfully and efficiently carried 
the burdens of that position until the close of the ad- 
ministration. In the city of Dunkirk a local food council 
was named by the Dunkirk representative of the Food 
Administration. 

In inaugurating the work of the Food Administration 
in Chautauqua county, it was deemed necessary to 
provide publicity, or propaganda, for educating the 
people to and familiarizing them with the purposes of 
the Food Administration, and the necessity as a war 
measure for the observance of its rules and regula- 
tions. It is generally recognized that rigid discipline in 
the armies is essential, but discipline of the civilian 
population had never before been seriously attempted. 
When the United States had been engaged in other wars 
the participation of the civilian population had been 
wholly voluntary. The government now proposed to 
dictate to its citizens, men, women, and children, as to 
affairs in the home which had always theretofore been 



302 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



matters of individual determination. It proposed to con- 
trol and direct manufacturers, jobbers, retailers, and 
producers of all kinds of food, and it is not surprising 
that people did not like the curtailment of liberty of 
action which had'always been enjoyed. 

Rev. Dr. Alfred E. Randell, one of the members of the 
City Food Council of Jamestown, was made director of 
publicity of the local Food Administration. Dr. Ran- 
dell is pastor of the First Congregational Church of 
Jamestown. He is a preacher of rare power, ability, and 
accomplishments. Though born in England, his Ameri- 
canism and his love for and devotion to our institu- 
tions placed him in the first rank of those who sub- 
ordinated personal interests and convenience to the wel- 
fare of the country. His eloquent appeals to the pa- 
triotic impulses of the people were delivered from many 
platforms. His incisive and powerful addresses, pre- 
pared each week for the local Food Administration, did 
much to inspire and promote the co-operation and unity 
of action among the people of the county. 

The first publicity feature inaugurated locally was a 
weekly letter sent out under the name of the County 
Food Administrator to every clergyman in the county 
of Chautauqua, to be read at the Sunday service in the 
various churches. The request made upon the clergy 
for their aid in this respect was met with a most 
cordial response, and with very few exceptions every 
clergyman in the county read from his pulpit every 
Sunday the appeal of the Food Administration for the 
aid and co-operation of the people. The newspapers of 
the county, without exception, gave generously of their 
space to the promotion of our work and met every 
request for publicity. The splendid work of the press 
and the clergy in disseminating information and educa- 
tional propaganda added very materially to the success 
of the work of the Food Administration. The attitude 
of the public, at first distinctly antagonistic, soon dis- 
played a radical change, and after the first few weeks 
the Food Administration had the earnest and cordial 
support of most of the people of Chautauqua county. 
Publicity was also obtained through communications 
to the fraternal orders, to the schools, and in public 
meetings held at various points. Mr. Fred J. Lowell, 
the master of Pomona Grange, was a member of the 
County Food Council, and played a conspicuous part in 
the work in carrying to the members of the Grange 
information regarding the necessity of intensified food 
production as well as of food conservation. As a result 
of the splendid cooperation of the farmers it has been 
estimated that Chautauqua county in the year 1918 pro- 
duced twenty times more wheat than in any previous 
year in its history, and this in the face of difficulties 
and obstacles greater than the farmer had ever before 
known. The production of other articles of food was 
also greatly increased. 

Dr. R. R. Rogers, then and for many years thereto- 
fore superintendent of the Jamestown schools and 
known throughout the State as an educator of great 
abilitv, was in charge of the publicity carried on through- 
out the schools of the county. An acknowledgment of 
the cooperation of the district superintendents of the 
schools of Chautauqua county should be made. Their 
aid and support was of great assistance. 

Another prime essential was the cooperation of job- 
bers and retailers in food stuffs and those dealing in 
stock feeds. These concerns forgot their personal in- 
terests ; they rallied to the standard ; they devoted them- 
selves to humanity's cause and gave devoted support 
to the important work at hand. 

A feature of the Food Administration with which the 
public became very familiar was that of restricting the 



character of food to be used, and the enforcement of the 
rules which were from time to time promulgated. It 
was very soon apparent that the American people would 
be compelled to effect extensive saving of certain food 
staples such as wheat, sugar, meat, butter, and other 
articles. These articles were the ones chiefly required 
to supply our armies and the allied soldiers and their 
people. 

The question of supplying bread stuffs was the most 
serious. While vast amounts of grain were produced 
in South America, Australia, and other parts of the 
world, the shipping between these countries and Euro- 
pean and American ports was almost wholly absorbed 
by munitions and the transportation of troops, and 
consequently there were no facilities for conveying food 
stuffs from those distant points. Therefore the re- 
sponsibility of supplying Europe with wheat fell almost 
wholly upon the United States. It followed that the 
American people would have to limit their consumption 
of this essential article and substitute the product of 
other grains, so far as possible, in their diet. 

We were frequently asked why the so-called substitute 
flours — rye, oatmeal, potato, and other grain flours — 
could not be shipped to the Europeans and an added 
amount of wheat reserved for our use. That question 
will occur to many people in the future, as it did to 
large numbers during the war. The answer is, briefly, 
that first, the Europeans were not accustomed to the 
substitute grains ; they had not been educated in their 
preparation, and were not possessed of facilities for 
grinding, and since much of the substitute grain flour 
does not keep well after grinding, these substitutes could 
not be shipped abroad except in the whole grain. Second, 
there was a psychological feature involved, particularly 
in the case of the French people. The Frenchman re- 
quires wheat bread. It has always formed a very large 
percentage of his diet. His morale could not be main- 
tained without it, although he might be deprived of 
practically every other article of food without sub- 
stantially diminishing his efficiency. Therefore it was 
deemed important to supply the fighting forces with the 
kind of food to which they had been accustomed, and 
in ample quantities. 

The war was marked by such ferocity and terrors, due 
to the fiendish and horrible methods and machinery of 
destruction devised, that difficulty was experienced, even 
under the most favorable conditions, in preserving that 
spirit and morale which was necessary, not only among 
the fighting units, but among the supporting people as 
well. Physical and mental exhaustion of the people of 
the allied countries was a factor to claim the most seri- 
ous consideration of the American authorities, and there 
were many times during the great conflict when it was 
feared that the strain could not longer be endured. 

The appeals for conservation did not accomplish the 
results which were desired. Many thousands of people, 
it is true, readily observed the requests which the gov- 
ernment made in this respect. Many more, however, 
through indifference, selfishness, or a lack of under- 
standing of the crisis through which we were passing, 
failed to conform to the conservation program which 
was put forth. It was therefore necessary to take a 
further step. 

A definite rule was made in the case of wheat flour, 
that twenty-five per cent, (later increased to fifty per 
cent.) of wheat substitutes, such as cornmeal, oatmeal and 
other grain flours, must be used. That rule was observed 
by only a portion of the people. The next step was a re- 
striction upon sales, to the effect that the required 
amount of substitutes would have to be sold with every 
order of wheat product. It was unfair to the large 



UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



303 



body of people who voluntarily met every requirement 
to have others in the same community living bounti- 
fully as in times of peace. 

The law creating the Food Administration did not 
confer the power of direct enforcement against the in- 
dividual. Enforcement, however, was necessary if the 
food stuffs required were to be provided. The means 
of enforcement centered largely in the power of licens- 
ing manufacturers and dealers as provided for in the 
Lever Act. It was necessary for every jobber in food 
products to possess a Food Administration license to 
transact business. This also applied to bakers and vari- 
ous manufacturers of and dealers in food stuffs. The 
retail grocer was prohibited from selling any wheat flour 
without at the same time selling to the same customer 
the required amount of wheat substitutes. The re- 
tailer was not required to have a license. But if he 
were detected in a violation of a rule of the Food Ad- 
ministration, he was summoned to appear before the 
Food Administrator. He was given a fair hearing; if 
found guilty, he was requested to donate to some of the 
organizations, engaged in war work, a designated sum, 
and in some cases his place of business was ordered 
closed for a definite time with a placard upon his door 
indicating the cause of his temporary suspension of busi- 
ness. There was no power residing in the Food Ad- 
ministration to enforce these decrees. The individual 
charged could have successfully resisted them. Re- 
sistance, however, meant a great calamity to the of- 
fender, for upon a refusal to comply with the request 
of the Food Administrator, the wholesaler from whom 
he procured his supplies would have been notified at 
once to cease selling to him, and in case of his (the 
wholesaler's) disobedience, his license would have been 
revoked and he would have been put out of business for 
the term of the war, or for such a period as the Food 
Administrator would have determined to be a suitable 
punishment for the offense. By that means the Food 
Administrator possessed the power to put the retailer 
out of business, and therefore during the life of the 
Food Administration there was no case in Chautauqua 
county of the refusal of any offender to respond to the 
edicts of the Food Administrator. There were pro- 
visions with drastic penalties against hoarding, and these 
applied to all. The Food Administration, by authority 
of the President, promulgated rules from time to time 
as to the quantity of food commodities which an in- 
dividual could at any time have on hand. Such rules 
were also made as to manufacturers of various foods. 
Hotels and eating houses required licenses to prosecute 
their business, and their regulation was therefore com- 
paratively easy, as recourse could have been had directly 
to the revocation of the licenses which they held. That 
branch of business, therefore, submitted most grace- 
fully to whatever penalties were invited from them for 
such infractions of the rules as they were found guilty 
of. 

At the outset, the fear of a food shortage, particularly 
in flour and sugar, led a great many people to secure 
considerable supplies against a time of need. A large 
number of very honorable, patriotic people pursued that 
course. Upon the organization of the Food Administra- 
tion, requests were made through the press to all people 
who had provided stocks of flour and sugar beyond their 
immediate needs, to surrender them so that an equitable 
distribution might be made among all of the people. 
These requests were repeated from day to day. There 
was a very limited response to these appeals. Informa- 
tion concerning the hoarding of flour and sugar came 
constantly to the office of the Food Administrator. In- 
dividuals who were observing the law and the rules 



were irritated by the fact that some of their neighbors 
were highly stocked with flour and sugar. It was in- 
teresting to find that almost every person who had in- 
dulged in these accumulations had betrayed the fact to 
one or more friends, and of course it was then a secret 
no longer. Finally, discouraged by the lack of a re- 
sponse to the appeal for the surrender of hoarded stocks, 
the Food Administrator, in wide-spread publicity 
through the newspapers, announced that the laws upon 
the subject of hoarding provided severe penalties, a 
heavy fine and imprisonment, and that all persons hoard- 
ing sugar or flour were given a last opportunity of sur- 
rendering these surplus stocks, and in the event of their 
failure to do so the law would be vigorously and im- 
partially applied. The morning following this "announce- 
ment there was almost a stampede of people with stocks 
of flour and sugar which had been accumulated. These 
stocks were sold to retail dealers, and were a very sub- 
stantial addition to the supplies required by the people 
of the various communities. 

The conservation of wheat required the imposition of 
regulations as to the use of wheat flour by bakers. 
They were directed to use a percentage of wheat sub- 
stitutes in bread, cakes, and other foods in which wheat 
flour was commonly used. To insure adherence to the 
rules every baker was required to make reports to the 
County Food Administrator each week. Those re- 
ports included purchases of flour and of substitutes and 
the amounts of each which were used. These reports 
had to be checked in the office of the County Food Ad- 
ministrator to determine if the proper percentage of 
wheat substitutes had been actually used in the prepara- 
tion of their goods. Investigations were made at 
times of various baking establishments, particularly those 
which seemed to produce bread of a higher quality than 
would be expected if the required amount of substitutes 
were utilized. A few were detected in evasions of the 
law and were penalized. In one case the infractions 
were sp flagrant that a large money penalty was in- 
flicted, and in addition the bakery, which was a large 
concern, was closed for a period of three weeks. 

The County Food Administrator received very valu- 
able assistance in his administration in connection with 
the bakers, from Mr. George F. Clark, president of the 
Clark Baking Company of Jamestown, the largest in- 
stitution of its kind in the county. Mr. Clark iias at- 
tained a prominent place in that business, is a man of 
large experience, is thoroughly patriotic, and his aid 
and counsel were invaluable. By reason of Mr. Clark's 
prominence in his field of activity, his counsel was 
sought by the State Food Administrator and the Fed- 
eral Food Board. He was designated Chairman, State 
Service Committee of the Baking Industry, of a large 
territory, and rendered most important service to the 
government in that field. 

Restrictions were placed upon the use of butter and 
meats. These were only enforced, however, in hotels 
and other eating places. The families were requested 
as a patriotic measure to observe "meatless days" as 
well as "wheatless days," and the request was generally 
complied with. In the case of public eating houses these 
rules were rigidly enforced. 

The public in general read from time to time of 
penalties imposed upon hotels and restaurants for in- 
fractions of the rules, but they did not learn of the 
other side of the story. It was not known that we 
assisted in the preparation of their menus; that appeals 
were made to us to aid in securing the necessary sup- 
plies to which they were properly entitled, and that 
many problems affecting the rules applicable to public 
eating houses had to be worked out. 



3°4 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



While a large amount of work on the part of the Food 
Administration was applied to regulatory measures, yet 
those activities of the administration having to do with 
the conservation program, the education of the people in 
food values, the preparation of foods by preserving 
carried on in what were called the canning centers, the 
education of the people in various ways in the use of 
substitutes and their values, the assistance in procuring 
the various essentials used in producing and manufac- 
turing foods, the inspiring of increased production of 
wheat and other farm products, the promotion of the 
production of maple syrup to be used as a substitute for 
sugar, the affecting of an equitable distribution of food 
essentials among the dealers and the public, and vari- 
ous other activities of a similar character were the most 
important features of our work. 

Speak to almost any citizen of the activities of the 
Food Administration, and the almost instant response 
will be something upon the subject of sugar. It was the 
shortage and rationing in connection with sugar that 
attracted the greatest public attention and discussion. 
The sugar shortage had begun before the Food Ad- 
ministration was organized. The shortage became acute 
early in the year 1918, and it presented problems of the 
most complex character to those having in charge the 
regulation of the distribution of that important food 
element. 

The United States produces a small percentage of the 
world's supply of sugar, which is insufficient for even 
its own requirements. Cuba produces a much larger 
amount. Much sugar is produced in Java and other 
portions of the Far East, and considerable quantities are 
produced in Europe from the sugar beet. Because of 
the interruption of ocean traffic, importation of sugar 
from the Far East was entirely stopped. The production 
of sugar in Europe was very largely cut off. The 
burden of furnishing a sufficient amount of this com- 
modity to serve the most of the world fell upon the 
United States and Cuba. It was a matter of prime 
importance that the armies be furnished an adequate 
sugar ration, although unfortunately that was not always 
accomplished. It was apparent that the consumption 
bv the civilian population of the United States must be 
substantially reduced if the armies were to be given an 
approximately essential amount of sugar. 

Various plans looking to the curtailment of sugar 
consumption in this country were put into operation. 
Appeals were made to the people through the news- 
papers, public meetings, the churches, and otherwise, 
without obtaining the results which were sought. Rules 
were promulgated, at first limiting the amount which 
any individual could purchase to five pounds, and 
efforts were made to thwart the tendency toward hoard- 
ing which was prevalent. Soon the individual pur- 
chases were reduced to two pounds, and grocers were 
given definite instructions as to keeping records of their 
sales, with the idea of preventing the citizens, so far 
as possible, from repeating their purchases too fre- 
quently. All of these plans failed in accomplishing the 
necessary results. A plan was finally evolved by which 
sugar was rationed to both the wholesalers and retailers. 
The retailers were compelled to submit applications for 
sugar certificates which would indicate the amount of 
their normal sugar sales, and from that the Sugar 
Division of the New York Federal Food Board would 
compute upon a percentage basis the amount to which 
the retailer was entitled under the regulation seeking 
the curtailment of consumption. Sugar certificates were 
thereupon issued to the retailer monthly He could buy 
no sugar from the jobber except upon the presentation 
of sugar certificates covering the amount of his order. 



The jobber, on the other hand, was compelled to fur- 
nish these certificates to the sugar refining companies 
in order to secure his supply. 

The difficulty with the last plan, however, was that 
many retailers exaggerated the amount of their normal 
sales. It was frequently found that some very small 
obscure grocer, with a very limited trade, would have 
several times as much sugar as the large grocery store 
with an extensive patronage. As a consequence it be- 
came necessary for the Food Administrator to in- 
vestigate large numbers of dealers and make thorough 
examinations as to the extent of business done, in an 
effort to arrive at an approximately fair and reasonable 
figure concerning the amount of sugar to which the 
retailers were entitled under the restrictions which had 
been imposed. The sugar certificates for the dealers 
throughout the county were supplied by the Sugar 
Division of the Federal Food Board to the County 
Food Administrator, who in turn furnished them to the 
retail dealer. The Food Administrator, through the 
sources of information open to him, was privileged to 
curtail, or, with the approval of the Sugar Division, in- 
crease the amounts of sugar to the retailer as the facts 
warranted, and the problems and difficulties in that field 
were obviously enormous. This plan did not work with 
entire satisfaction. While it succeeded in regulating 
the amount of sugar consumed, it did not realize an 
equitable distribution among the people. Some citizens, 
unmindful of their duties and obligations in support of 
the nations at war with the enemies of civilization, 
would duplicate purchases in various stores, notwith- 
standing the positive regulation of three pounds per 
month per person (later reduced to two pounds per 
month per person), so that a part of the people had 
secured ample supplies of sugar, and others were 
unable to get even the meager allowance per month 
which the rules permitted. The amount of sugar al- 
lotted to a county, not including sugar for manufactur- 
ing purposes, was based upon the two pound per capita 
consumption, so that where considerable numbers of 
people procured an excess amount, others were com- 
pelled to submit to a corresponding shortage. _ 

It seemed to be, and it was, a serious injustice to 
that element of our population who conformed strictly 
to every rule that was made, that they should be de- 
prived of their proper ration while others were getting 
more than their allowance. In consequence of the mani- 
fest injustice in that situation, the County Food Ad- 
ministrator of Chautauqua County inaugurated the plan 
of the distribution of sugar by means of sugar cards. 
The consent of the superior authorities could not be 
obtained, but it was finally indicated that no interference 
would be made with it, and therefore in the summer of 
1918 the card system was put into effect. It entailed 
a vast amount of labor. The city of Jamestown has a 
population of 40,000. Many clerks were busy for many 
days in issuing the consumers' cards. One card was 
issued to the head of each household, and that card 
entitled the holder to purchase sugar weekly on the basis 
of two pounds per month per member of the household. 
In the smaller communities the cards were issued by the 
dealers, who were required to report to the Food 
Administrator, who made duplicate cards which were 
furnished the County Food Administrator in whose 
office they were duly tabulated and indexed. In the city 
of Dunkirk, as in Jamestown, the cards were issued 
from a central point, in each place the Thrift Kitchen. 

The consumer was compelled to present the card to 
his grocer when purchasing sugar, and the amount pur- 
chased (which had to be limited to the amount to which 
the holder was entitled) was punched in the margin 



UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 305 



of the card so that each dealer to whom the card was 
presented could readily ascertain from the punch marks 
whether the holder was entitled to the amount he re- 
quested. The tabulating and indexing of the sugar 
cards was done in the office of the County Food Ad- 
ministrator by a force of volunteer women under the 
direction of Miss M. May Briggs, of the city of James- 
town. It was an arduous task but was accomplished 
most efficiently. 

There were some abuses under the card system. Some 
people misrepresented the number in their household. 
Many such cases were investigated, and in some flagrant 
cases sugar cards were taken up and the holder deprived 
of any supply. On the whole, however, the plan worked 
with entire satisfaction, not only to the public, but to 
the retailer who theretofore had been greatly em- 
barrassed and annoyed by the importunities of people 
wanting sugar in excess of the amount provided by the 
rules. The card system generally effected a fair and 
equitable distribution, and it was subsequently adopted 
by a large majority of the Food Administrators in the 
State of New York as well as in many counties in other 
States. 

The card system could not be applied to hotels and 
eating houses. Regulation of these places was effected 
by means of reports showing the number of meals 
served, and a rule providing that the ration for each 
customer be put into an envelope and that the use of 
sugar bowls be discontinued. 

Two pounds per person per month is of course very 
mucli less than the normal consumption of sugar in 
American families. It was looked upon as a serious 
hardship by a great many people. Many substitutes, 
however, were available, and there was quickly developed 
a market for glucose and other corn syrup, honey, 
maple syrup, etc., which furnished the sweetening re- 
quired for cakes, pies, and various other foods. 

The people could not readily secure the supply of glu- 
cose as it was not handled generally by dealers. In 
order to facilitate its use as a substitute for sugar, the 
Thrift Kitchens in Jamestown and Dunkirk bought 
large quantities which they retailed to consumers at 
practically its cost to them. 

In cases where individuals or dealers secured sugar 
in excess of their proper allotment, the same procedure 
was followed as in other violations of Food Administra- 
tion rules. 

The distribution of sugar under the card system would 
not have been possible, of course, except through the aid 
and support of the retail grocers throughout the county. 
The most of them, in this as in all other matters in 
which the Food Administration was concerned, were 
patriotic, loyal, and vigilant. They cheerfully met every 
demand and the sacrifices which the exigencies of the 
situation required. 

The problems of sugar were not confined to domestic 
consumption ; as has been indicated, they were found in 
cases of hotels, restaurants, bakers, and manufacturers 
of marmalades, jellies, grape products, etc. Many ques- 
tions arose in dealing with such concerns, and it was 
frequently very difficult to determine the right and 
justice as between the concern desiring sugar on the 
one hand, and the Food Administration in its effort to 
restrict consumption on the other. Many conferences 
were held by the Food Administrator and the concerns 
involved, as well as with the State Food Administrator 
and the various departments of the Sugar Division in 
New York; visits to headquarters in New York were 
made, the long distance telephone and the telegraph 
wires were utilized freely, and finally a solution would 
Chau — 20 



be found which was both just and satisfactory to all 
concerned. 

Another feature of the Administration, in connection 
with sugar, was in providing sugar for canning and 
preserving. Obviously the meager allowance for do- 
mestic consumption left none for use in preserving. It 
was important that fruit be preserved in order that it 
should not be wasted, and also to increase the general 
food supply. Sugar was essential, and- was dispensed 
to housewives for canning under permits issued by the 
County Food Administrator. The individual made a 
written application stating the character and quantity 
of fruit to be preserved, and agreeing thereupon that 
the sugar should be used for no other purpose whatso- 
ever. Upon such applications permits were issued au- 
thorizing the applicant to procure the amount of sugar 
stated in the permit. There were some abuses, but gen- 
erally the contract of the user was strictly observed. 

It is difficult to schedule the activities of the Food 
Administration. Multitudes of problems were presented. 
We constantly received requests covering a wide range 
of subjects from every quarter of the county. These 
requests came by mail, by telephone, by telegraph, and 
by personal visit. They all had to be dealt with 
promptly. The Local Food Administrator sought at all 
times to effect an equitable distribution of food through- 
out the county. There were periods of severe shortage 
of various staple articles, principally sugar and flour. 
The problems of so distributing the commodities of 
which there was a shortage so that every family could 
be equally served, was a most difficult one. The un- 
selfish cooperation of practically all of the wholesalers 
and retailers in the county enabled the Food Adminis- 
tration to accomplish, in a substantial way, its purpose 
in this respect. It was seldom that any one community, 
or any one dealer, had a surplus of any particular item 
of food in excess of any other community or dealer 
during times of scarcity. It was the aim of the Local 
Food Administrator to enforce the laws, rules, and 
regulations with strict impartiality. The fact that no 
firm or individual, no matter how wealthy, powerful, 
or influential, had any advantage over the weakest or 
most obscure, served to win the confidence of the peo- 
ple generally and to enlist aid in our work from all 
sources. 

Men sometimes seek, through the high and influential 
positions which they occupy, by means of political in- 
fluence, or by pressure from powerful financial sources, 
to affect the conduct of those having to do with the 
judicial, legislative, and administrative branches of the 
government. It is unfortunately a fact that legislation 
often favors those of wealth and power; that advantage 
is often given to that class by executive action, and 
that even the courts sometimes in their judicial de- 
terminations do not hold the scales evenly as to the 
various classes of our citizens. These abuses contribute 
largely to the discontent prevalent in the country, and 
to the promotion of radical thought and action and the 
creation of groups inimical to our government and 
ideals. 

Notwithstanding the effort of men to seek discrimina- 
tion in their favor, those same men are the first to ap- 
plaud and command impartial action on the part of any 
official. An impartial course of official conduct is 
much the easier way to conduct business, and as soon 
as it is understood that the size of a man's bank ac- 
count, his social position, his standing in the business 
world or in politics, does not in the eyes of an in- 
dividual administering the law distinguish him in any 
respect from those of his fellows in any grade of 



3°6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



society, wealth, or influence, the pressure toward dis- 
crimination will cease and cooperation and support will 
be had from every source. 

The law, and the rules and regulations in connection 
with the Food Administration were applied to all alike. 
If there was any discrimination shown, it was to the 
obscure citizen who had transgressed by reason of 
ignorance or the limitations of his environment There- 
fore those accustomed to luxurious living, readily and 
cheerfully, after a brief time, brought themselves to 
make the sacrifice which were encumbent upon all 
citizens, in every walk of life, if the great assault 
against our civilization was to be stayed. 

Complaints of violations of rules were investigated, 
sometimes by the inspectors, sometimes by a patriotic 
volunteer citizen. Inspectors frequently visited various 
portions of the county and looked into suspected cases 
where there was good reason to believe that an in- 
dividual or firm had been guilty of a violation of the 
law or the rules of the Food Administration; a sum- 
mons was served requiring their appearance before the 
Food Administrator at a specified time, and the case 
was heard and a determination made. Large numbers 
of those summoned were fully exonerated; others were 
dismissed with a warning, where it was believed the 
violation arose through ignorance and no evil intent. 
Others were subjected to penalties. A considerable 
amount of money was contributed to the Red Cross 
and to other organizations engaged in war work, by 
those who had been found guilty of infractions of the 
rules. The money penalties ranged from $5 to $500. 
Many concerns were closed for various periods from 
one day to two months, depending upon the seriousness 
of the offense. A few concerns were closed for the 
duration of the war. A limited number of cases were 
presented to the United States District Attorney for ac- 
tion in the criminal courts. The hearings held by the 
Food Administrator were of course very numerous. It 
became necessary to set aside certain dates for these 
matters, and not infrequently there would be from ten 
to twenty cases upon the docket to be heard upon those 
occasions. 

The Food Administrator called to his aid, from 
various parts of the county, prominent members of the 
bar to assist in the prosecution of violators of the law 
and rules. In Jamestown the legal staff consisted of Mr. 
Wilson C. Price and Mr. Marion H. Fisher, both well 
known lawyers of high standing. The legal staff in 
other places in the county was made up of prominent 
and capable members of the bar as follows: Dunkirk, 
Albert E. Nugent and John K. Patterson; Fredonia, 
Herman J. Westwood ; Silver Creek, C. B. Livermore ; 
Westneld, Arthur S. Tennant. Upon a few occasions 
the assistance of the General Counsel of the Federal 
Food Board of New York City, Hon. Charles P. Robin- 
son, former Deputy Attorney General, was had. 

Much difficulty was experienced with certain classes 
of our foreign born population who had an imperfect 
understanding of the American language. This was 
particularly true of some Italians, of whom there are 
many in the county. These cases were difficult to deal 
with. Like the Frenchman, the Italian feels that he 
must have wheat flour. In Italy it forms ninety per 
cent, of his diet. He could not understand the logic of 
his being deprived of this article of food. In dealing 
with these people, therefore, it was essential to have the 
assistance of someone understanding the Italian lan- 
guage, and the Food Administrator was most fortunate 
in securing the services of Mrs. Anna Glase, a young 
woman of Jamestown, of Italian parentage, who not 
only interpreted upon occasions of hearings and other- 



wise, but who did most valuable work in pointing out 
to those people the patriotic duties which they should 
follow. Mrs. Glase also performed most valuable and 
important work in connection with the Thrift Kitchen 
and the establishment and operation of the sugar card 
system which was inaugurated by the Food Administra- 
tor. 

Some idea of the penalties imposed may be acquired 
from a brief statement thereof. There were many 
contributions for the possession of excessive quantities 
of flour or of sugar; for securing flour without at the 
same time procuring the required substitutes ; from 
hotels for failure to observe the limitations in serving 
guests an excessive amount of sugar, butter or meat ; 
for failure to observe the requirements of meatless 
days and wheatless days ; for failure to use required sub- 
stitutes in the preparation of their baked goods, etc. ; 
from retail grocers for selling excess amounts of flour, 
and for selling flour without at the same time selling 
required substitutes ; for procuring excessive quanti- 
ties of either flour or sugar. One concern operating a 
chain of retail stores throughout the county was penal- 
ized by having all its stores closed for a period of one 
week. Other places of business were closed from one 
day to two weeks. Some bakers were penalized because 
of their failure to observe the rules in using sub- 
stitutes with their wheat in the preparation of bread and 
other goods. Macaroni factories in some instances 
violated the rules and submitted to penalties. In one 
case a factory was closed for the duration of the war. 
The stocks of many dealers, where it was found no 
equivalent substitutes were on hand and the flour was 
being sold without substitutes, were confiscated and 
sold, and the proceeds turned over to patriotic so- 
cieties. The list might be extended indefinitely, but 
enough has been stated to afford something of an idea 
of the operations of the Food Administration in this 
respect. 

The regulatory work of the Food Administration per- 
haps attracted the most attention from the public. Cases 
of violations and penalties inflicted were of course given 
wide publicity. In consequence, many people became 
possessed of the idea that the principal business of the 
Food Administration was searching for violations of 
rules and inflicting punishments therefor. That, of 
course, was an erroneous impression. The public in 
general did not understand the work which the Food 
Administration did in securing food supplies and in the 
promotion of the business of those engaged in the manu- 
facture and distribution of food. 

A multitude of rules applying to wholesalers, retailers, 
and dealers were made by the Food Administration 
based upon developed necessity as the war progressed. 
These rules were frequently modified by the local Food 
Administrator to meet local conditions. These rules 
were given publicity day by day through the press, and 
by such other means as were available, and of course 
were transmitted to the local representatives of the Food 
Administrator throughout the county, and to the dealers 
in the particular line affected. These dealers and 
purveyors of food commodities included wholesale groc- 
ers, retail grocers, bakers, millers and feed dealers, hotels 
and public eating houses, etc. A day seldom passed 
without receiving from headquarters some change in the 
rules affecting one or more of the enumerated classes. 
Sometimes several new orders were received in a single 
day. The physical task of putting those orders into 
form for the guidance of the dealers and the public, 
and in transmitting them to the press, to local repre- 
sentatives, and to the dealers affected, was obviously a 
large one, and the facilities of the local office were 



UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 307 



taxed to the utmost by the large volume of work in- 
volved in this feature alone. 

All of these matters involved also a large amount of 
correspondence, not only with. the State Administrator 
to whose authority the local Food Administrator was 
subjected, but with various divisions of the Federal 
Food Board in New York, and departments in Washing- 
ton. There was further continuous flow of letters from 
the local representatives throughout the county from 
dealers and from individuals. New questions were con- 
stantly arising. Interpretations of rules were con- 
stantly called for from numerous sources. Information 
concerning violations were received from every part of 
the county. Appeals for assistance from dealers and 
individuals came in large numbers and all of these had 
to be given prompt attention. To illustrate a few of 
the problems which were from day to day presented to 
the Food Administration : 

A farmer, by letter, telephone, or a personal visit, 
would complain that he was unable to get his grain 
threshed, although a threshing machine was operating 
within reasonable proximity to his farm. As the thresh- 
ing of the grain was important to the food supply, or 
to sustain the stock of the farmer through the winter, 
which latter, of course, affected either dairy products 
or meat, the thresher was called to account and directed 
to go to the assistance of the farmer whose work he 
had refused. There were many cases of that kind. 

A canning factory would report that its supply of 
cans was exhausted ; that a car of cans was upon a 
railroad siding in Dunkirk ; that the railroad had re- 
fused to deliver the cans ; that the canning factory must 
close unless immediate delivery was secured. The Food 
Administrator would get into communication with the 
superintendent of the railroad, and he would be directed 
to move the car of cans immediately; and the orders 
were obeyed. 

A farmer would complain that a car of phosphate, 
necessary as a fertilizer to enable him to put in his 
crop, had been lost in transit ; that he could get no 
satisfaction from the freight agents of the railroad com- 
pany, and that unless immediate delivery could be se- 
cured his farming operations would suffer substantial 
damage. All facts obtainable would be wired to the 
traffic department of the Food Administration in New 
York. The machinery for tracing that shipment would 
be set in motion and, almost invariably, the car would 
be located within a few hours and appropriate orders 
given for its immediate transportation to its destination. 

Some one engaged in operating a threshing machine 
would report that his operations must cease as his coal 
supply was exhausted. We would then appeal to the 
Fuel Administrator and enlist his aid in securing fuel 
so that the threshing machine could continue its opera- 
tions. 

A large fish company doing extensive business in the 
city of Dunkirk and operating a fleet of tugs, which con- 
tributed thousands of pounds daily to the food supply, 
was hampered in its operations because of the refusal 
of a railroad company to furnish refrigerator cars to 
transport the large daily catch of fish from Dunkirk 
to the New York market. Because of the inadequate 
facilities furnished by this railroad, large quantities of 
fish were spoiled before reaching their destination. A 
telephonic conversation with the railroad official in 
charge of that department of the railroad's activities not 
bringing satisfactory results, the local Food Administra- 
tor issued an order directing the railroad to furnish a 
refrigerator car upon a certain express train daily from 
Dunkirk to New York City. The car was furnished. 



and a large contribution to the food supply was thereby 
effected. 

Some branches of the food business were seasonable, 
such as the canneries. Telephones were necessary in the 
prosecution of their business. When they were ready 
to begin their season's operations, the telephone com- 
pany refused to install telephones or furnish telephone 
service. The facts were presented to the Food Ad- 
ministrator, and if conditions justified he would issue 
an order to the telephone company to install a telephone 
for the use of the business affected, and to render to 
the person or concern telephone service. Such orders 
were in every case promptly complied with. 

The embargoes upon transportation were a constant 
source of trouble. A resident in one of the small towns 
decided to install a mill for grinding wheat, as the 
facilities in that line in the county were very meager. 
He was able to purchase his machinery, but unable to 
get shipment because of the embargo which another de- 
partment of the government had laid upon freight 
transportation. The Food Administration secured an 
order for the shipment of the machinery in question. 
Through the Food Administration a great many freight 
shipments, essential in increasing the food supply, were 
relieved of the embargoes which had impeded delivery. 

A baker at some point would find himself without a 
supply of flour and unable to procure any from any 
jobber. This was frequently true during the periods 
of serious shortage. The office of the local Food Ad- 
ministrator kept a very close watch upon available sup- 
plies of that character. The jobbers quite naturally 
wished to distribute their often meager supply to their 
favored customers. In one case the jobber refused to 
supply a baker who was confronted with the necessity 
of securing an immediate supply of flour, or closing 
his place of business. The Food Administrator at once 
commandeered the jobber's supply of flour and dis- 
tributed it in accordance with the public necessities. It 
is well to add here, that generally the jobbers of Chau- 
tauqua county placed their supplies unreservedly at the 
orders of the Food Administrator, and his requests for 
shipments to meet public emergencies anywhere within 
the county were promptly, graciously, and patriotically 
observed. 

The Food Administrator was also very frequently 
called to the aid of the jobbers themselves. They were 
frequently hampered in procuring the stocks which they 
required. There were many times when the supply of 
flour and sugar in Chautauqua county, as in other coun- 
ties, would have been completely exhausted but for the 
appeals bv telegraph and telephone to the Federal Food 
Administrator of the State and to the departments of 
the Federal Food Board having particular jurisdiction 
over those commodities. 

Another subject that engaged the attention of the local 
Food Administrator was the relation of the milk pro- 
ducers with the condensories. Those situations present- 
ed questions of great difficulty. Various controversies 
calculated to embarrass the dairy interests frequently 
arose. Complaints were made that one condensory was 
rejecting daily large quantities of milk. In one day the 
rejections amounted to 20,000 pounds, and the milk 
rejected was a total loss, as the farmers had no other 
market for it and no facilities for its manufacture into 
butter or cheese. The rejections were made upon the 
ground that when delivered to the condensory's dumping 
can the temperatures were found to be above the es- 
tablished limit of 70 . A thorough investigation re- 
vealed the fact that many of the loads of milk taken to 
the condensory in question were compelled to stand for 
two to four hours in the hot sun awaiting their turn 



3 o8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



to unload milk in the condensory. The Food Ad- 
ministrator held that under the exigencies of the situa- 
tion, it was incumbent upon the Condensory Company 
to provide facilities for the prompt unloading of the 
milk delivered to it; that it was unreasonable to com- 
pel a farmer to wait with his load for hours in the 
sun and expect him to get his milk to the dumping can 
at a temperature of 70°. It was a practical impossibility. 
An order was consequently made that the temperature 
of all milk delivered should be taken upon arrival at the 
•company's yard, and that at that time the responsibility 
of the farmer ceased; that if the milk was delivered at 
the yard within the prescribed temperature no rejection 
could be made. The Food Administrator thereby in- 
curred the serious displeasure of the Condensory Com- 
pany, but the plan worked well and the wholesale re- 
jections ceased. Unloading of milk was facilitated and 
a large saving to the food supply affected. Another 
condensory notified its patrons of its purpose to dis- 
continue its operations entirely upon a certain date. The 
Food Administration interferred. A full hearing was 
had. An order was made directing that particular com- 
pany to continue its operations. It did continue, and an 
enormous quantity of dairy products was thereby saved 
to the people in that time of great need. These are only 
illustrations of the many difficulties arising between the 
dairymen and the condensories which were adjusted by 
the Food Administrator. 

A constant source of difficulty for the Food Adminis- 
tration was the question of prices. On many com- 
modities a definite rate of profit was established by the 
United States Food Administration. On others the ques- 
tion of fairness and reasonableness of the profit im- 
posed was one for the local Food Administrator to 
handle. Those problems were constant, and affected 
practically every article of food supply. Multitudes of 
complaints were received almost daily. In many cases 
penalties for profiteering were inflicted. A fair price 
committee of the local organization was created, whose 
business it was to meet every week and fix a schedule of 
prices upon various staple articles of food, in accord- 
ance with the rules of the United States Food Admin- 
istration, for the week to come. These fair prices were 
published. 

The matter of retail prices of milk in the larger 
communities in the county was a source of constant 
trouble. It was finally found necessary to have ex- 
perts examine into the business of milk distribution 
for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of profits 
to which dealers were fairly entitled. When those facts 
were determined, appropriate orders were issued limit- 
ing the distributors to the profits which had been found 
to be fair and reasonable, and the public was thereby 
protected against extortion in that direction. 

About the month of August. 1918, the Fuel Admin- 
istration decreed that motor cars, motor boats, and the 
like, should not operate on the Sabbath except in cases 
of absolute necessity. That season in Chautauqua coun- 
ty there was an immense crop of apples. It was im- 
possible for the farmers generally to harvest the crop. 
The Food Administrator made every effort to pro- 
vide means by which the crop could be harvested, so 
that the apple supply should be saved to the people. 
In furtherance of those efforts an arrangement was 
made by the Local Food Administrator with Charles 
M. Dow, Fuel Administrator of the county, by which 
automobiles, under a permit of the Food Administrator, 
could be used on Sunday for the purpose of transporting 
harvesters from the city to the farms. The farmers 
were very glad to have apples picked upon shares, and in 
many ca_;es to sell the crop upon the trees at a nominal 



price. It was therefore announced that persons desiring 
to go to the country on Sundays for the purpose of 
harvesting apples might have a permit from the Food 
Administrator, under an application which contained an 
agreement to the effect that the automobiles should not 
be driven except directly to the farm where the apples 
were to be procured and thence home. Large placards 
were printed to attach to the automobiles so that the 
drivers should be immune from the jeers and abuse 
which were generally directed toward the individual 
using an automobile upon the public highways in viola- 
tion of the Sunday regulation. Many hundreds of 
people availed themselves of these permits, and as a 
consequence many thousands of bushels of apples were 
saved to the food supply. 

Volumes could be written upon the subject of the 
conservation work of the Food Administration, but a 
brief resume of the features under this head will be 
sufficient. The American people had not been educated 
to the use of barley flour, corn flour, oat flour, and other 
grain flours that of necessity had to be used in the place 
of wheat flour. The appetite had not been trained to 
relish these foods and the housewife knew very little if 
anything of their use in baking operations. Considerable 
resentment was aroused, but women finally learned that 
very palatable breads could be produced from the sub- 
stitute flours when properly prepared. Experimentation 
disclosed that most delicious breads and cakes could be 
made wtihout the use of either sugar or butter, for 
there were many substitutes for sweetening and for 
shortening. Glucose, honey, maple syrup, and other 
substances, were utilized in large quantities in place of 
sugar. The State of New York, at Cornell University, 
had established an organization for the promotion of 
conservation of food supplies and had a large number 
of trained experts in this line. These experts were fur- 
nished to the local Food Administrators throughout the 
State. Conservation committees composed of women 
were organized in the various communities. The State 
experts, known as conservation agents, met these or- 
ganizations of women, gave talks upon the food values 
of the various articles of foods used as substitutes. This 
information was carried by the women of the conserva- 
tion committee to other women of the communities, and 
by that means thousands of women in Chautauqua 
county and elsewhere became proficient in the prepara- 
tion of food made of grains which had theretofore been 
known principally as food for horses and cattle. 

In 1918 there was an immense production of potatoes 
in Chautauqua county, as elsewhere. Potatoes had en- 
joyed a general though limited use upon every table. It 
was found, however, that potatoes could be used in many 
ways not theretofore understood, and the people were 
given instructions upon that subject. Exhibitions of the 
preparation of potato for food in thirty or forty dif- 
ferent styles were made. Finally we designated a week 
to be known as "Potato Week," requiring all of the 
women of the county to devote themselves to the study 
of a more extensive use of potatoes, and during that 
week instructions were widely given by a corps of 
experts, and beyond any doubt there were many times 
the number of potatoes consumed in that week than at 
any other time in the county's history. That agitation 
stimulated the use of potatoes, and was the means not 
only of utilizing a large part of the enormous crop of 
the year, but also of effecting a tremendous saving in 
the other foods which were required by the active par- 
ticipants in the war. 

Thrift Kitchens were established in Jamestown and 
Dunkirk. In Dunkirk, the Kitchen was in charge of 
Mrs. Joseph C. White. In Jamestown Mrs. Clare A. 



UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 309 



Pickard was in charge. Miss Helen Smith of Camillus, 
New York, one of the conservation agents provided by 
the State, was located at the Jamestown Thrift Kitchen. 
There was also a conservation agent engaged at Dun- 
kirk. These agents visited various women's organiza- 
tions, as well as neighborhood clubs, lecturing and giv- 
ing practical instructions in the preparation of foods. 

Canning centers were also established, and at these 
points fruit and vegetables were canned by and for 
large numbers of individuals, and a vast amount of 
knowledge upon these lines was disseminated which 
will be of lasting benefit not only to this generation 
but to the generations to come. Mrs. Claude A. Ahl- 
strom was very active in the work at Jamestown. She 
became most proficient in it, and devoted her time and 
talents in speaking to various clubs of women through- 
out the county in the promotion of the conservation 
program and in the disseminating of information along 
these lines. Miss Smith and Mrs. Ahlstrom, as well as 
the large number of women in all of the communities, 
did a splendid work. The organization created for the 
prosecution of the conservation plan of the local Food 
Administration was an extensive and effective one. It 
covered completely the smallest division of the county 
— the school district. 

While it will be impracticable to give the names of 
all of the women who became a part of this organization 
yet we can and should record the names of the executive 
committee and town chairmen. Each member of the 
executive committee had jurisdiction over certain towns. 
Under her, therefore, there were town chairmen. Re- 
sponsibility was further subdivided by the creation of 
the local district committeemen under the immediate 
direction of the town chairmen. The executive commit- 
tee was composed as follows: Mrs. F. W. Crandall, 
chairman, Westfield ; Miss Etta Montgomery, Silver 
Creek; Mrs. Joseph C. White, Dunkirk; Mrs. S. E. 
McGinnies, Ripley; Mrs. C. M. Reed, Sinclairville ; Mrs. 
L. G. Brainard, Ellington ; Mrs. James W. Pringle, 
Ashville; Mrs. Daisy M. Stowell, Mayville; Mrs. Guy 
Chase, Frewsburg; Mrs. Thomas H. Meredith, James- 
town. 

Clare A. Pickard, chairman, ex-officio ; Mrs. Alice 
J. Moynihan, assistant chairman, ex-officio. 

The following were those designated as town chair- 
men : Mrs. Evelyn H. Clark, Brocton; Mrs. Harlow 
Breads. Mrs. C. J. Bannister, Westfield; Mrs. J. F. 
Scott, Portland ; Mrs. Charles Burrows, West Portland ; 
Mrs. Hartley Hample, Hamlet ; Mrs. Dr. Harry Hutchin- 
son, Forestville ; Mrs. John Daily, Nashville ; Mrs. 
Emma Brand, Silver Creek; Miss Clara Ulmer, Irving; 
Miss Mayme Ormsbee, Smith Mills ; Mrs. Deloc Cole, 
Arkwright Center ; Mrs. W. F. Royce, Forsyth ; Mrs. E. 
C. Porter, Ripley; Mrs. Lucas Gleason, French Creek; 
Mrs. E. S. Taylor, Mrs. Hubert Deck, Ripley; Mrs. 
W. L. Nuttall, Findley's Lake; Mrs. Fred L. Jones, 
North East, Pa.; Mrs. L. N. Lazell, Stockton; Mrs. 
Jennie Bulger, Cassadaga ; Miss Evah Littlefield, Sin- 
clairville ; Mrs. Dr. Cowden, Gerry; Airs. J. W. Hooker, 
Sinclairville; Mrs. F. W. Putnam, Dewittville; Mrs. 
Florence Sylvester, Sinclairville; Mrs. Alice Baldwin, 
Frewsburg; Mrs. James Broadhead, Jamestown; Mrs. 
Ellen Prittie, Mrs. Lena Thompson, Mrs. Frank Stirn- 
berg, Frewsburg; Mrs. Alice L. Dennison, Jamestown; 
Mrs. Ruth Haskins, Frewsburg; Mrs. Clyde Curtis, 
Jamestown; Mrs. J. A. Russell, Lakewood; Mrs. R. G. 
Crandall, Kennedy; Mrs. Grant Forbes, Jamestown; 
Mrs. Claire Shulters, Mrs. E. R. Anderson, Kennedy; 
Mrs. Roie Brown, Ellington ; Mrs. Grant Wheeler, Mrs. 
Hattie Erwin, Airs. Fred Weaver, Mrs. Willard Gates, 
Cherry Creek; Airs. C. H. Waterhouse, Sherman; Mrs. 



L. P. McCray, Clymer ; Mrs. Orrilla Richardson, Watts 
Flats; Airs. Ernest Cross, Niobe; Mrs. Eliza Abbott, 
Ashville; Airs. Lena B. Skinner, Panama; Airs. J. H. 
Dann, Alayville; Mrs. L. B. Yale, Chautauqua; Mrs. 
George B. Leet, Point Chautauqua; Airs. H. P. Kinne, 
Alayville; Airs. Elizabeth A. Bemus, Bemus Point; 
Airs. Charles AIcKay, Mayville; Mrs. Frank Holmquist, 
Falconer; Airs. Hettie Sherwin, Jamestown; Mrs. 
George Ferguson, Celoron ; Airs. S. C. Houghwot, Mrs. 
Herman Baldwin, Falconer; Airs. H. A. Donelson, 
Jamestown ; Airs. S. P. Williams, Sheridan ; Miss Helen 
Case, Airs. Edwin Stevens, Airs. William Aletzler, 
Fredoma; Aliss Katherine Wheeler, Dunkirk. 

Many notable public meetings were held in Chautauqua 
county in the interests of the Food Administration. One 
of the largest ever known in Jamestown was held in the 
First Lutheran Church in February, 1918, and addressed 
by Rev. Dr. Julius Lincoln, pastor of the church, who 
had just returned from France, where he had been 
sent as a member of the Commission appointed by the 
Government in the interests of the Food Administra- 
tion. Dr. Lincoln is a man of great eloquence. His 
address will long be remembered. Another speaker at 
this meeting was Airs. Florence E. S. Knapp, of Cornell 
University, who was doing Statewide work in the in- 
terests of the Food Administration. 

Hon. Daniel A. Reed, of Dunkirk, now a member of 
Congress, was a member of the Food Administration 
Commission which went to France, and after his return 
Air. Reed, besides his speeches in Chautauqua county, 
made a speaking tour through many States. Air. Reed's 
forceful oratory and extraordinary personality exerted 
a strong influence upon the people everywhere. 

Dr. Arthur E. Bestor, president of the Chautauqua 
Institution, tendered to the County Food Administra- 
tor the Chautauqua platform for a day during the 
Chautauqua season of 1918. This courtesy was grate- 
fully accepted. Chautauqua, as is well known, supplies 
the greatest forum in the world, and from that plat- 
form the message of the Food Administration was car- 
ried not only to the people of the county but to prac- 
tically every community in the nation. The Food Ad- 
ministrator arranged the program for the entire day. 
We were favored by the presence of Hon. Charles E. 
Treman, Federal Food Administrator, who presided at a 
symposium in the Ampitheater at which Dean Alann 
of Cornell University, a member of the Federal Food 
Board, and others, were heard. Preceding the sym- 
posium, Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of Leland 
Stanford Jr. University, closely associated with Air. 
Hoover in the work of the Food Administration, ad- 
dressed a large meeting. In the evening, Airs. Beatrice 
Forbes-Robertson Hale, one of the best known women 
orators of the world, delivered an address to a large 
audience. Airs. Hale, during the existence of the Food 
Administration, rendered splendid service throughout 
the country by her eloquent appeals in support of the 
great cause. It was Airs. Hale's second visit to Chau- 
tauqua county under the auspices of the Food Ad- 
ministration. On the Fourth of July, 1918, she ad- 
dressed large meetings at Dunkirk and Westfield. 

Dr. William H. Crawford, president of Allegheny 
College, visited Europe early in 1918, and upon his 
return graciously responded to the request of the County 
Food Administrator to give an address in Jamestown. 
This was a memorable occasion. Dr. Crawford spoke 
in the Opera House to a capacity audience. 

Many public meetings were held in the various com- 
munities in the county, all of which were most effective 
in the promotion of the work of the Food Administra- 
tion. 



3 io 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



With the signing of the Armistice in November, 1918, 
the large number of persons affiliated with the Food 
Administration viewed with relief and thanksgiving the 
approaching termination of their labors. Restoration to 
normal conditions, however, could not immediately be 
■effected. Time was required for the necessary re- 
adjustment, and it was not until the first of February, 
1919, that the United States Food Administration was 
demobilized. However, the County Food Administra- 
tors and their office staffs were retained unofficially to 
aid in the prosecution of the work that remained. Vari- 
ous duties were performed until about the month of 
May, when all activities ceased locally and the County 
Food Administrator and those associated with him 
were- permitted to devote their time and energies to 
their personal affairs. 

The work of the Food Administrator was neither 
popular nor spectacular, but it played a vastly important 
role in the successful prosecution of the war. The 
result of the discipline upon the American people is of 
inestimable value which will be felt for many years. 

The Food Administration was a unique feature in 
American government. Its existence could be justified 
only by the exigencies of war and a crisis in the food 



supply of the world which could not be met and over- 
come except by means of governmental regulation and 
control. The results fully vindicated the vision and 
wisdom of Mr. Hoover. No other war had ever in- 
volved so many nations, or so seriously disorganized 
and demoralized the food production of the world. The 
Food Administration met the crisis, and its vital part 
in the great war machine will be acknowledged by his- 
torians for all time. The Food Administration made 
its appeal to the patriotism and citizenship of the people 
in the solitude of the home. The observance of its 
requests were not produced in the glare of light, in 
front of trumpets and loud huzzahs, but by the fire- 
side of practically every home within our land. No 
greater evidence of devotion, sacrifice, and patriotism 
has ever been displayed by the people of this, or any 
other country, than in the co-operation of the people 
of America in maintaining, through the uninterrupted 
supply of food to Europe, the morale and fighting spirit 
of the armies, and in sustaining the hope and the cour- 
age of the civilian population of our allies across the 
seas. 

January 1st, 1921. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 



The narrow limits of a single chapter do not allow 
even an outline of all the interesting events which have 
marked the founding and development of the educa- 
tional institutions of Chautauqua county. Into the 
building of these schools has gone the unselfish service 
of a multitude of men and women. Former histories 
have given much of the details of their activities, and 
some mention of them will be found in the sketches of 
the various towns in this publication. For the most part, 
however, the purpose of this chapter is to record the 
present degree of advancement of the schools as a 
whole, with only such brief reference to the earlier days 
and the people then prominent as shall furnish an effec- 
tive background for the picture ; and again, by giving in 
something of detail the upward movement in a few of 
the large communities, give due recognition to some of 
the leaders in the educational progress of the county. 

Among the pioneers of Chautauqua county were many 
men and women of education and refinement, and one 
of their first concerns was to furnish such means for the 
education of the children of the community as their 
circumstances permitted. Although the conditions of 
life were rude and hard and consequently there were but 
scanty facilities for schools, yet it is not to be concluded 
that because of these handicaps the instruction was not 
genuine and helpful. For in these schools many men of 
power and influence received their first impulse to 
achievement. Moreover, the home life and social en- 
vironment of the day rendered unnecessary much that is 
now included in the school curriculum. 

In some instances the first schools were privately 
supported, but later advantage was taken of the State 
law and public schools were established. For many 
years these were not free schools, as a portion of the 
expense was paid by the parents or guardians of the 
pupils, the amount due for each child being determined 
by the ratio of his attendance to the whole number of 
days of attendance. This was the famous rate bill, and 
this was in force in some places at least as late as the 
sixties. In the more populous centers, in order to secure 
more efficient instruction or instruction in the higher 
branches, private day schools were often maintained. 



These were commonly known as "select" schools. Fol- 
lowing these and in some cases contemporaneously with 
them were the old line academies. 

To found and maintain these academies, stock com- 
panies were organized and chartered under the pro- 
visions of the State law. There seems to have been 
little or no thought of financial return in these under- 
takings ; on the contrary, the stock was bought by 
public-spirited citizens to further the cause of educa- 
tion, though in some instances, no doubt, local pride 
played a not unworthy part. The academies were 
managed by boards of trustees selected by the stock- 
holders. These trustees hired the principals, who in 
some cases at least appear to have employed their own 
assistants and have been responsible for the success or 
failure of the school, financial as well as scholastic. 
From an early day the State of New York has encour- 
aged local effort by appropriation of State funds both 
to elementary and secondary schools, and the academies 
shared in this support upon complying with certain easy 
terms. These academies were organized in different 
parts of the county. In fact, every considerable village 
maintained an academy, though some do not appear to 
have been chartered by the State, yet were called 
academies. The academy was the center of the intellec- 
tual life of its community, and next to the church, and 
in some respects even surpassing the church, it was the 
most potent force for right living and high thinking. 
Even in small communities these academies gained a 
reputation that extended for considerable distances. 
Especially deserving of mention in this respect were the 
Forestville and Ellington academies. 

About the middle of the last century the idea began 
to prevail that secondary or academic education was 
also a concern of the State, and should be brought with- 
in the reach of all. By the terms of the Union free 
school legislation it was made possible for a group of 
common school districts to unite in a union school and 
to establish an academic department. Wherever this 
plan was adopted, the academies began to decline and in 
most instances became the academic department of the 
Union School of the locality. By a still later transfor- 




i <T.l 'KK Tl All: Si 'H< n 'I. 





^j^^jaHwwi dfct 





THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



mation they are now termed high schools, and the his- 
tory of many of our high schools can be traced back to 
the old academy. 

During the century and more in which schools have 
been carried on in the county, there has been a con- 
stant change in school legislation. These changes have 
necessitated corresponding changes in local procedure, 
and from very simple beginnings the present complicated 
systems have been developed. It is interesting to note 
that the inception of one of the most far-reaching and 
beneficial enactments of all our school legislation — that 
providing for the creation of the union free school — is 
credited to a native of Chautauqua county, Hon. Victor 
Rice, who served for several terms as State Superin- 
tendent of Schools between the years 1854 and 1866. 

At a time when the supervision of the schools of the 
county was in the hands of a county superintendent, 
Wortly Putnam held this office for four years from 
1843 to 1847, during which time he rendered a great 
service to the cause of education by visiting the schools 
of the county, holding classes for teachers in the vari- 
ous towns, and arranging programs for school celebra- 
tions in which the schools engaged in eager but friendly 
competition. 

The "Centennial History of Chautauqua County" con- 
tains the following lists of teachers who so far as can be 
ascertained taught the first school in the different 
townships: Arkwright — Horace Clough, 1811 ; Busti — 
Olive Marsh, 1813; Carroll and Kiantone — Stephen 
Rogers, 1813 ; Charlotte — William Gilmour, 1813; Chau- 
tauqua — Rev. Amasa West, 181 1, (but there was a 
school there in 1809, teacher unknown) ; Cherry Creek 
— Reuben Cheney, 1818; Clymer — Marie Stowe, 1822; 
Ellery— Dr. Lazarus Carey, 1808; Ellicott and James- 
town — Rev. Amasa West, 1814; Ellington — Milo Camp, 
1817; French Creek — R. Chitsey, 1818; Gerry — Hannah 
Johnson, 1817; Hanover — John Sprague, 1808; Har- 
mony — Abigail Durfee, 1813; Mina — Elisha Moore, 
1823; Pomfret and Dunkirk — Samuel Berry, 1809; Po- 
land — Betsey Tracy, 1816 ; Portland — Anna Eaton, 1810; 
Ripley — Anna Eaton, 1809; Sheridan — Squire White, 
1808; Sherman — Otis Skinner, 1828; Stockton, Abigail 
Durfee, 1815; Villenova — Mrs. Elizabeth Browning, 
1817; Westfield— Anna Eaton, 1807. 

The early teachers of that period were paid from 
twenty-five to fifty cents per day, and boarded around 
the district. Twenty-four days constituted a school 
month, and teachers were often paid in farm products 
at the "cash and barter" store of the district. In 1819 
Fletcher Fenton taught in the now town of Poland and 
received $10 per month, taking his pay in shingles at 
fifty cents per M. 

Miss Minerva Willoughby in the summers of 1817 
and 1818 taught school in what is known as the Wil- 
loughby district. She received fifty cents a week and 
boarded herself. Money being scarce, she took her pay 
from a store in Fredonia. She accepted a wheel-head, 
a pair of cards — for preparing flax for spinning — and a 
bake-kettle, all of which she found useful after her 
marriage to Joseph Van Vleit, which occurred in 1819. 
Their daughter, later Mrs. S. V. Barton of Westfield, 
taught a school at Wright's Corners in 1853, receiving 
$1.50 a week, and boarded around, an increase in wages 
of over two hundred per cent, in thirty-five years. 

The first academy in the county was organized at 
Fredonia in 1824. Unlike most of the academies of the 
county which finally became the academic departments 
of the Union Schools, Fredonia Academy became the 
academy department of the Fredonia State Normal 
School in 1867. 



311 

foffo'wY- aCademieS in the count y were organized as 

Fredonia Academy, the first organized in Chautauqua 
county was incorporated November 25, 1824 It was 

Stained P ^ S £ Ct ° b V 4 ' ' 826 ' a " d continuously 
maintained until 1867, when it was succeeded bv the 

TrainZ sT rt , men p t °J the Fredonia State Nor ™l and 

S^ofS^ReSS"^ 23 ' l83 °" * WaS Placed °" 

Mayville Academy was incorporated April 24, 1814 

and Placed on the Regents' roll February 5, 1830 On 

Mavv'lte'union's 11 , 115 ^ 65 ^T^ the P™Perty 39 to the 
a , \ Vi A School which was organized in 1867, 

o the M n Ca i d i Cmy b ?? a T e the academic department 
of the Mayville Union High School. 

Jamestown Academy was incorporated April 16, 1836, 
and placed on the Regents' roll February 5, 1839 In 
866 the trustees voted to unite the Academy with the 
Union School which was established under the name 
of Union Free School District No. 1 in 186^ The 
w a 0P ™h JameSt ° Wn aCC / P t ed the trust and t«e Academy 
Z^ Pn -\ P °T rtl °- n 0f the J^estown Union School 
and Collegiate Institute. 

Westfield Academy was incorporated May 5, 1817 and 
placed on the Regents' roll February 5, ,839! In ',868 
the Academy passed into the possession of the Board 
of Education of the Union School as the academic de- 
partment of the Westfield High School 

Ellington Academy was organized March 30, 18M 
March 23 1871 the trustees passed a resolution trans- 
ferring the Academy property to Union School District 
No 2, of the town of Ellington, and it became the 
academic department of the Ellington High School. 
_ Dunkirk Academy was incorporated May 1, 1837 and 
in the year 1859 the Academy proper was conveyed to 
the Union School district and became the academic 
department of that institution 

Union Free Schools were established as given below. 
The honor of having the first of these schools in Chau- 
tauqua county belongs to Forestville, where under the 
leadership of Town Superintendent Cyrus D Angell 
the union free school system was adopted after a stub- 
born tight. 

TT?n U £ T £ h } 7 - l8 e 8 ' W n S passed an act authorizing a 
Union School in the village of Dunkirk, then in the 
town of Pomfret. 

Union Free School District No. 1 of the town of 
Ellicott was organized in 1863. In 1868 the trustees of 

with t^TT™ 11 4 C t demy Z? ted to unite the Academy 
with the Union School. The people of District No 1 
accepted the trust and the school took the name of 
Jamestown Union School and Collegiate Institute, 
in xRfifl^h ♦! Uni °" S chool was organized February 
10, 1868, by the consolidation of School Districts Nos 
1, 2, 7 and n of the town of Westfield. Following this' 
action was taken by the trustees of the Westfield Acad- 
emy whereby the Union School accepted it and it be- 
Ca ^u £ aCad f m r C r 4 e Partment of the Union School. 
*t T«fi^ ay M C Uni °" School was organized October 
f\ll\ n y a 5, I 868 ' * speeded to the property 
of the Mayville Academy, and the academic department 
of the Union School was established. 

The Sherman Union School is the outgrowth of a 
log house roofed with bark, built in 1830 In 1816 a 
frame house was erected. In 1844 this gave place to a 
larger building which was enlarged in i860 In De- 
cember, 1867, a Union School was organized 

FIH^T^tV" 1011 .: 5 ^ ? 1 Was or ^ aniz cd ^ 1869. The 
Ellington Union School was organized and succeeded to 
the property of the Ellington Academy March 23 1871 



3 I2 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



October 3, 1899, it was advanced to the grade of High 
School. 

The Silver Creek Union School was organized April 
8, 1879, taking the place of the Graded School No. 8, 
Hanover and Sheridan. 

The Sinclairville Union School was organized May 

17, 1879. The new building costing $6,000 was dedicated 
January 10, 1881. In June, 1897, a new charter was 
granted by the Regents, and the school was placed on 
the list of High Schools. 

The Ripley Union School was organized December 
19, 18S2, by a union of the graded and high school 
interests which for many years had done excellent ser- 
vice in the educational field. In October, 1901, it was 
raised to a High School. 

The Brocton Union School was organized in 18S7, 
taking the place of the graded school. It became a 
Junior Regent School in 1889 and was raised to the 
grade of High School in 1896. 

The Falconer Union School was organized in 1893 
from Graded School No. 6, Ellicott. 

Fedonia Union School was organized from Graded 
School No. 8, August II, 1893. 

Lakewood Union School in district No. I, Busti, in 

The Panama Union was organized in 1895 ; the Frews- 
burg Union School prior to that date. 
The Stockton Union School was founded November 

18, 1896; Cherry Creek Union School, August 4, 1897; 
Chautauqua Union School in 1900; Irving Union School 
in 1901 ; and Cassadaga Union School July 1, 1901. 

The earlier stages of development have been aptly 
termed the periods of the "log-schoolhouse" and of the 
"little red schoolhouse." All honor to the pioneers, 
while we rejoice in the progress of recent years made 
possible by their forethought and sacrifices. The pupils 
of today are to be congratulated not only upon greatly 
improved physical conditions, but much more upon the 
opportunities offered them in the broader curricula of 
the modern school. As a result of this broader training 
we hope for a wiser, happier, more healthful people. It 
is unnecessary to undertake here a catalogue of these 
advantages, but it may be worth while to remind our- 
selves that the advantages secured through the re- 
placement of the separate school districts by the union 
free school and the public high school have been made 
possible only by the willingness of the people to take 
upon themselves heavy burdens of taxation and to re- 
member also that the proper development of modern 
ideals of education will entail still further and increasing 
burdens. 

One strongly advocated method of rural organiza- 
tion has not been largely adopted by the schools of 
Chautauqua county. The consolidated school is in effect 
a Union School, but is a union of districts sometimes of 
an entire township which are so widely separated that 
transportation of the pupils must be provided at public 
expense. And herein often lies the chief objection, and 
one acquainted with the topography of Chautauqua 
County and with its winter climate will readily see the 
force of this objection. Some localities are more 
fortunately situated, especially those along the trolley 
line from Stowe to Chautauqua. So, as elsewhere 
shown, the Chautauqua High Schools afford a notable 
demonstration of the advantages of consolidation. 

Teachers' Association— One of the most potent 
forces in the development of educational procedure has 
been, and still is, the voluntary teachers' associations. 
Easily the first in Chautauqua county, not only in point 
of time but in helpful influences exerted, is the Chau- 



tauqua County Teachers' Association, organized in i860. 
Through all the years of its existence its annual meet- 
ings have promoted acquaintance and good fellowship 
among its members, increased their knowledge of educa- 
tional methods, stimulated thought, and by means of its 
varied programs furnished both entertainment and in- 
struction. Forty years ago, for instance, the programs 
extended over parts of three days. Prize contests be- 
tween students of the different schools often made up 
the first night's program. Usually the two succeeding 
days were devoted to papers presented by the mem- 
bers. The resulting discussions were by no means the 
formal affairs which so often pass for discussion in 
educational gatherings. More often they were spirited 
debates sparkling with wit and tinged with personal 
prejudices as the participants expressed their views upon 
theories which have now either been forgotten or have 
passed into accepted practice. The custom of the shorter 
session, with the time chiefly occupied by prominent 
speakers from abroad, is of comparatively recent origin, 
and has become established partly through the in- 
stitutes carried on by the State, partly through the 
growth of local, State and national organizations, partly 
from the fact that through books and papers, teachers 
have other means of keeping abreast of the educational 
thought of the day. 

The Chautauqua Schoolmasters' Club though having 
its origin and places of meeting in Chautauqua county, 
does not limit its membership to residents of the county. 
School men from all parts of Western New York and 
Northwestern Pennsylvania are eligible to membership. 
The meetings are held annually, and are partly social 
and partly professional. In connection with a dinner, 
informal addresses are in order, and there is regularly 
a formal address from some invited guest. 

An example of the local association is the Teachers' 
Association of Jamestown, which was organized in 1916 
and has since been affiliated with the county and State 
associations. The Association from its inception has 
been a live organization, and has been a real force in the 
educational field. It has, moreover, refrained from all 
acts which would tend to antagonize either superintend- 
ent or Board of Education, and has been singularly free 
from those movements which destroy the true profes- 
sional spirit. The activities of such local associations 
in the supervisory districts and cities are doing much 
to build up a true professional spirit among their mem- 
bers. 

School Organization — Dunkirk, Fredonia and James- 
town each has a superintendent and school organiza- 
tion directly responsible to the State department. The 
remaining territory of the county is divided into six 
supervisory districts, each having a district superintend- 
ent with broad powers over teachers and school authori- 
ties. These supervisory districts replace the former 
commissioner districts, as these in turn had succeeded 
the township and county systems of supervision. 

Although both city and district superintendents are 
burdened with many details of administration and are 
required to put into operation a constantly increasing 
number of State requirements, the prestige of their 
official positions enables them to exert a helpful in- 
fluence in building up efficient and comprehensive school 
systems in their respective jurisdictions. The present 
incumbents of these important positions are: Dunkirk, 
Frederick R. Darling; Fredonia, William S. Blaisdell ; 
Jamestown, Milton J. Fletcher. First Supervisory Dis- 
trict, Joseph N. Palmer; Second, J. M. Barker; Third, 
Dorothy B. Connelly (Mrs.); Fourth, James G. Pratt; 
Fifth, L. Waldo Swain; Sixth, Judson S. Wright. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



3*3 



According to the latest available reports the number 
of teachers employed and the number of pupils enrolled 
under each of these superintendents is as follows : 

Teachers Pupils 

Dunkirk (192(1) 102 3216 

Fredonia (1920) 35 946 

Jamestown (1920) 221 7244 

First Supervisory District (1917) 76 2136 

Second " " " .... 62 1667 

Third " " " 66 1439 

Fourth " " " .... 73 1532 

Fifth " " " 99 2715 

Sixth " " " 100 2448 

The recent organization by the State Department of 
Education of a new division termed the Division of Vo- 
cational and Extension Education, emphasizes the im- 
portant place which these subjects are coining to hold in 
the modern school curriculum. That the cities and 
many of the villages of Chautauqua county appreciate 
the value of these subjects placed in the care of this 
division is shown in the following lists : 

High School Departments of Vocational Agriculture 
— Chautauqua, Clymer, Ellington, Forestville, Mayville, 
Sherman, Sinclairville, Westfield. 

Homemaking Schools, High School Departments — 
Chautauqua, Dunkirk, Ellington, Mayville, Sinclairville, 
Westfield. 

Jamestown has a Unit Trade School, an Evening 
Industrial School, an Elementary Vocational School for 
Girls. Dunkirk also has a General Industrial School. 
All the above are classified as Vocational Schools. 

Under the head of extension education is included the 
evening schools and the various types of instruction gen- 
erally included in the term Americanization. 

Evening schools have been maintained for several 
years at Dunkirk and Jamestown and have been more 
recently established at Falconer, Fredonia and West- 
field. 

Various forms of extension work are in progress 
among the foreign born, including evening schools, home 
classes and neighborhood classes, in Dunkirk, Falconer, 
Fredonia, Jamestown and Westfield. 

A still newer form of school is the Part-time School. 
These are now in operation in Dunkirk, Fredonia and 
Jamestown. 

Fredonia State Normal School — In a sense, the 
history of the Fredonia State Normal School begins 
with the Fredonia Academy which, chartered in 1824, 
was the first institution of its kind to be established in 
Chautauqua county. This school maintained a high 
standard of efficiency for many years, but when in the 
State at large the Union Free Schools were absorbing 
the academies, the leading citizens of Fredonia con- 
ceived the idea of securing one of the four State normal 
schools which were authorized by the State Legislature 
in 1866. An agreement was reached by which the peo- 
ple of Fredonia were to furnish the site and the funds 
for the normal school building, and in return the State 
would give to the pupils of Fredonia academic in- 
struction free of expense. This arrangement was car- 
ried out and still continues. The original building, both 
a school and a dormitory, was burned in December, 
1900, with the loss of seven lives, young women students 
of the school. The expense of replacing the building, 
less the insurance money, $80,000, was assumed by the 
State, and the present beautiful and commodious struc- 
ture was ready for occupancy in 1903. 

In the history of the Fredonia Normal School three 
names stand out in bold relief, and their distinguished 
services to the cause of education will be ever held 
in grateful remembrance by all who have been associated 
with them. They are: Dr. J. W. Armstrong, principal 



from 1869 to 1878; Dr. Francis B. Palmer, who suc- 
ceeded Dr. Armstrong and served for twenty-eight 
years, when he in turn was succeeded by the present 
principal, Dr. Myron T. Dana. 

The 1919 Commencement Week was also made An- 
niversary Week to celebrate the semi-centennial of the 
school. Dr. M. T. Dana, who has now passed forty 
hignly successful years with the school as instructor and 
principal, presided at the semi-centennial exercises, and 
in an address made during the celebration briefly re- 
viewed the work of the school during the fifteen years 
of his principalship in the following happy manner: 

During the last fifteen years important changes have 
be, 'li made in our building and in the organization of 
our school. A closer and better articulation of the 
normal schools of the State with the public education 
system has, also, been established. 

In I.M17, the gymnasium was enlarged and modern- 
ized. In 1903. the kindergarten was moved to the 
gymnasium building, and its old rooms were adjusted 
to the needs of a library, which is now assuming pro- 
&?' ?? S commensurate with the needs of the school. 
The third floor of the mam building has been ..-quip- 
ped for and appropriated by the departm nts of ma-ie 
and ..rawing. Within a few years, the manual train- 
ing department has been much extended.— new rooms 
i'rn 111 ■■''.|!'. 1 ,.,','';'" 1>ped VVith the most a PP ro ved mod- 
Previous to 1906, normal students did much purely 
academic work, reciting in the same classes with those 
registered as academic pupi:s. About that time, the 
Education Department at Albany issued an order mak- 
ing the work of the normal schools strictly profes- 
sional and requiring a full four-years' high school 
comae lor admission. Then, as directed by the De- 
partment, we organized a separate high school. 

In 1907 the department authorized two new courses, 
— public school music and public school drawing. The 
physical well-being of the school is provided for by 
two physical (raining teachers and a health teacher. 

Defining the functions of the normal schools has 
aided much in fixing their status in our educational 
system. Legislation and Department policy are giv- 
r'.'e o. ui'tTo m ° re and m ° re res P° nsiDilit y. and greater 

The efficiency with which the local board of man- 
agers have guarded and promoted the interests of the 
school is attested by the distinguished names of those 
who have presided over their deliberations: Justice 
George linker. Mr. S. M. Clement, Senator Lorenzo 
Morris, Arthur R. Moore, Esq., Dr. Samuel H Adbro 
Inspector Winfield Holcomb. and the present incum- 
bent, Hon. William S. Stearns. 

But more than buildings, libraries, laboratories and 
curricula is the teacher — the life, and the soul of the 
school, the teacher behind the desk, behind the book 
111 the laboratory and in the library— a live forcvermore. 

Of those who taught and toiled and hoped in this 
place litty years ago, none are left to receive the greet- 
ings of the earlier graduates, except as those who are 
now here are 111.1 measure heirs of the past, the agen- 
cies through which the manhood and womanhood of 
the teachers of other days are here perpetuated Of 
all these and of the long honor roll of those whose de- 
votion is now making the school strong and active and 
fruitful, I can name but few. 

Dr. Armstrong, whose versatility of attainments, 
whose nobility of aim, and whose faith in man made 
him distinguished, has a place in the affections of the 
older alumni that the mist of fifty years has not 
obscured. 

For twenty-eight years, the most formative period 
of the school's life, Dr. Palmer was the eiiieient head 
and inspiration. lie is remembered for his intellectual 
strength, tenacity of purpose and well-poised con- 
servatism. "With the oid sextant of the fathers' 
creed," he "shaped his courses by new-risen stars." 
This admirably planned building bears witness to the 
practical ability of Dr. Palmer, and his scholarly treat- 
ise on the philosophy of education clearly and ably 
sets forth his professional ideas and ideals 

Dr. Cassitjy's pupils remember what it was to have 
their thoughts kindled at the fire of living thought 

Many remember Prof. Babcock as a man of mental 
power who in the department of science led his pupils 
to observe and to think, and commanded their best. 
He was followed by Dr. Albro, the inspiring educator 
whose name and fame are indelibly written in the • du- 
cational history of the State. 

After the short but glorious career of Prof. Jenks as 



3*4 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



teacher of Latin and Greek, his mantle fell upon a rare 
combination of the scholar and the teacher, and for 
thirteen vears the school was the fortunate possessor 
of Dr. Theodore C. Burg-ess, to whose able address we 
have just listened. 

Miss Richardson, of sainted memory, taught teach- 
ers and pupils "how mortals are immortalized." 

Potent factors in the school's success include the 
work and worth of Mrs. Record and Miss Sherman's 
years of faithful and valuable service. 

Of those now on duty Mr. Freeman Is the senior 
teacher. His years of faithful service have not les- 
sened his mental strength and physical vigor. His 
faded locks are a crown of glory, for they have 
ever been found In the ways of righteousness. 

Mr. Jewett is still the embodiment of the spirit of 
science and zest for truth. Of him, as of the Xenophon 
of old, it may be said that the graces dictate his 
language and the goddess of persuasion dwells upon 
his lips. 

Mr. Homer Holcomb has for twenty-five years been 
fostering the delights of classical learning. He has, 
also, been untiring in his efforts to grapple the alum- 
ni to the school with hooks of steel. 

Miss McLaury, head of the English department and 
Dean of Women, has for years been giving as from an 
exhaustless store. All who go out from us go with 
feelings of gratitude for the key to "the best that has 
been thought and said in the world" given them by 
Miss McLaury. 

It would be difficult to overestimate Miss Hillman's 
service to the school in revealing and interpreting the 
world of music. 

Too long for even a short personal tribute Is the 
list of those whose service covers a shorter and later 
period, but whose devotion merits unstinted praise. 
The graduates will complete the list. Through mem- 
ory each will feel again the subtle power by which 
the life of the teacher passes into the life of the pu- 
pil, and bv which is maintained the onward sweep of 
humanity. Each through memory will look into the 
faces of those who did most to make this a place of 
larger vision and of greater self-revelation. Today, 
manv shrines will here be set up before which ad- 
mirations, affection and gratitude will humbly bow. 

I take this opportunity to say to the Board of 
Regents that if the State Normal School at Fredonia 
Is not now securing the results for which it was estab- 
lished and for which it has been maintained for fifty 
years, the failure must not be charged to lack of 
loyalty of co-operation, of good-fellowship and ef- 
ficiency on the part of my associates. The teachers of 
the present faculty are striving with might and main 
to make the school a place of light and life and power. 

Chautauqua Consolidated Schools— All educators 
realize that one of the greatest needs of the United 
States is the improvement of its rural schools. Under 
the present economic and social conditions the greatest 
hope for such improvement lies in the direction of the 
Centralized High School, so equipped and managed as 
to bring to the country boy and girl both the latest and 
the best in education. 

The model type of the Centralized School located at 
Chautauqua has more than justified this hope. In 1914 
District No. 12 of the town of Harmony was consolidat- 
ed with District No. 3 of the town of Chautauqua. On 
November 14, 1919, District No. 15 of the town of Har- 
mony was added, forming a combined district having an 
assessed valuation of $2,500,000. As a result of the 
consolidation, two additions costing $50,000 have been 
made to the former structure, and well equipped, labora- 
tories, an auditorium, a large gymnasium, and efficient 
Agricultural and Home Making Departments have been 
added. Playgrounds, with tennis courts, running tracks 
and suitable apparatus, are being provided. 

The extent of the work and the courses of study 
offered have been greatly enlarged. Special teachers are 
employed in music and drawing, home making, agricul- 
ture and physical training. A librarian has been secured, 
and extensive additions are being made to the books, 
available for school and community. Only carefully 
selected teachers are hired. A large increase in non- 
resident students, and in the percentage of pupils com- 
pleting high school courses has resulted from the im- 



proved conditions. Pupils come to school on the 
street car and by a special school bus. Warm lunches 
are served at cost, by the Cooking Department. The 
aim of building up a model rural high school has been 
fully realized, and Chautauqua has one of the best plants 
for its purpose in the entire State. 

The ideals of the men responsible for the forming of 
this Consolidated School are well exemplified in the 
person of the principal, George R. Raynor, a man of 
broad experience, a good executive, and an inspiring 
teacher. 

Forestville — It is recorded that the first settlers of 
Forestville made a "bee" and built a log schoolhouse 
with a roof of bark. From this humble beginning was 
later developed a district school, and in 1855 a Union 
Free School was organized, the first in the county. 
Another early development was the chartering of the 
Forestville Academy, which maintained a high rank for 
many years. With the growth of the idea of free 
academic education, the academy met the fate of most 
of the academies in the State and was merged into the 
Union Free School. The combined school known as the 
Forestville Free Academy and Union School has con- 
tinued the excellent standing first won under the name 
of the academy. Among the best known of its principals 
are T. L. Griswold, L. D. Miller, S. H. Albro, H. A. 
Balcom, F. H. Hall, F. S. Thorpe and A. C. Anderson. 
The present principal is F. R. Gott. That the school and 
the community are alive to the demands of the times is 
illustrated by the success of the agricultural department 
in the so-called "project work." The Emory Robinson 
Calf Club in the agricultural department is accomplish- 
ing a great work, having been particularly successful 
both in advancing the prestige of the department by win- 
ning first prizes at the Chautauqua County Agricultural 
Fair at Dunkirk in 1920 and in personal benefit to its 
members. The history of the club is most interesting. 
Under the lead of Raymond Kuhrt a club of thirty- 
eight members was formed, called the Emory Robinson 
Calf Club. The Forestville National Bank financed the 
club to the amount of $3,400, and thirty-eight pure 
bred Holstein calves were purchased. Each boy member 
was allowed to purchase a calf by giving his note for 
$100 endorsed by his parents. He then became the 
custodian of the calf and managed his investment as he 
pleased. The purchase price of the calf is due in a 
certain time, or when the animal is sold or otherwise 
disposed of. At the Dunkirk Fair of 1920 the Club 
made entries in different classes and in each class car- 
ried off all the honors. A value of $1,000 was placed 
upon one of the calves exhibited, a fact which mightily 
pleased the boy owner. 

A teachers' training class has been a feature of the 
school for years, and more students have gone out from 
the Forestville Free Academy and High School to ad- 
vanced schools for higher training than from any known 
village of Forestville's size. The school maintains a 
library and chemical laboratory. 

So this first of all Chautauqua Schools to organize 
under the State Union School Law in 1855, continues its 
course, maintaining its place as a center of influence and 
sending out into the world well trained young men and 
women. 

Westfield — Within the limits of what is now the 
township of Westfield was held the first school in 
Chautauqua county. This was taught by William Mur- 
ray, and seems to have been a community affair, but 
not a public school. The first public school in the county, 
that is, a school organized under the laws of the 
State, was taught by Anna Eaton at the "Cross Roads," 
one mile west of the center of the village of West- 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



3i5 



field. District schools of the usual primitive type, sup- 
plemented by select schools, made up the educational 
facilities of the village until 1837, when Westfield Acad- 
emy was chartered. This institution offered the ad- 
vantages of an academic education to the young people 
of Westfield and vicinity for more than thirty years. 
During this time it had as principals the following: 

John M. Kief, 1837-1838; Theodore Gray, 1838 ; 

Lorenzo Parsons, ; Rev. Alexander Montgomery, 

1845; J. E. Pillsbury, 1845-1851 ; Edward W. Johnson, 
1851-1853; John C. Donaldson, 1851-1857; Theodore 
Beard, 1857-1859; S. Gerald Nye, 1859-1860; Charles H. 
Brown, 1860-1861 ; John C. Long, 1861-1865; Charles E. 
Lane, 1865-1866; Abram Brown, 1866-1868. 

Most of these men were graduates of eastern colleges, 
and as one notes the short term of service of most of 
them, one naturally surmises that there may have been 
much of disappointment on the part of both patrons and 
principals. When the Union School was organized in 
1868, the academy was merged in the academic depart- 
ment of the Union School, with the significant condition 
that the Board of Education assume the debts of the 
academy. 

In striking contrast to the brief terms of the princi- 
pals of the academy are the terms of several of the prin- 
cipals of the Union School as for instance: John S. 
Fosdick, 1869-1878; Preston K. Pattison, 1883-1889; Al- 
mon N. Taylor, 1889-1897; Preston K. Pattison, 1900- 
1920 (re-appointed). Thus it will be seen that four 
men have served as principals during forty-three of the 
fifty-two years the Union School has been in existence. 
This fact alone testifies to the ability and character of 
these men, and does much to show one cause for the 
high standing of the Westfield schools. To Preston 



K. Pattison, who for twenty-nine years made the in- 
terests of the school the chief purpose of his life, is 
much of this honor due. The high standing of his 
successor, G. Fayette Dickson, is shown by his election 
to the position of supervising principal after a service as 
teacher and vice-principal extending over a period of 
forty-one years in the Westfield schools. 

Silver Creek Schools— Silver Creek is embraced in 
School District No. 8 of the towns of Hanover and 
Sheridan. The present school building used since 1879 
as a Union School and high school is greatly over- 
crowded, a condition which will result in the erection 
of a new modern and adequate high school building, 
plans for which have been drawn. 

Silver Creek did not organize its schools under the 
Union School law until April 8, 1879, when Silver Creek 
Union School was organized to supersede the Graded 
School No. 8. The same year the present building 
was erected on Central avenue and for many years the 
school was well housed, a condition now passed away, 
the village having grown faster than school facilities, 
although Babcock Graded School accommodating 300 
pupils, and Main street school caring for 250 pupils, have 
been added to the school system. There are 165 pupils 
attending in high school building, making a total of 
715 pupils in the village schools. 

The leading feature of the high school is the Com- 
mercial department, where bookkeeping, commercial 
law, stenography and typewriting are taught to a large 
class. The school library contains 2,700 volumes. W. 
H. Edwards is supervising principal of Silver Creek 
Public Schools, Carl H. Dudley, president of the village 
board of education, Edwin L. Coon, clerk. 



SCHOOLS OF JAMESTOWN. 
By Rovillus R. Rogers. 



There are only meager records of the early schools of 
Jamestown. The first house, a log cabin, was built by 
Joseph Blowers in 1810; soon after he built a story-and- 
a-half frame house and secured a tavern license. In a 
room of this combination of home and tavern the first 
school in the settlement was taught in 1814, by Rev. 
Amasa West. For several years thereafter schools were 
provided for the children of the settlement by its 
founder and proprietor, James Prendergast. He evi- 
dently had a keen sense of the obligations imposed by 
his position, for he not only met the entire expense of 
these schools, but it is also recorded of him that he 
insisted upon the attendance of all the children of the 
settlement, though by what means he secured this de- 
sirable result we are not informed. Somewhat later, 
under the State law permitting the establishment of 
public schools, elementary district schools were carried 
on until the establishment of the Union Free School 
District in 1863. 

Jamestown's first settlers were largely from New 
England, and many of them were cultured men and 
women, and in spite of their rude surroundings they 
were by no means neglectful of educational interests. 
But after the manner of the times, they left the educa- 
tion of the masses to the common school, and depended 
upon private schools for what is now termed secondary 
education. The best known of the teachers of these 
early schools was Hon. Abner Hazeltine, who came to 
the new settlement fresh from his college graduation in 
1815, and before entering upon his legal career was 
employed for a time as teacher by Mr. Prendergast. 



These private or select schools were more or less de- 
sultory in character, but one of them, at least, the 
Quaker School, had a definite organization and faculty, 
and was for a time a flourishing boarding school for 
young ladies. 

Jamestown Academy— There were for a time also 
two rival schools, or academies, which after some years 
were united in the Jamestown Academy. This institu- 
tion, with Lysander Farrar as principal, was chartered 
by the State Legislature in 1836, and in 1839 came under 
the visitation of the Regents of the University. A copy 
of the application of the trustees to the Regents is still 
carefully preserved among the old records of the pres- 
ent Board of Education. This is a most interesting 
document, and gives in great detail the size, location and 
cost of the site and building. Along with other inter- 
esting matter is found a statement to the effect that the 
ventilation is secured by the opening of the doors and 
windows, and that this method proves to be entirely 
satisfactory. It is further stated that the contract for 
the building was let at a price of $2,400, and, apparently 
as a proof either of the value of the building or of the 
shrewdness of the trustees, it is remarked of the con- 
tractor, "it is believed that he lost money by the job." 
As a part of the application there is given a complete 
list of the books in the library and the scientific ap- 
paratus in possession of the school. It is interesting 
to know that in the High School library there are now 
volumes originally belonging to the Academv, and 
among the physical apparatus some usable pieces ap- 
parently included m the original list reported This 



3i6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



document also contains a decidedly personal account of 
the principal, Mr. George W. Parker, a graduate of 
Middlebury College, who received what was described 
as a variable amount, though "something over" $700 
is given as the salary for him and necessary assistants. 
The Jamestown Academy became a well known in- 
stitution and exerted a strong and helpful influence 
upon the young people of the village and its vicinity. 
For more than two-thirds of the time this school was 
in existence, its principal was Edward A. Dickinson, 
who was in large measure responsible for the highly 
creditable work which it accomplished. 

The Union Free School— As heretofore noted, the 
public schools of Jamestown, previous to the establish- 
ment of the Union Free School, were merely the dis- 
trict schools, with no central organization. The build- 
ings were small and poorly equipped. The pupils were 
too numerous for the accommodations, and the teach- 
ers were without any definite supervision or assistance. 
Looking back through the experience of a half century 
of an organized school system, it would seem that the 
need of a better organization would have been ap- 
parent to any intelligent person. Nevertheless the prop- 
osition to unite the schools into a single system and 
extend the curriculum so as to include academic sub- 
jects, aroused a bitter controversy, the echoes of which 
were not finally stilled till the chief participants in the 
contest had passed away. It should be remembered, 
however, that the theory of free public education was 
nowhere universally accepted. Many who favored a 
limited common school education for all the people did 
not regard it as the duty of the public to provide the 
higher education now freely offered to all classes. Some 
of these objectors argued that they had educated their 
own children, and it was unreasonable to tax them for 
the education of other people's children. In Jamestown, 
moreover, there were sharp differences along religious, 
political and social lines, and these served to intensify 
what would otherwise have been a sufficiently spirited 
campaign. Again the nation was engaged in the 
grievous struggle of the Civil War, and it was argued 
that the resources of the people should not be diverted to 
other enterprises. Yet, as at the present time, it may 
be that the social ferment of the exciting period in our 
history tended after all to the more favorable recep- 
tion of new educational theories and practices. 

The credit for the movement which led to the es- 
tablishment of the Union Free School District in the 
then village of Jamestown belongs chiefly to a woman 
teacher, Miss Calista Selina Jones. Miss Jones' most 
conspicuous part in this matter was the circulation of 
the necessary petitions for the joint meeting of the 
various districts of the village, thus crystallizing the 
sentiment in favor of the proper development of the 
school system, and compelling the people to join issue. 
This activity of Miss Jones in a public matter was great- 
ly resented by many, not only because of opposition to 
the cause she was championing, but quite as much be- 
cause a woman was presuming to meddle in men's af- 
fairs. She secured the necessary signatures in six of the 
common school districts, and in July, 1863, the Union 
Free School District No. One of the town of Ellicott 
was formally organized. The territory of the corpora- 
tion and that of the Union School did not coincide until 
1888, when the village became a city. Miss Jones not 
only had the satisfaction of winning her case, but she 
also had a part in the work of developing the new 
system. She finally relinquished her labors after more 
than fifty years in the school room. Her many excel- 
lencies as a woman, and her long and successful service 
as a teacher are fittingly commemorated by a tablet 



placed upon the wall of the principal corridor of the 
high school. 

If the conception of the Union Free School is to be 
credited to Miss Jones, the organization and character 
of the new school system are to be ascribed to its first 
superintendent, Samuel Curley Love. He had a rare 
genius for organization, and at once inspired teachers 
and pupils with his own zeal and lofty purposes. He 
was another strong personality, and coming into the 
village at such a time it was inevitable that he should 
encounter opposition, but opposition never daunted him, 
and he soon demonstrated that he was not only a capable 
organizer, but a thoroughly progressive educator. It 
was well known to those most closely associated with 
him that his vision extended far beyond the educational 
horizon of most of his contemporaries. In the face of 
opposition, and indifference often more harmful, he was 
able to show the value of his theories by actual results. 
Three of his innovations now universally accepted may 
be cited as illustrations. More than fifty years ago he 
had a well organized department of physical training, 
and sent a class from the Jamestown schools to give a 
practical demonstration before the State Association of 
Teachers. He was also one of the first in the entire 
country and the very first in our own State to recognize 
the place of the manual arts in a system of public edu- 
cation, and by means of funds raised through his own 
exertion he made a beginning in several lines of this 
important work. He also wrote a valuable handbook 
outlining in detail proposed courses of industrial educa- 
tion. And again, in the upper elementary grades he had 
the beginnings of a differentiated course of study, now 
so fully elaborated in the State elementary syllabus, the 
principles of which are the fundamentals of the Junior 
High School. He had a rare faculty of inspiring the 
loyal support of his fellow workers, and secured a per- 
sonal influence over many of his students, which has 
been rarely equaled. In honor of his life and work his 
former pupils and associates have placed a tablet in 
the high school commemorating his nearly twenty-five 
years of service as superintendent. 

The J. U. S. and C. I.— With the coming of prac- 
tically free secondary education, the Jamestown Acad- 
emy shared the fate of most other like institutions 
throughout the State. Friends of the new system se- 
cured a controlling interest in the corporate stock, and 
in 1866 turned over to the Board of Education the 
Academy and all that went with it. When the Union 
Free School was organized, the somewhat pretentious 
name, "The Jamestown Union School and Collegiate 
Institute" was assumed. Though this was never a legal 
designation, the letters J. U. S. and C. I. long signified 
what is now known as the Jamestown Public Schools. 
Strictly speaking, the J. U. S. and C. I. represented the 
whole school system, and the department of secondary 
instruction was known as the academic department. This, 
as the successor of the Jamestown Academy, inherited 
some of the customs and methods of the private school. 
For many years the school authorities assumed to con- 
trol the study hours of the pupils out of school, and 
prescribed strict rules of conduct for the public streets. 
Tuition was also charged in the academic department 
and for special subjects; this last being apparently to 
appease those who still disbelieved in free academic 
education. 

Notwithstanding these peculiarities, the secondary 
courses were from the beginning varied and progressive, 
and the school under its changing names has always 
taken a large place in the intellectual life of the com- 
munity. To be sure, the Jamestown High School with 
its present registration of over eleven hundred pupils 



SCHOOLS OF JAMESTOWN 



317 



and a faculty of forty-two men and women, has out- 
grown the building provided for it, yet by the utiliza- 
tion of the grammar school adjacent, and at the expense 
of some inconvenience and special adjustments of pro- 
gram, it is carrying on its work effectively and well. 
The usual equipment of a modern high school is by no 
means lacking. Its gymnasium, the first high school 
gymnasium in this part of the State, well furnished with 
locker rooms and shower baths for both sexes ; its 
well equipped laboratories, workshop, commercial rooms, 
kitchen, and cafeteria give opportunity for well-balanced 
and varied courses of study sufficient to meet every 
legitimate want. Student activities are carried on with 
the advice and cooperation of the teachers and comprise 
athletics, debating and literary societies, and the publica- 
tion of school papers. In recent years especially, stu- 
dents and teachers have worked together in many forms 
of community and patriotic enterprises. 

As would inevitably follow, the growth of a country 
village into a considerable city has caused a correspond- 
ing growth in school population. But in Jamestown, as 
elsewhere, there has been a much more than propor- 
tionate increase in the expenses of the school. Stand- 
ards of living have changed, and people can afford more 
in their homes, and properly expect more for their chil- 
dren at school. No small part of this additional in- 
crease, however, has resulted from the gradual develop- 
ment of new ideals of education. At a time when any 
respectable person possessed of a common school edu- 
cation might teach school, the competition was great 
and wages low. Few employments were open to women, 
and consequently the wages paid to teachers in the early 
days seem now pitifully small. From minutes of meet- 
ings of the Board of Education in October, 1863, it ap- 
pears that in answer to advertisements in the village 
papers, proposals were received from several people to 
teach the district schools recently placed under the 
jurisdiction of the board. It is further recorded that 
eight teachers were finally employed upon their own 
terms, the wages ranging from $3.00 to $6.25 per week. 
With the professional requirements now demanded of 
teachers, and the greatly increased opportunities for em- 
ployment, wages are naturally much higher. Another 
consideration which adds to the increased cost is the 
smaller number of pupils per teacher. It is no longer 
permissible to burden a single teacher with seventy-five 
or eighty children. More and better buildings, improved 
methods of lighting, heating and ventilating; better 
furniture : more liberal amounts of illustrative material, 
free books and supplies; the greater number of subjects 
offered, such as domestic science and manual training ; 
all add their share to the school budget. The night 
school, the summer school, supervised playgrounds, the 
open air school, dental clinic, opportunity class and 
classes for defective children are all comparatively re- 
cent innovations, and all cost money. Although it was 
possible for the school year 1880-81 to meet all the ex- 
penses for a total registration of 1,860 pupils instructed 
by 39 teachers for the sum of $21,220.79, or $11.41 per 
capita, it is not strange that for the school year 1919-20 
the total expenses, exclusive of payments on principal 
and interest of bonded indebtedness and for capital out- 
lay, amounted to $354,001.34. The number of teachers 
in the meantime has increased to 221 and the registra- 
tion of pupils to 7,244, giving a per capita cost of 
$48.87, based here as above on total registration. 

Boundaries and Names — The territory of the Union 
Free School No. One of the town of Ellicott, never coin- 
cided with that of the village, but when the village be- 
came a city the special act under which the school was 
first instituted was amended so as to make the bound- 



aries of the school district and those of the city coter- 
minous, and the legal name of the school became the 
Union Free School District of the City of Jamestown. 
But by vote of the Board of Education the schools were 
to be commonly designated as the Jamestown City 
Public Schools, and the academic department became the 
Jamestown City High School. The various elementary 
schools had been known as "Branch" schools, but were 
now to be called District Schools — but, as in many 
another instance, familiar names survive legal changes. 
Until the enactment of Chapter 786 in 1917, although 
the boundaries of the school district were coterminous 
with those of the city, by a provision of the local act 
the schools were administered under those provisions 
of the law which applied to Union Free School Districts 
whose boundaries were not coterminous with those of 
the city or village in which they were situated. So for 
thirty years, although in the meantime the city had 
grown to a population of nearly 40,000, all annual and 
special budgets were adopted at a district school meet- 
ing, and members of the Board of Education were 
elected at a single polling place. 

When the Union School was organized, there was an 
entire lack of suitable buildings. The first work of the 
higher departments was carried on in rented halls. 
The initial step towards meeting the new situation was 
the purchase of the generous tract of land, near the 
center of the village, which was utilized for the erec- 
tion of the first new building. This was completed and 
dedicated in 1867, and was formally named Institute 
Building, and its assembly dedicated as Institute Hall. 
It was considered by many an unwarranted extravagance 
and entirely beyond the needs of the village, but addi- 
tional buildings to replace the old district school struc- 
tures were soon required. A striking contrast in ideals 
is manifested in a comparison of these buildings with 
those erected within recent years. By liberal reconstruc- 
tion, and enlargement of windows, changing of stair- 
ways, installation of heating and ventilating apparatus, 
and the construction of additions, several of these older 
buildings are still answering their purpose in a fairly 
satisfactory manner. The more recent buildings are 
thoroughly modern in every particular, and are a source 
of just pride and satisfaction to all concerned. The 
high school, erected more than twenty years ago, is, as 
would be expected, quite insufficient for present needs, 
and it is generally conceded that better facilities must 
be provided for this important institution as soon as 
financial conditions will permit. For a time it was 
thought that calisthenics might take the place of out- 
door exercise, and the Board of Education bought only 
limited sites upon which to place its new buildings, but 
more recently better counsels have prevailed. In some 
instances, it has been possible to make large additions 
to the grounds already existing, and in the case of newer 
buildings adequate sites have been secured ; so that in a 
number of instances there is ample room for lawns, and 
ornamentation, and also for playgrounds and athletic 
fields. An increasing need for additional buildings has 
been evident for several years. Comprehensive plans 
were under consideration by the Board of Education 
when the World War came, and this with many other 
desirable improvements was laid aside. And again, the 
unprecedented cost of labor and material has still further 
postponed the erection of a new high school. Instead 
it was decided to make additions to five of the grade 
school buildings where conditions were most in need 
of remedying. For this purpose the people were asked 
to authorize a bond issue of $550,000. This was recently 
approved at a special meeting by an overwhelming 
majority. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The Board of Education, consisting of seven mem- 
bers, holds two regular meetings each calendar month, 
and from time to time numerous special meetings are 
necessary to meet special problems. The routine work 
of the board is largely entrusted to regular and special 
committees which act according to the character of the 
matter in hand, with the Superintendent of Schools, or 
Superintendent of Buildings. The board employs a full 
time secretary who keeps the books and is responsible 
in a large measure for the financial affairs of the board. 
The office of the Superintendent of Schools is situated 
in the high school building, and contains the offices of 
the secretary of the Board of Education, the Superin- 
tendent of Buildings, and working room for the super- 
intendent's clerk and telephone operator. 

Instructional Organization— There are under the 
jurisdiction of the Board of Education fourteen grade 
or elementary schools, not including annexes, and 
one high school. Each of these schools has a prin- 
cipal who is charged with the general administration 
and supervision of the schools. Except in the case 
of three of the small schools, having from two to 
five teachers each, the principal is not burdened with 
the care of an individual class, but in addition to the 
administrative and supervisory work gives some time 
to teaching, which consists in a large measure of coach 
work with individual backward children, or retarded 
classes. The sixth, seventh and eighth grades are un- 
der the general supervision of the principal of one of the 
grammar schools, while the kindergarten and first five 
grades have a supervisor giving full time to supervision. 
Some subjects, although the actual work of instruction 
is usually carried on by the class teacher, are under 
the direction of supervisors. This applies particularly 
to writing, drawing and music. Manual training com- 
prising the hand work in the lower grades, is treated as 
a part of the work in drawing, and is under the super- 
vision of the drawing supervisor. Manual training, 
cooking, sewing in the grammar grades, and in the high 
school, are in the hands of special teachers in shops, 
kitchens and sewing rooms, under the general care of a 
special supervisor. There are also teachers and super- 
visors of physical training in the high school and grade 
schools. 

The injustice and unsatisfactory results of rigid grad- 
ing and promotion by examination were long since rec- 
ognized in the Jamestown Public Schools, and many 
years ago grade examinations as the sole means for 
determining fitness for promotion were abolished, and 
in their place was substituted the teachers' recorded 
monthly estimate based upon the pupils regular work 
and tests given as an aid to instruction. Much has been 
said, and justly, in behalf of backward pupils and their 
interests are often overlooked. For these pupils pro- 
vision is made in several ways. There is an opportunity 
class for a limited number, individual instruction is 
much in use, and special classes are organized from 
time to time. Unfortunately, however, for some of these 
pupils not much can be done in book knowledge, and for 
these there are special classes. At the other end of the 
scale, moreover, are many pupils who need exceptional 
opportunities and means for more rapid advancement, 
and great as the harm may be which comes to the back- 
ward pupil from a rigid grading system, much greater 
harm is done in this way to the capable pupil who so 
often lacks sufficient employment. By means of fre- 
quent re-classification and additional optional studies 
for pupils in the seventh and eighth grades, the exis- 
tence of at least three groups of normal children is 
recognized : the slow, the average and the quick. In the 
first grade particularly and also in the seventh and 



eighth there are frequent re-groupings of pupils, and 
throughout the grades, except in a few of the very small 
schools, semi-annual promotions are made. Beginning 
with the seventh grade, advantage is taken of the op- 
tional courses in the New York State elementary 
syllabus, and capable pupils are allowed to begin acade- 
mic work, notably modern languages and Latin, and to 
carry this along with the regular grade studies. The 
practical workings of this method are much like those 
found in the junior high school, though we have no 
school designated as such, but a good proportion of our 
pupils enter the regular high school with some sub- 
stantial credit in high school subjects. 

There is a pre-vocational school for boys in connection 
with one of the grammar schools, and one for girls 
in a house specially fitted up for the purpose. An addi- 
tional feature is an opportunity class for pupils whose 
needs cannot be met either temporarily or permanently 
in the regular classes. Some special features of in- 
terest and value are the summer school, which has been 
maintained for a six weeks session for five years ; the 
night school which has ministered to the needs of our 
foreign population in a very marked degree for the last 
IS years; and summer playgrounds, which have been 
carried on under supervision each summer, beginning 
with 191 1. There are now eight of these playgrounds 
under supervision of the school authorities. More re- 
cent developments are an open air school, a dental clinic, 
and classes for defectives. 

Mothers' Clubs which are in fact Parent-Teachers 
Associations are now so organized as to include the 
entire territory of the city. Regular meetings are held 
with programs of a widely varied nature — addresses, 
discussions, entertainments, sometimes given by the 
pupils, sometimes by the people of the neighborhood, 
exhibits of school work, each in its turn serves to give 
to school and community a sense of common interest and 
mutual obligation. The Mothers' Clubs have in numer- 
ous instances given material proof of their interest by 
presenting the schools with victrolas, pianos and stere- 
opticons and in raising funds for the School Park and 
the Junior Red Cross. The School Park, a beautiful 
woodland of some fifty acres has been bought and paid 
for through the voluntary cooperation of the schools and 
citizens. This has been deeded to the Board of Educa- 
tion and is placed in the care of the School Park 
Association. Another organization of teachers and 
citizens has assumed a responsibility of over $20,000 
for the purchase of a piece of land to be added to the 
High School Campus. When completed this addition 
will give the high school a convenient and satisfactory 
athletic field with room for a variety of sports. 

Some Interesting Dates — Some of the items below 
mentioned were decided innovations at the time of their 
adoption. Many of them have been incorporated into 
the curricula of progressive schools everywhere. They 
are given with the appropriate dates to show something 
of the part Jamestown has had in enriching the course 
of study and enlarging the scope of school activities: 

Normal class. 1866. 

Phvsical instruction with the employment 01 a reg- 
ular 'teacher, I860. 

Drawing and commercial instruction as extrns. 186S. 

Instruction in vocal music by special teacher in all 
erul-s. 1867. 

Experimental manual training- and domestic science, 



ins 



in mode 



langu.MT-s 



Prendei-Kiist prize for high 
nnual income of $2000, 1890. 
Exhibits of pupils' work. 1890. 
Adoption of free textbook system. 189 



chool boys, the 



SCHOOLS OF JAMESTOWN 



319 



Abolition of promotion examinations in grades, 1892. 
Definite courses in form study and drawing. 1893. 
Supplementary reading books formally introduced, 
1893. 

Kindergartens, 1893. 

Establishment of group instruction, 1893. 

Appointment of full time high school librarian, 1894. 

Avon Club. Shakespearian literary society, 1895. 

Training School, 1895. 

First series of Parent-Teacher conferences, 1895. 

First male high school physical director appointed. 

Shower baths and lockers provided for gymnasium, 
1899. 

Card record system, 1900. 

First modern grade school with assembly hall, 1905. 

Night school organized. 1905. 

Supervised playgrounds organized, 1911. 

Vocational classes, 1911. 

Summer school, 1914. 

A school park of fifty acres, bought and paid for by 
the joint efforts of pupils, teachers and citizens, 1914. 

School Campus Association, a corporation organized 
by teachers, alumni and citizens to enlarge and im- 
prove the high school campus, 1916. 

Open air school. 1917. 

High school cafeteria, 1918. 

Dental clinic. 1918. 

Eunice A. Anderson prize for high school girls, the 
income of $2500, 1918. 

Part-time school. 1920. 

Oral hygienics, 1920. 

Personnel — Principals of Jamestown Academy; Ly- 
sander Farrar, 1836-37; George W. Parker, 1837-39; Ed- 
ward A. Dickinson, 1839-55; Charles Jemison, 1855-56; 
Edward A. Dickinson, reappointed 1856-63 ; Rev. Rufus 
King, 1863 to closing of Academy. 

Superintendents of Jamestown Public Schools are: 
Samuel G. Love. 1865-90. Afterward first librarian of 
the James Prendergast Free Public Library, at James- 
town, until his death in 1893. 

Rovillus R. Rogers, 1890-1919. Now a director of 
luthority of the University 



Principals of Jamestown High School, first known as 
the Academic Department of the J. U. S. and C. I.: 

Samuel G. Love, Superintendent and Principal, 1865- 
70. 

Samuel H. Albro, 1870-76. Afterwards Principal of 
Forestville Union School, and of Mansfield, Pa., State 
Normal School. Most widely known as lecturer at New 
York State institutes. 

A. Frank Jenks. 1876-79. Afterwards Superintendent 
at Olean, and later, Professor of Latin and Greek in 
Fredonia State Normal School. Now Deputy Attorney- 
General, State of New York. 

William H. Truesdale. 1879-81. At the time of his 
death he had been for many years Superintendent at 



Rovillus R. Rogers, 1881-90. Afterwards Superin- 
tendent of Jamestown Public Schools. 1890-1919. Now 
a director of Americanization under the authority of 
the University of the State of New York. 

Frank S. Thorpe, 1890-97. Afterwards Principal of 
private school in New York City. Now Civil Service 
Examiner in New York City. , m 

Almon N. Taylor, 1897-99. Afterwards Principal of 
Arizona Slat,' Normal School at Flagstaff. 

Milton J. Fletcher, 1899-1919. From 1919 Superin- 
tendent of the Jamestown Public Schools. 

Morton C. Helm, 1919-20. 

Merton P. Corwin, 1920. 

From the organization of the Jamestown schools in 
1865 to 1919, a period of fifty-four years, the public 
schools of Jamestown had but two superintendents. 
Upon the retirement of Rovillus R. Rogers after a 
service of thirty-eight years, — nine years as principal and 
twenty-nine years as superintendent, — Milton J. Fletcher 
was appointed as his successor. This appointment was 
a fitting recognition of Mr. Fletcher's twenty years suc- 
cessful service as principal of the high school. His 
recognized ability as an administrator, his experience in 
many positions of responsibility, his scholarship and his 
personal character, gave him the confidence of pupils, 
teachers and citizens, and assure his full success. 

The Jamestown Schools, almost from the beginning 
have possessed many distinctive characteristics. Some 
of these have been laid aside as changing circum- 
stances made desirable, but in not a few instances these 
one-time radical ideas have become a matter of fact 
routine the country over. So, if the schools of James- 
town are now less distinctive than formerly, it is 
chiefly because its former peculiarities are no longer 
peculiar. In this sketch of the Jamestown Public 
Schools little attempt has been made to trace the 
successive steps by which the progressive development 
of the schools has' been maintained. There has usually 
been a period of discussion, sometimes bitter opposition, 
and then an experimental introduction of the new pro- 
cedure, followed, when the experiment was successful, 
by an immediate or gradual adoption. The opposition 
to the school, as embodying the idea of free universal 
education, has long since disappeared, and while there 
are differences as to policies and persons, these are only 
such, in the main, as are healthful and helpful. The 
public school as a vital agency, a center from which 
shall radiate streams of influence to build up the phy- 
sical, mental and moral life of the community, has a 
sure place in the interest of the people of Jamestown 
and is certain to receive a generous and unwavering sup- 
port in all the years to come. 



DUNKIRK PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
By Frederick R. Darling, Sup't. 



The city school district of Dunkirk includes not only 
the city proper, but nearly all of the town of Dunkirk. 
It is said that the first school was held in a building on 
the north side of Third street, just west of Central 
avenue, but the first schoolhouse of which their is 
definite knowledge was built in 1827, upon the South 
side of East Third street, between Central and Wash- 
ington avenues. The bell in the cupola of that brick 
building rang not only to summon the children to school, 
but for weddings, funerals and town meetings. The 
school occupied the lower floor. The boys sat on the 
east side and the girls on the west side. A tray 
on each side of the room held the candles to be lighted 
on a dark day, or in the evening. The teacher's desk 
stood in the front part of the room, and an old-fashion- 
ed melodeon furnished the music. The names of the 



teachers in this first school have long been forgotten, 
as have the names of its trustees. After Walter Smith 
obtained a controlling interest in the Dunkirk Land 
Company, he used his influence to have three parcels of 
land set aside for the benefit of the community. Two 
of these are now city parks— Point Gratiot and Wash- 
ington Parks, the other in the block of five acres com- 
prising the present high school campus. 

Up to 1837, only elementary subjects found a place in 
the village school. Those who sought a larger op- 
portunity either attended a "select" school, or walked 
three miles to the Fredonia Academy, which was then 
the only higher institution of learning in the county. 
In 1837 Dunkirk Academy was organized under a special 
act of legislature passed May 1. 

The Academy occupied the second floor of the school- 



3-° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



house built in 1827. The first principal was a Mr. Tay- 
lor, who was in charge for a year. No records have 
been preserved of the twenty years that the Academy 
was a private institution, and little is known of the 
principals of the school— Nichols, Clapp, Boutwell, 
Boutelle and Elkins, all college men. The board of trus- 
tees was however composed of the ablest men of the 
village, and as a matter of course Walter Smith was 
one of the members. Another was Dr. Ezra Wil- 
liams, a college graduate who came from New England 
in 1828. He was one of the most prominent of the earlv 
physicians, was the founder of the "Dunkirk Beacon," 
the first newspaper in the town, and introduced the 
culture of the silk worm. 

In these early days there were many private institu- 
tions known as "select schools." One of the earliest 
of these was almost directly across the street from the 
old academy. Another was located where the Wright 
Apartment now stands on Central avenue. It was a 
large white building with many windows and was used 
b )th as a school and a dormitory. The pupils were 
boys who came in from the surrounding country, bring- 
ing their own food, which they prepared themselves. A 
Mrs. Thayer conducted another on West Third street, 
and a Miss Cornelia Bradley taught one on Front street. 

By far the most important was the Blackham School, 
conducted from about 1857 to 1870 by Mr. George 
Blackham. assisted by his wife and her two sisters, 
Mrs. David Blackham and Mrs. Harriet Nolan. Mr. 
Blackham was a man of great intellectual force and 
original ideas. Disabled from active life by a form of 
paralysis which for a quarter of a century rendered him 
unable to rise from a chair or walk without assistance, 
he took up school teaching. He believed in individual 
instruction as opposed to class teaching, and held it 
most important that each child should obtain a mastery 
of his mother tongue. In addition to the elementary 
subjects, advanced mathematics, history, French and 
music were taught. 

The cost of operating the public schools at this time, 
beyond a small amount of State aid, was borne by the 
parents of the children attending, each parent being 
assessed an amount in proportion to the number of days 
his children attended. This was known as the "rate" 
bill system, and was especially helpful to the private 
schools. Those who could afford it, paid to have their 
children given special advantages in the select schools. 
Those who could not, either kept their children at 
home or sent them to the public school, because the 
cost was small. For a number of years there had been 
a great struggle throughout the State for free schools 
supported by a tax on property. This finally culminated 
in 1S5.1 in the passage of a law permitting the forma- 
tion of Union Free School districts. Steps were taken 
almost immediately in Dunkirk to take advantage of this 
law. The old building on Third street was no longer 
adequate; the higher grades of the school had been 
removed to Concert Hall and occupied both stories, 
while the younger pupils remained in the school on Third 
street. Through the exertions of Dr. H. R. Rogers, 
Charles H. Sherman and James Brownell, the trustees, 
$6,000 had been voted for a new school building in 1852. 
This building, now known as Number One School, was 
completed in 1857 at a cost of $9,000. 

March 17, 1858, the State Legislature passed an act 
incorporating the Dunkirk Union Free School District, 
and appointed as its first board of education Ebenezer 
R. Thompson, Samuel Hillard, Joseph Mileham, James 
H. Van Buren, Dr. Julien T. Williams and Otis E. 
Tiffany. The new board organized March 20 by electing 
Ebenezer R. Thompson, president, James H. Van 



Buren, secretary. Mr. Thompson not caring to serve, 
Dr. Julien T. Williams was elected to fill the vacant 
position. 

Number One School had barely been completed and 
occupied when it became evident that it was not large 
enough to accommodate the children of the village. In 
1859 the Board of Education decided to open a primary 
school north of Third street. (Bd. Min., vol. I, p. 53). 
A room was secured on Elk street, in the Eastern House, 
and Miss Susan Hoole began teaching there January 
9, i860. (Bd. Min., vol. I, p. 56). A few months later 
an additional room was rented in the same building, 
and it soon became evident that a building must be 
erected to take care of the children of this locality. A 
special school meeting was called and on May 2, 1863, 
$3,000 was voted for the purpose of buying a site and 
erecting a school. This proved insufficient for the pur- 
pose, and no further steps were taken until March 28, 
1866, when an additional $5,000 was voted. The present 
site on Deer street was then purchased, H. M. Wilcox 
was employed to draw plans, and these were adopted 
on May 4, and the board entered into a contract with 
J. W. Thomas, H. Shafer and Michael Barrett to con- 
struct the building. The school was opened November 
26, 1866, with Miss Hinds as principal. A vacant lot 
adjoining on the south was purchased for $250 in 1870, 
and another was added on the north in 1876 for $200. 
In 1900 the building was enlarged to its present size. 

Better equipment in the way of buildings and teachers 
and the free tuition following the organization of the 
Union Free School District soon resulted in a large in- 
crease in the number of pupils enrolled. The "select" 
schools, unable to meet the competition, passed out of 
existence, one after the other. As a result, although the. 
population of the village increased but two or three I 
hundred from i860 to 1870, by 1869 the number of 
pupils enrolled in the public schools had grown to 963. 
(Bd. Min., vol. 1, p. 395). School No. Two had not 
been completed before a demand arose for the build- III 
ing of similar schools in other parts of the district. 
Accordingly, on May 2, 1866, a special school meeting 
voted an appropriation of $8,000 for No. Three, and 
$3,000 for No. Four School. (Bd. Min., vol. 2, p. 194). 
On September 5, 1868, the sum of $10,000 was appropri- 
ated for No. Five. Sites were purchased for Nos. 
Three and Four at a cost of $600 and $1,000 respectively. 
The site of No. Five cost $1,065. No. Three School 
was opened January 13, 1869, with Charles B. Bucknor 
as its first principal. No. Four was opened on the same 
day, with Miss L. D. Gould in charge. 

Later in the same year No. Five was opened with 
Miss Kate Hequembourg as principal. A school was 
maintained for three years in a rented building at the 
corner of Fifth and Elk streets; this was known as No. 
Six. (Bd. Min., vol. 2, p. 462). In the spring of 1883, 
No. Four was burned, but was immediately rebuilt. 
Nos. Three and Four were enlarged to their present 
size in 1898, and No. Five in 1900. 

After the resignation of Dr. Cassety, James Sheward, 
who had been president of the Board of Education, 
was made Superintendent of Schools. He served from 
September, 1869, until March 12, 1870, when as was 
to be expected under the circumstances, friction arose 
and he was summarily dropped by the Board of Educa- 
tion. (Bd. Min., vol. 2, p. 3). A. H. Lewis served as 
superintendent for about a year, and was succeeded in 
1871 by D. H. Carver, who served for two years. Wil- 
liam Harkins followed and remained until 1881. 

The State Legislature in the spring of 1875 passed an 
act making the Dunkirk Union Free School District 
coterminous with the town of Dunkirk. This Act 



DUNKIRK PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



321 



brought into the district considerable territory lying out- 
side the village limits, and added three small schools 
to the number under the control of the Board of Edu- 
cation. The school on Roberts road, in the eastern 
part of the town, was named No. Seven ; that west of 
the village, No. Eight ; and the one on Central avenue 
near the southern boundary of the village was called 
No. Nine. (Bd. Min., vol. 2, p. 276). 

Some time before this, a movement had been started 
to build a school on East Front street to care for the 
needs of this growing section, and finally, on May 31, 
1879, the district appropriated the sum of $2,200 for this 
building, to be known as No. Ten. This was ready for 
occupancy October 13, 1879. No. Nine School was 
abandoned within a few years after its acquisition by 
the district. No. Seven was used as a school for some 
twenty-five years. It was then discontinued in 1901 
and the children from that section were carried to 
school at the expense of the district until the present 
No. Six School was constructed. No. Eight is still used 
as a school, and in 1898 was so enlarged that two teach- 
ers can be employed there if necessary. 

No other name is so closely identified with the his- 
tory of the Dunkirk schools system as that of Dr. 
Williams. His father, Dr. Ezra Williams, had been a 
member of the board of trustees of the old Academy 
established in 1837. After graduation from Castleton 
College, Vermont, young Dr. Williams returned to Dun- 
kirk to practice medicine and followed in his father's 
footsteps, not only in the choice of a profession but in 
his interest in education as well. It was largely through 
his efforts that the special act of the Legislature in- 
corporating the Union Free School District in 1858 was 
passed. He was named as a member of the first Board 
of Education and became its president within a month 
after its organization. With the exception of a few 
years, he served upon the board until his death in 1905, 
and for the greater portion of this time acted as its 
president. 

The plot of ground between Eagle and Swan streets, 
which had been set aside for educational purposes in the 
early days by the Dunkirk Land Company, through the 
efforts of Walter Smith, was saved for the schools 
through the efforts of Dr. Williams. This land, then on 
the outskirts of the village and long neglected, had by 
accident become a cemetery. In 1841 the steamboat, 
"Erie," loaded with Swiss immigrants, had burned a 
few miles out of Dunkirk Harbor with a loss of nearly 
three hundred lives. As these bodies were washed 
ashore, they were buried in the school lot, for the 
want of a more suitable place. Others were buried there 
from time to time until the original purpose for which 
the land had been given was nearly lost to sight. In 
fact, in the late seventies a movement was on foot to 
remove the bodies and divide the land into building lots. 
Dr. Williams, at the request of the Board of Educa- 
tion, took the matter to the State Legislature and was 
entirely successful in his efforts. 

Later, in the erection of the Academy building and the 
present High School, Dr. Williams was largely instru- 
mental in seeing that proper provision was made for 
the schools. The half century during which he was so 
closely connected with the management of the schools 
saw Dunkirk grow from a small village to a city. The 
problems that faced the Board of Education were large, 
and many of them of vital importance to the future of 
the schools. Controversies were frequent and often 
involved a personal bitterness hardly conceivable at the 
present time. Through all these, Dr. Williams cham- 
pioned the cause of the schools with unswerving loyalty 
and with a courage and ability that excites the admira- 
Chau— 21 



tion of those who read the records. The memorial 
adopted at his death most fittingly describes this service : 
"He has served the Board and the public schools of this 
city for nearly half a century. He was always ready 
to listen to propositions for betterment of our schools. 
It was his most cherished ambition in life to see the 
schools of Dunkirk stand first among the educational 
systems of the State. Truly he may be termed Father 
of the Dunkirk Schools." 

The first step toward the erection of a new building 
for the Academy (as it was then called) was taken 
May 10, 1879. The academic department had been 
located in the school building on Fourth street since 
the formation of the Union Free School District in 
1858, and had now outgrown its quarters. On May 31, 
1879, a special district meeting voted an appropriation 
of $4,000 to erect a brick building on the "Old Burying 
Ground Site." Plans were drawn by Walter Scott. The 
old budding erected on Third street in 1827 had not 
been occupied as a school since 1858. It still belonged 
to the district, however, and in i860 had been rented to 
the village for a term of twenty years at an annual 
rental of $35.00. (Bd. Min., vol. 1, p. 68). For some 
time prior to 1878 it had served as a village "lockup," 
and had then fallen into such a dilapidated state as to 
be a subject of some acrimonious correspondence be- 
tween the school and the village authorities. (Bd. Min., 
vol. 2, p. 451). It was now torn down, and the brick 
used in the erection of the new Academy. (Bd. Min., 
vol. 2, p. 553). A special school meeting appropriated an 
additional $3,000 to complete the building in 18S0, and it 
was completed ready for occupancy in September, 1881. 
At this time there were no trees upon the lot. In 1890, 
acting upon a petition from a number of citizens, the 
board drained the grounds and set a large number of 
trees, making possible the present beautiful campus. 

Early in the nineties it became evident that in order 
to keep pace with the growth of the city, much larger 
quarters must be provided for the high school. The tax- 
payers could not be persuaded to vote a new building, 
and so the Board of Education, falling back upon the 
power granted it by the act of 1858 to construct addi- 
tions to existing school buildings, decided to build an 
"addition" to the Academy. This was completed in 
1896 at a cost of $62,219.29. (Bd. Min., vol. 3, p. 127). 
The "addition" was several times the size of the orig- 
inal building, and the board came in for much adverse 
criticism but time has fully vindicated its wisdom. 

Upon the resignation of Superintendent Harkins in 
1881, J. W. Babcock, who had been principal of the 
High School for a year, was promoted to the superin- 
tendency and served until 1900, a much longer term than 
that of any other superintendent in the history of the 
schools. During his term of office, while the population 
of the city had increased from 7,248 to 11,616, the at- 
tendance upon the public schools had increased ac- 
cordingly, reaching a total of 1,755 in 1900. All of the 
elementary schools had been enlarged. The academic 
department had increased greatly in importance and size. 
In the spring of 1898, a Commercial Department had 
been opened in charge of Mr. Charles Jones, and an 
agreement had been reached with a Mr. King (who was 
then conducting a private business college in Dunkirk) 
for the discontinuance of his school. During the same 
year, the matter of properly enforcing the compulsory 
education law had been put upon a proper basis by the 
election of D. F. Ganey as Attendance Officer and Super- 
intendent of Buildings. The work in the grades had 
been thoroughly organized and the movement for public 
kindergartens had been put under way. 

E. E. Scribner, who had been brought from Tru- 



3 22 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



mansburg in 1898 to be principal of the High School, 
was promoted to the superintendency upon Mr. Bab- 
cock's resignation, and served until 1902, when he re- 
signed to become Superintendent of Schools at Isph- 
ming, Michigan. J. C. Van Etten followed, to remain 
until 1905, when he was succeeded by George M. Wiley, 
who was promoted from the principalship of the High 
School. During Mr. Wiley's administration an addition 
was made to the High School building at a cost of 
$80,000, for the use of the Junior High School. This 
was furnished with a splendid gymnasium, and it became 
possible to give adequate physical training to the High 
School pupils. Superintendent Wiley resigned in 1908 
to enter the State Department, and Delmar E. Batch- 
eller, formerly Superintendent of Schools at Olean, suc- 
ceeded him. The departments of Manual Training and 
Domestic Science were opened, and in 1910 Night School 
was organized. 

Superintendent Batcheller resigned in 1913 to return 
to Olean as superintendent, and N. L. Engelhardt, prin- 
cipal of the High School, succeeded him. During Su- 
perintendent Engelhardt's administration, the new No. 
Six building on Benton avenue was constructed at a cost 
of $50,000. Medical inspection was begun, a school 
nurse employed by the year, and a school dentist during 
the summer vacation. Vocational work was enlarged 
and a summer school established. In 1916, Superintend- 
ent Engelhardt resigned to become an instructor in 
Teachers' College, Columbia University, and F. R. Darl- 
ing, the present superintendent, was elected. 

Presidents of Board of Education from organization 
of Union Free School District in i8s8: Ebenezer R. 
Thompson, 1858; Dr. Julien T. Williams, 1858-59. 1869, 
1870-73, 1861-63. 1864-65, 1880-83, 1895-1902; Harvev F. 
Clarke, i860, 1864; James M. Sheward, 1866-67. 1869; 
Dwight Arnold, 1868; N. H. Hill, 1869; E. S. Colman, 



1870; O. S. Minos, 1870; O. B. Davis, 1874-75; C. D. 
Murray, 1876-79, 1884-86; M. L. Hinnian, 1887-91 ; David 
Russell, 1892-94; Daniel Scannell, 1903-04; Geo. Rich- 
mond, 1905-10; Elton D. Warner, 1911-15; Henry P. 
Lally, 1916 (still serving). 

Secretaries of Board of Education — J. H. Van Buren, 
1858; H. B. Van Buren, 1859-1864, 1868; O. F. Dickinson, 
1860-61; Cyrus Thompson, 1862-64; Augustus Holstein, 
1869-71, 1873, 1884-90; E. T. Ward, 1872; R. Mulholland, 
1874-7S. 1880-82; Wm. Zimmerman, 1876-79; John H. 
Lascelles, 1883, 1891-92; C. M. Reed, 1893-95; F. D. 
Light, 1896-97, 1 900- 1 901 ; D. F. Toomey, 1897-99; M. 
Madigan, 1902-04; Myer Einstein, 1905-10; John A. 
Weidman, 1910-16; John Madigan, 1917 (still serving). 

Superintendents of Schools — Gias. W. Case, Supt. 
and Prin. 1858; West W. Case, Supt. and Prin. 1858-59; 
James M. Cassety, Supt. and Prin. 1859-64, 1868-69; Lu- 
ther Harman, Supt. and Prin. 1865 ; David Beattie, Supt. 
and Prin. 1865-68; James Sheward, Supt. and Prin. 
1869; A. H. Lewis, Supt. and Prin. 1870-71; D. 
H. Carver, Supt. and Prin. 1872-73; Wm. Harkins, 
Supt. of Schools, 1874-80; J. W. Babcock, Supt. of I 

Schools, 1881-1901 ; E. E. Scribner, Supt. of Schools, 
1900-1902; J. C. Van Etten, Supt. of Schools, 1902-05; 
George M. Wiley, Supt. of Schools, 1905-08; Delmar E. 
Batcheller. Supt. of Schools, 1908-12; N. L. Engelhardt, 
1913-16; F. R. Darling, 1916 (still serving). 

Principals of High School— J. W. Babcock, 1880-81; 
Lee Monroe, 1881-82; Villa B. Shippv, 1882-83; Miss I 
Frances Chapman, 1883-86; Chas. J. Walsch, 1886-88; 
Albert Leonard, 1888-93; J. Edward Massie, 1893-98; 
John L. Hurlbert. 1898; E. E. Scribner, 1898-1900; E. 
S. Parker, 1900-03 ; Geo. M. Wiley, 1903-05 ; Burtie C. 
Whittaker, 1905-07; Herbert L. Sackett. 1907-08; N. L. 
Engelhardt, 1909-12; Burton P. Fowler, 1913-16; A. 
J. Frey, 1916-17 ; H. D. Lighty, 1917 (still serving). 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF FREDONIA. 
By William B. Blaisdell, Supt. 



The early records of Chautauqua county reveal 
that as early as 1806, settlers began to locate in 
the region which later became the village of Fredonia, 
then all wilderness. Others followed, and as it proved 
to be a goodly place in which to live, it was not long 
before there was a community large enjugh to form 
churches and provide for the education of the children. 

The first school was sustained entirely by voluntary 
contributions, and the children found their way to this 
by means of marked trees. The first school house was a 
little log structure built on the common (now known as 
Lafayette Park), and stood almost immediately in front 
of the site on which the village hall now stands. Among 
the earlv teachers were : Mrs. Olive Woodcock, Na- 
thaniel Gray, S. Fitch, Marietta Blodgett, George S. 
Porter, George Leonard, Geo. W. Gage, John P. Hall, 
Hiram Couch, Thomas Adams, Wm. H. Cutler, Betsy 
Batcheller and Minerva Willoughby. 

As the village grew, the old log school house was 
found too small and a larger building was planned. 
The good pioneers believing they had planned large 
enough to accommodate the children of the village for 
many decades to come, thought it would be economy to 
build one that would neither rot nor burn, so constructed 
this of stone, a structure which still stands, formerly 
the home of Hon. O. W. Johnson, now that of Mr. 
D. G. Sackett. 

Time proved that these pioneers had built well, for in 
September. 1826, the old Fredonia Private Academy was 
started, and this relieved the public school of its older 
• . d more advanced pupils and the stone school house 
answered all purposes for many years. 



In 1848 a new site was obtained at the corner of 
Center and Barker streets, and a two department wood 
school house with an assembly room in the center was 
erected. This was burned in 1853. 

Profiting by their own experience and the wisdom 
shown by those who had erected the stone school house, 
the patrons of the district built in 1854 a square four- 
room building of brick, which still stands as part of 
the present Barker street school building. This answer- 
ed all purposes till 1867, when the State Normal School 
was erected. The normal school, in order to form a 
practice department, took many of the pupils attending 
the village school as well as all pupils attending district 
No. 2, the school house that stood in Houghton 
Park, in that part of the village which is now called 
West Hill. From this event on till 1894 this building 
was adequate to accommodate all pupils of the village 
which attended the public school. By 1894 the public 
school had grown larger with the growth of the village, 
and more room had to be provided. Consequently, in 
the fall of that year (1894) a meeting of the voters of 
the district was called by the Board of Education, at 
which it was voted to form a union free school district, 
consisting of districts Nos. 8 and 2, and to build a four- 
room addition on the front of the school building 
then in use on Barker street. This addition was com- 
pleted in 1895, and accommodated all pupils of the 
village except those attending the normal school, till 
1901. About this time some new industries sprang up 
in the village, and the population began to increase 
rapidly. The Barker street school building soon became 
too small, and rooms outside had to be rented. Later it 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF FREDONIA 



3*3 



was decided to purchase the large Stoddart residence 
on Eagle street and convert the same into a school house. 
Although this building provided several class rooms, it 
was only a year or two when it was necessary for the 
Board of Education again to resort to renting other 
rooms for school purposes and to take steps toward the 
erection of other school buildings. 

The population by this time (1905) had gone above 
the five thousand mark, and it was decided to employ a 
superintendent of schools as provided in the education 
law to administer the affairs of the educational system 
of the village. For this office William B. Blaisdell, who 
had had considerable practical experience in both sec- 
ondary and elementary schools, was chosen. Superin- 
tendent Blaisdell began his duties in the fall of 1906, 
and has continued to serve in this capacity since that 
time. 

As previously stated, the immediate school need of the 
village was school buildings, therefore along with the 
general organization of the schools under the new 
superintendent, erection of new school structures was 
taken up. Several propositions carrying various amounts 
of money were placed before the people for approval, 
but were voted down. In the meantime three different 
buildings were rented for school uses. Finally, during 
the school year of 1908-09, after several public meetings 
had been held at which the people committed themselves 
to the ward school plan, it was voted to erect two more 
elementary school buildings in different parts of the 
village, one to be on Eagle street, and the other on 
Seymour street, in the west part of the city. During 
the year 1909 these buildings were completed and a 
building was remodelled for a kindergarten in connec- 
tion with the new Eagle street school. 

These buildings furnished the necessary school room 
for the school children of the village for only five or 
six years, when the buildings again became crowded. 
There became need not only for more well lighted and 
ventilated class rooms, but rooms for physical training, 
industrial rooms for both boys and girls, assembly 
rooms, medical inspection room to meet State laws, also 
more high school accommodations. Gradually these 
needs were presented to the people of the village by 
the local school administrative authorities and in the 
spring of 1919 the Board of Education decided to pre- 
sent a school building program to the voters of the 
district for approval. After considerable deliberation 
and planning on the part of the board for a number of 
months, it was decided to ask the voters of the district 
for an appropriation of $350,000 with which to build a 
new Junior High School building, and $19,500 with 
which to purchase a site on which to build it, naming in 
the proposal the Richmond-Watson-Fuller properties on 
West Main street, consisting of about ten acres of land 
for this purpose. Accordingly, a meeting of the school 
district was called for May 15, 1920, for the purpose 
of voting upon these propositions. As the day ap- 
proached on which these questions were to be decided, 
a very carefully planned campaign was carried out by 
the school administration for a favorable vote. When 
the ballots were counted it was found that the appropria- 
tion for the new school had carried by a vote in the 
proposition of more than 7 to 1. Since the date of the 
election, an architect has been employed, and detailed 
plans and specifications have been drafted, bids for the 
construction of the new building have been advertised 
for, contracts have been let, and the building is now be- 
ing erected. In this structure are to be provided rooms 
for various types of industrial work for boys, these to 
be fully equipped with the necessary machinery, rooms 
for household arts work for girls, rooms for continua- 



tion school work, rooms for medical inspection and the 
school nurse, a gymnasium in connection with which 
will be dressing rooms, shower baths and a special room 
for the physical director, an auditorium with gallery, 
school administration rooms, library, study halls, special 
rooms for commercial work, agriculture and general 
science, music, drawing, besides all the necessary rooms 
for regular academic work. This building is to be a 
modern structure in every way, in which shall be given 
every line of instruction which may be needed by any 
pupil of the village. This building is also to stand as a 
community center for the benefit of all the people of the 
whole village, adults as well as children. The building 
is to stand on the high bluff above the Canadaway 
creek and overlooking the village. In front, on the level 
ground below the building, is to be a large playground 
,of several acres on which will be the ball ground tennis 
courts and school gardens. 

Regarding the school work in schools of Fredonia 
it might be said that progress has always been the 
foreword and each year some new advanced step has 
been taken. More than 30 years ago special work in 
drawing and in music was begun in the schools, and 
during the past fifteen years, since the organization of 
the schools under a superintendent, a special teacher and 
supervisor for each of these subjects has been employed 
in the schools. Fredonia was one of the pioneer pla'ces 
to start kindergartens in its public schools; and for near- 
ly thirty years specially trained kindergarten teachers 
have been employed to teach in kindergarten depart- 
ments. These departments have always been held in 
favor by the people of the district and at present there 
are three such classes in the public schools of the vil- 
lage. This kind of training for the children articulates 
so well with the primary grades that it proves of great 
advantage to the pupils who have had this schooling. 

Another progressive step was taken in the schools 
when about fifteen years ago elementary sewing was 
begun, starting with fourth grade children and con- 
tinuing by progressive steps with the girls in the fifth 
year through the Junior High School, with the addition 
of cooking in the later years. Likewise, considerable 
other handwork relating to various industries in their 
simple form and correlated with the work of the regular 
school subjects has been successfully done in the schools 
for a number of years. 

About four years ago home and school garden work 
was taken up in the schools and found to be of great 
educational value, helping not only to awaken interest 
in and to furnish excellent material for "the three R's" 
subjects, but to give the pupils something to do that is 
worth while, something that yields interest in agricul- 
ture and growing crops and income as well; besides fur- 
nishing the best of outdoor exercise. 

One of the factors in promoting the school garden 
idea has been the organization of a Plant, Flower and 
Fruit Guild in the schools, the purpose of which is 
to inculcate a spirit of generosity in the pupils, to sup- 
plant selfishness with a spirit of giving, to lead pupils 
to give of their surplus plants, flowers, fruits and other 
products to those who are less fortunate than them- 
selves. This organization was started on the occasion 
of Arbor day 191 1. Then, and each year since, this 
event has been used as the time for encouraging the 
starting of planting and sowing. Each year the plant 
and seed markets of the public school children of 
Fredonia, always held early in May, have grown in size 
and importance and have made possible the doing of a 
great amount of good, including the giving of thousands 
of bunches of flowers and hundreds of receptacles of 
fruit and jellies to children's orphanages, hospitals and 



324 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



other charitable institutions besides giving a kind of 
instruction to the pupils far more valuable than any 
obtained from books. 

For the past three years the school garden work has 
been under the direction of Mr. Milton B. Schafer as 
garden supervisor, and this department of the public 
schools has been one of the most helpful and successful 
features of the schools. 

During the school year of 1919-20 an evening school 
was started under the direction of the superintendent, 
the chief aim being the Americanization of the foreign 
born, instructing them in English and citizenship, thus 
helping them to become good citizens. Classes were 
formed for both men and women, the latter being in- 
structed in our ways of cooking. In these classes there 
were over forty men and twenty-five women, the imme- 
diate instruction being given by Mrs. Ella S. Barmore, 
Miss Mabel Housinger and Mrs. McCartey. So suc- 
cessful was this evening school feature, that it, no 
doubt, will become a permanent institution in the schools. 

During the coming school year a continuation school 
is being organized by the superintendent to be held Sat- 



urday mornings for the benefit of boys and girls who are 
employed. The instruction in industrial subjects for 
boys will be given by Prof. John C. Reynolds, instruc- 
tion in household arts for girls by Miss Clara E. Black- 
ford of the public school faculty. 

On this report mention also should be made of the 
Home and School Club, organized in 1910. In the work 
of this club a great deal of interest has been taken by 
both parents and teachers and all friends of the school. 
The programs of the club have always been practical 
and helpful, and the bringing together of parents and 
teachers has been the means of good which in amount 
would be hard to measure. Other good results have 
been gained through parents' days and in holding school 
exhibits. 

Board of Education — President, John H. Foster. 
Members— Dr. N. A. Johnson, Dr. W. L. Babcock, F. 
Z. Hartzell, Mrs. Ella S. Barmore. 

School Principals — Clara M. Flint, Barker street 
school ; Mary M. Hull, Eagle street school ; Bertha C. 
Piehl, Seymour street school. High school principal not 
yet appointed. 



CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION. 
Compiled by Arthur E. Bestor. 



Fifty years ago Chautauqua was a geographical name 
designating a lake, a township, and a county in Western 
New York; today it is a common noun which has made 
its way into many lands and languages. The original 
Assembly, from which all gatherings of like character 
throughout the world have taken their name, was char- 
acterized by Theodore Roosevelt on his last visit to 
Chautauqua as "the most American thing in America." 
Chautauqua is the oldest summer school in the country, 
one of the greatest forums in the English-speaking 
world, one of the most potent agencies in existence for 
popular education through the Chautauqua Literary and 
Scientific Circle, and the originator of many movements 
which are now carrying on their work under their own 

The Chautauqua Sunday School Assembly, founded 
at Fair Point (later called Chautauqua) on Chautauqua 
Lake, New York, by Lewis Miller (1828-99) and John 
H. Vincent (1832-1920), was designed to provide a 
broader and more effective training for Sunday school 
teachers. The Assembly's first program was not only 
consistently pan-denominational, but it included lectures 
on other than Biblical and religious themes, as well as 
many recreative features. _ 

The natural development of the original purpose early 
led to several broadly educational undertakings The 
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, founded in 
1878 spread quickly to every State and to several foreign 
countries; the School of Languages (1879) was extend- 
ed to include pedagogical courses in 1880, and under the 
late William R. Harper (1883-95) became a system of 
fourteen summer schools. For ten years (1886-96) the 
Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts and School of 
Theologv, under the title of Chautauqua University, 
conducted correspondence courses in college and the- 
ological subjects until endowed universities took up this 
work and relieved Chautauqua of its burdens as a 
pioneer. In 1888 Chautauqua was a leader under the 
late Herbert B. Adams, in adapting English University- 



Note— Detailed information as to important devel- 
opments in the history of Chautauqua is given by 

years on pages (i. e.: 1874— Chautauqua Ins itu- 

tion, 1920; and Survey of the Seasons, 1874-1920). 



Extension methods to American conditions. In 1898 
Chautauqua voluntarily surrendered to the State of New 
York the power to grant degrees, and in 1902 received 
a new special charter under the name Chautauqua In- 
stitution. 

The Chautauqua summer session has been gradually 
lengthened from twelve days to sixty ; the daily pro- 
gram has been steadily strengthened and enriched ; the 
platform has been kept in sympathetic relations with the 
In-; tilings of national life; the home reading course 
has been more and more nicely adjusted to the needs 
of Chautauqua readers. The material side of the In- 
stitution has kept approximate pace with its expanding 
life and widening constituency. 

The Institution began on the first Tuesday of Au- 
gust, 1874, when a group of earnest people met at 
Fair Point on Chautauqua Lake to found a Sunday 
School Assembly. Dr. John H. Vincent had long wanted 
to establish an institute for training Sunday school 
teachers. His colleague, Lewis Miller, proposed to take 
this into the woods. Dr. Vincent feared that the new 
enterprise would be confused with the camp meeting, 
which just then was a highly emotional institution. Mr. 
Miller's counsel prevailed and Chautauqua was chosen. 
The spot was full of natural charm — a heavily timbered 
point stretching out into a lovely lake, from which the 
ground rose in wooded terraces to a rolling countryside. 
The men and women who responded to the call were 
devoted Sunday school workers ; they were anxious to 
put their teaching on a higher plane. All the leading 
denominations were represented at this first assembly. 

It is significant that the "Chautauqua Idea" was a 
logical development of the purpose to make Sunday 
school instruction more efficient. Bible teachers ought 
vividly to visualize Oriental lands and ancient life. 
Therefore there was provided an earth model of Pales- 
tine 300 feet long, a plaster model of Jerusalem, an Ori- 
ental house of stucco with residents in costume, a 
muezzin calling to prayers from a minaret, and a "path- 
way of Roman history" with a series of labeled posts 
along Pratt avenue laid out on the scale of a foot to 
each year of Roman history. Sunday school officers 
should be familiar with teaching methods, therefore 



CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 



325 



pedagogical courses were given, and instruction in men- 
tal philosophy. They should be broad in their interests, 
hence lectures on science, travel, literature, social prob- 
lems were offered. The esthetic side of life should not 
be neglected, so music and an art collection were pro- 
vided. From the outset, entertainments and games were 
deemed a natural and wholesome feature of the Chau- 
tauqua summer life. 

Bishop Vincent said of that memorable first meeting, 
"the stars were out, and looked down through trembling 
leaves upon a goodly well-wrapped company, who sat 
in the grove, filled with wonder and hope. No electric 
light brought platform and people face to face that night. 
The old-fashioned pine fires on rude four-legged stands, 
like tall tables, covered with earth, burned with unsteady, 
flickering flame, now and then breaking into temporary 
brilliancy by the contact of a resinous knot of pine or a 
vigorous stirring-up by the stick of the rustic fireman 
who knew how to snuff candles and how to turn light 
on the crowd of campers-out. The white tents were 
very beautiful in that evening light." 

The Assembly opened with prayer and the reading 
of the vesper service which has been used at the open- 
ing of every Assembly since. All the leading Protestant 
churches were represented. People were present from 
twenty-five States, and from many parts of the British 
Empire. Mr. Frank Beard said of that first Assembly: 
"The first audience met in Miller Park, and sat down on 
rough benches and stumps, with nothing to rest their 
backs against except the salubrious atmosphere ; and 
they did not need much else in those days, for the 
pioneer Chautauquan possessed backbone. That was the 
day when neither a wet day nor a dry speaker could 
drive the audience from their seats." 

The Assembly was divided into three terms. There 
were twenty-two lectures on theory and practice in Sun- 
day school work ; seven on Bible history, geography, 
etc. The Sectional Meetings included nine primary; 
ix intermediate; one senior; one superintendents; four 
pastors and superintendents ; eight normal-class and in- 
stitute-conductors conversazioni ; six normal sections ; 
three teachers' meetings ; two model Sunday-school ses- 
sions ; four Bible readings ; three praise services ; two 
children's meetings and six sermons. 

The Chautauqua platform early gained distinction. 
During fifty years it has welcomed the famous men and 
women of America and England. Here Grant was 
eloquently silent; here John B. Gough made people 
forget the dinner hour. It was at Chautauqua that 
Susan B. Anthony pleaded for woman suffrage long 
before the leaders of fashion took up the cause. Drum- 
mond repeated his Lowell lectures at Chautauqua in 
1893. Theodore Roosevelt, as a young man, on the first 
of four visits, gave lectures which he later developed 
into his volumes on "The Winning of the West." Fair- 
bairn of Oxford tried to make clear the philosophic 
issues that Joseph Cook's oratory had clouded. Sir 
Owen Seaman, now editor of "Punch," visited the 
United States solely for the purpose of lecturing to 
Chautauquans on the Greek drama and on Tennyson and 
Browning. One of the most exciting events of the 
eighties was a debate on Standard Oil between Wash- 
ington Gladden and George Gunton. James Bryce, 
while British Ambassador, gave here one of his scholarly 
addresses. Noted authors have read from their own 
works ; for example, Riley, Cable, Hopkinson Smith, 
Thomas Nelson Page. General Lew Wallace read for 
the first time in public the famous chariot-race scene 
from "Ben-Hur," but as a wit remarked, "he never got 
the horses off a walk." It has been the policy of Chau- 
tauqua to invite to its platform not sensation-mongers 



and self-seekers, but men and women who from experi- 
ence and training are able to speak with sincerity and 
authority. The Chautauqua programs reflect national 
life for five decades and record the names of presidents, 
statesmen, university men, clergymen, leaders of social 
reform, authors, artists. 

Before long the enriched course began to attract other 
than Sunday school teachers. Within a few years in- 
struction was provided in languages, history, literature, 
science, pedagogy. Dr. William R. Harper (president 
of the University of Chicago, 1891-1906) came in 1883, 
and by 1890 a complete system of summer schools had 
been established. Correspondence teaching was intro- 
duced and was maintained until endowed universities 
relieved Chautauqua of this task. Men and women 
from leading institutions of the country joined the sum- 
mer staff, and firmly established the reputation of the 
schools to which many thousands continue to resort. 
Richard T. Ely and Herbert B. Adams of Johns Hop- 
kins, A. S. Cook and George B. Adams of Yale, H. E. 
Van Hoist of Chicago, were among those who gave 
aid at a time when certain journals were declaring that 
summer study was unwise. 

With the founding in 1874 of what is now Chautauqua 
Institution, there was ostensibly started "a system of 
popular education" which was supposed to stand in con- 
trast with the college system of education maintained 
for the cultured and professional classes. The contrast, 
however, has always been more apparent than real In 
the early years the main issue was a question of opinion 
as to whe'ther the summer could be turned to academic 
account, especially in a six-week session. Half the first 
set of courses at Chautauqua were in the nature of 
regular college work in ancient and modern languages. 
The remainder were normal school studies in pedagogy. 
From the outset came people who gained in these weeks 
their first view of the "college outlook," or who re- 
turned for further vistas in which they could not pos- 
sibly indulge themselves during the school year. In 
these later days Chautauqua has continued to be popular 
in a legitimate sense — has even become much more so 
than at first— but most of the universities and many 
of the colleges are now unwilling to be outdone. 

Largely speaking, the first stage in the Chautauqua 
summer schools was the oldest fashioned stage of study- 
for-knowledge courses. The founders started with a 
School of Languages, and a Teachers' Retreat, which 
was a school of pedagogy. When they introduced the 
first lectures on science, the lecturers did all the talking 
and experimenting and the students listened and watch- 
ed ; and for ten years they stuck to books and abstrac- 
tions and had a pleasantly exciting time pursuing knowl- 
edge as it appeared on the printed page and was heard 
in the fluent periods of the instructor and public lec- 
turer. 

The second stage marked the addition of various 
activity courses. The first three on the records hap- 
pened to be music, microscopy, and mineralogy. It would 
have amounted to the same thing if they had been birds, 
botany, and bookbinding ; the significance lay in the fact 
that two new kinds of work were being offered, science 
courses involving observation, and process courses de- 
manding proficiency in technique. It was an important 
step, though merely in keeping with the progress of the 
times, for it led eventually to the present modest group 
of scientific subjects which can be well presented with 
the simple laboratory equipment available at Chautauqua, 
and the rich natural resources of the region ; and it led 
further to the present departments of Library Training, 
Home Economics, Music, Arts and Crafts, Expression, 
Physical Education, and Practical (business) Arts. 



326 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The third aspect of Summer Schools and all other 
educational work is only now developing, and at Chau- 
tauqua is developing rather slowly. This is the direct 
attempt to promote a sense of social responsibility. 
One reason, perhaps, why this has been hitherto neglect- 
ed in formal class room study at Chautauqua is that 
the aroma of social service is generally permeative there. 
It suffuses the headquarters of the Department of Re- 
ligious Work, it is wafted from the public platform in 
scores of sermons and addresses, and it is perceptible 
in the whole atmosphere of the City in the Woods, 
which is itself a vastly interesting social laboratory. 

Thus the Summer School idea, undertaken very early 
at Chautauqua, has been adopted as widely in the col- 
leges as the Summer Assembly idea — which has con- 
verted Chautauqua to a common noun — has been adopted 
by the local uplifters and the enterprising bureau man- 
agers. And the evident reason is that both ideas are 
fundamentally sensible. The colleges recognize now 
that there are other adults than their own graduates 
who can get some good out of college courses, that if 
there is any virtue in the use of the margin, the first of 
ill to be used is the wide expense of summer, that the 
teacher in particular can gain more literal recreation 
by spending some of the vacation in the class room 
than by dedicating it all to the front porch. 

Furthermore, the Summer School idea is so practical 
and sound that nothing but its wide adoption has saved 
Chautauqua from being utterly overwhelmed by over- 
patronage. Rapid as have been the establishment of new 
schools and the growth of the old ones, Chautauqua has 
grown along with them. Permanent plants, libraries, 
and laboratories have given the colleges certain ad- 
vantages that Chautauqua has always recognized; but 
as their superior equipment has logically confined cer- 
tain kinds of advanced work to them, Chautauqua's 
superior flexibility has led to the experiments in new 
fields which have more than once led to further exten- 
sion of college enterprise. There is little rivalry; only 
cooperation and parallel endeavor; and to any one with 
a bit of experience and some imagination it is perfectly 
clear that there are more things for the Summer Schools 
in the next generation than are dreamed of at present. 

Garfield said at Chautauqua in 1880: 

"The American people are gaining leisure; upon 
their use of this leisure the future of the nation will 
d. pend." For the employment of this margin Chau- 
tauqua proposed a plan— the famous Home Reading 
Circle. The time was propitious. Thousands felt the 
need of personal culture; the idea of organized read- 
mit grc.ups in :ul,- a strong appeal. There were in those 
days no books written for such readers; no cheap 
popular magazines. Chautauqua created a new type of 
t.-xt-hook and manual, and founded a periodical which 
sold for $1.50. Thousands joined tin- soei.-tv. Kdwanl 
Everett Hale and Lyman Abbott were members of the 
Advisory Board. William Cullen Bryant wrote a let- 
ter of greeting and good will. A ritual of graduation 
waa devised. Diplomas with spaces for scores of 
seals —records of continued reading — were awarded 
after a four-years' course. The plan was imitated in 
Great Britain in the British Home Reading Union; 
blanches were established in Japan and South Africa. 
Chautauqua preached the gospel of education as a 
process of personal growth; insisted that all education 
is self-education and that for ambitious pepole "edu- 
cation ends only with life." 

The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle was 
organized August 12, 1878, by Bishop John H. Vincent. 
Its aim was "to promote habits of reading and study 
in nature, art, science, and in secular and sacred liter- 
ature, in connection with the routine of daily life, es- 
pecially among those whose educational advantages have 
been limited, so as to secure to them the college stu- 
dents general outlook upon the world and life, and to 
develop the habit of close, connected, persistent think- 



ing." The course was planned to cover four years, and 
the methods proposed were "to encourage individual 
study in lines and by text-books which shall be indi- 
cated ; by local circles for mutual help and encourage- 
ment in such studies ; by summer courses of lectures and 
students' sessions at Chautauqua, and by reports and 
examinations." . 

Since 1878, forty-four C. L. S. C. classes (1882 to 
1925) have enrolled in all over 300,000 members, and it is 
safe to say that more than three-quarters of a million 
people have read the Chautauqua course. The class of 
1884 had 4,000 graduates. Thousands of these readers 
have kept up with the studies for many years after 
finishing their four years' course. The membership has 
extended to every part of the United States and to 
nearly every foreign land. It has been the inspiration 
of similar movements for popular education in England, 
Australia, Japan, and South Africa. 

The four years' course aims to give in a broad sense 
the "college outlook," languages and the exact labora- 
tory sciences being of necessity excluded. The subjects 
of the four years comprise in general an "English Year," 
an "American Year," a "Continental European Year," 
and a "Classical Year." The required readings for 
each year include four books and a news-narrative de- 
partment in "The Independent." A monthly bulletin, 
"The Round Table," supplies the "teacher" element as 
far as seems necessary, giving assignments of reading 
for those who care to adopt a schedule, supplementary 
book lists, side-lights on the lessons of the month, pro- 
grams for circles, hints for individual work, and re- 
ports from readers. The blank "Memoranda" furnished 
to each member contains review questions on the year's 
work. No examinations are required, but written re- 
views are recognized by seals placed upon the diploma. 

Many thousands of C. L. S. C. members read alone. 
Thousands more form circles and meet periodically with 
others for mutual help. These circles are of all types, 
varying in numbers from three to one hundred or more 
members. Many hold informal meetings with very flex- 
ible requirements, others effect a simple organization, 
assign duties to the various members and carry out a 
carefully prepared program of reviews, readings, reports, 
debates, etc. Circles meet in private houses, in churches, 
schools, public libraries, Y. M. C. A.s, hotel parlors, etc., 
as convenience suggests. The circle often renders ser- 
vice to the community by public lectures or vesper ser- 
vices and occasional open meetings, or by helping to 
build up a local library or other educational enterprise. 
In many towns, the C. L. S. C. graduates are organized 
into a "Society of the Hall in the Grove," which en- 
courages the enrollment of new members. Many of 
these live in towns and villages, but are prevented by 
circumstances from joining a circle. Others are to be 
found in isolated communities, on ranches, in mining 
camps, at army posts, on the high seas, in foreign lands, 
etc. The relation of each member to the Central Office 
is the same, whether the work is done alone or in a 
Circle. Many members pursue the four years' course 
and graduate without having seen a fellow Chautauquan. 

Every C. L. S. C. member upon graduation becomes a 
member of the Society of the Hall in the Grove. Dur- 
ing the four years he may have earned seals for his 
diploma by supplementary readings, or by filling our re- 
view papers. Four seals upon the diploma entitle a 
graduate to membership in the Order of the White Seal, 
seven to the League of the Round Table, fourteen to the 
Guild of the Seven Seals. The Inner Circle is the 
highest order, including those who have forty-nine seals. 
A graduate may add seals to his diploma by continuing 
with the regular course, which is never two years alike, 






CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 



327 



or by taking special courses. A large number of these 
are provided by the C. L. S. C. for graduates or other 
persons wishing to take up the study of particular sub- 
jects. These courses include travel, history, literature, 
science, and art. They are given in detail in the C. L. 
S. C. Special Course Handbook. 

The membership of the C. L. S. C. includes persons of 
a variety of callings. Professional men and women find 
the four years' course a stimulating review of college 
topics considered in the light of recent progress; min- 
isters and other college-trained men frequently lend 
their aid as leaders of local Circles. Men and women 
who have been denied college, and often high-school 
training, are able to gain a broad outlook upon the world 
of larger ideals, and to bring themselves into sympathy 
with the young generation of college students. Isolated 
readers on ranches, at military posts, and in foreign 
lands are stimulated by the sense of companionship in 
reading. Club women find the suggestively arranged 
courses invaluable for study purposes. Young people 
are enabled to escape from the drifting habit, teachers 
to enlarge their thinking beyond the routine of school 
work, and young business men to use the little margins 
of time at their command in systematic rather than 
haphazard reading. 

The center of the C. L. S. C. is the Hall of Philosophy 
in St. Paul's Grove at Chautauqua, N. Y. The Grove 
was dedicated to the C. L. S. C, August 19, 1878, and the 
Hall erected in 1879. The new Hall, a permanent struc- 
ture on the same general plan as the earlier building, 
replaced it in 1906. The C. L. S. C. Round Tables and 
other exercises, and the ceremonies of Recognition Day 
when the graduating class is "Recognized" by the 
Chancellor, have been held here from the first. Other 
activities of the C. L. S. C. at Chautauqua include Rally 
Day exercises in the Amphitheater, C. L. S. C. Councils 
for informal discussions of the work, and class gather- 
ings. Meetings of C. L. S. C. classes are usually held 
in Alumni Hall. 

Chautauqua asserts that education is not a thing apart 
from everyday life. Conventional schooling takes up a 
comparatively small part of the lifetime of most people. 
In ways of making life out-of-school educational, utiliz- 
ing the intellectual discipline which the experience of 
living guarantees to thoughtful people, Chautauqua's 
unconventional contributions to American educational 
methods have been unique and permanent. 

Chautauqua successfully attacked the superstition that 
one can be too old to. learn, decades before the modern 
psychologists declared that one of the greatest dangers 
to the race was. mental arrest or stagnation after school 
age has been past. Research specialists now assure us 
that the cells of the brain most concerned with mental 
life keep on growing until at least the age of sixty- 
three and probably to the very end of life. They tabulate 
data showing thr>t sixty-four per cent, of the greatest 
work of 400 of the world's greatest men was done after 
their sixtieth year. Chautauqua supplies educational 
facilities, long neglected by conventional systems, for 
father and mother at home, because the family is still 
most important among our educational institutions. Pub- 
lic library service is prepared for by teaching people how 
to use books to advantage. 

Chautauqua circles, in city, town, and country, have 
had years of experience in so-called social center activi- 
ties and continuation school work for adults, the re- 
sults of which are serviceable to conventional school 
authorities today. Must the school be "a place in which 
all the people shall bathe, read, dance, bake and vote?" 
The line is not easy to draw between what may be 
advantageously incorporated in the school system and 



what may be better handled by other educational 
agencies. Certain it is that an increasing measure of 
guidance or supervision of adult education from the 
State university down to the public school is the educa- 
tional trend of the times, even at the sacrifice of some 
academic conventionalism. 

Chautauqua has been dominated by a religious spirit 
at the same time that it has avoided sectarian strife and 
theological narrowness. The Institution has stood for a 
conception of religion which includes all the essential 
elements of a well-rounded life, intellectual integrity, 
moral earnestness, appreciation of beauty and above all 
a social solidarity and obligation of service. Chau- 
tauqua has played an important part in breaking down 
the barriers between churches, in promoting tolerance 
and good will, and in shifting the emphasis from a per- 
sonal, individualistic salvation to the concept of "The 
World the Subject of Redemption," from the idea of 
the Kingdom of God as a remote society in another 
world to that of a social order to be realized in this. 
In proposing the erection of the Hall of Christ, Bishop 
Vincent said: 

"It is in the recognition of this large and noble 
thought that I have proposed the erection of a new 
binding at Chautauqua, to be called 'The Hall of 
Christ. • a huilding of appropriate architecture, devoted 
ex,' usivelv to the study of the Man of Nazareth, in 
which everv dav, at all hours, there shall be. under 
most skilful direction, courses of study in the life, 
words, deeds spirit, and results of his life who 'spake 
as never man spake,' and 'who went about doing good,' 
whose 'name is above every name that is named.' In 
this hall it is proposed to collect all engravings of 
Christ which the art of the ages puts within our reach, 
and a library of all the lives of Christ which have ever 
been written. It shall be a memorial hall with his- 
toric windows following the general design of the ar- 
tist so that they shall present in chronological order 
the events of that holiest of all lives, and, at the same 
time, each window mav become a memorial window 
for families choosing to place at Chautauqua lasting 
souvenirs of departed friends. In this hall there 
shall be devotional services of that high quality in 
which true art and the noblest thought are consecrated 
to the most spiritual devotion. Thus shall the central 
building of Chautauqua symbolize to the world the 
controlling aim and force of all her diverse min- 
istries." 

Chautauqua Institution is chartered by the State of 
New York as an institution without any element of 
private profit. There is no stock and consequently there 
are no dividends. The board of twenty-four trustees 
serves without compensation. Every cent of profit must 
by the charter go into the improvement of the plant and 
the development of the educational resources of the 
Institution. A permanent community has been built 
up at Chautauqua, New York, equipped with all modern 
conveniences and capable of housing under conditions 
of safety, convenience, and healthfulness, 15,000 to 18,000 
people. The Institution owns and operates all the 
municipal services pertaining to Chautauqua, such as 
water works, electric light plant, telephone service, sew- 
age svstem, dock facilities, and water front privileges. 
It is the owner of all public buildings, except denomina- 
tional houses. It owns the fee of 331 acres of land 
which together with buildings, equipment and personal 
property are worth on most conservative estimates over 
$1,250,000. 

We are familiar with the college which possesses 
campus, buildings, and equipment ; we are accustomed to 
think of a university possessing State lands, a medical 
school here, an observatory there, a technical plant 
elsewhere; we shall not understand the physical Chau- 
tauqua until we realize that for educational work in its 
field the analogy to college and university administra- 
tion must be extended through adaptation, so that Chau- 



328 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



tauqua Institution for its purposes shall control the 
town, conduct the various educational departments, and 
execute the trust imposed upon it by endowment in vari- 
ous forms. 

Chautauqua is not a commercial enterprise. It is not 
a stock company. It is an educational institution char- 
tered by the State of New York "to promote the intel- 
lectual, social, physical, moral, and religious welfare of 
the people. To this end it may hold meetings and pro- 
vide for recreation, instruction, health, and comfort on 
its grounds at Chautauqua ; conduct schools and classes ; 
maintain libraries, museums, reading and study clubs, 
and other agencies for home education ; publish books 
and serials, and do such other things as are needful 
or proper to further its general purpose." The charter 
here quoted dates from March, 1902, under which the 
official name became Chautauqua Institution, and the 
administration of all departments was organized upon 
the present efficient basis. 

Nobody owns Chautauqua in the commercial sense. 
It pays only that kind of dividend which school and 
college pay in the education of individuals. That edu- 
cational institution would be a marvel whose student 
fees began to cover running expenses. So at Chau- 
tauqua your gate-ticket form of tuition fee, for ex- 
ample, will give you choice of approximately three hun- 
dred public exercises during a season at an average of 
five cents each. For special classes, clubs, or the home 
reading courses you will pay additional fees, but ob- 
viously revenues for the support of Chautauqua work 
must come from leases of lots, municipal services, con- 
cessions, boarding licenses, etc., these in turn being sup- 
plemented by endowment in the form of individual 
services, contributed buildings and equipment, special 
funds, and general endowment. 

Chautauqua is a centralized institution. Authority 
vested in the trustees is delegated through the Execu- 
tive Board and the President to certain officers who are 
responsible each for his department. This system secures 
a unity of administration vital to the success of the 
whole system. Chautauqua is an educational institution, 
not a self-governing community. If citizens were free 
to conduct business, hold meetings, etc., as they saw 
fit, the unity and stability of the Institution would dis- 
appear. Only, however, as the administration wins, in 
general, the support of public opinion, can it do its work 
effectively. It is an institutional town managed by 
trustees who provide for the summer session the op- 
portunity of participating in a community life where 
persons are exceptionally free to devote their time and 
energies to the higher planes of living and thinking. 
To this end you discover that the Institution protects 
the visitor within the gates by such regulations as ex- 
perience has shown to be advisable. The place is pre- 
pared for every member of the family and each is free 
to associate with his fellows on lines of common social 
and intellectual interests. 

The Institution assumes all the ordinary and some 
extraordinary services of town administration, imposed 
upon it by the special purposes of the place; fire and 
health protection; road-making and street cleaning; 
sewage, light, and water systems ; telephone system ; 
telegraph, baggage, express, and freight facilities ; main- 
tenance of public buildings, building regulations, inspec- 
tion and regulation of concessions necessary to supply 
the physical wants of the community. The Institution 
provides a continuous lyceum, a clearing house of ideas 
and program of entertainments throughout the season, 
and this daily program open to all within the gates 
has been Chautauqua's most spectacular attraction from 
season to season. 



The customs of Chautauqua are the reasonable out- 
growth of the life and ideals of the summer city. The 
Institution offers a general scheme of life and welcome 
all to whom this appeals. Joining the community, 
therefore, implies an obligation of courteous conformity 
and co-operation. To those who cannot adapt them- 
selves cheerfully to this situation as a whole, Chau- 
tauqua frankly and with all good-will points out hun- 
dreds of other summer centers with possibly more con- 
genial ideals and activities. 

In all the details of the social and intellectual life of 
Chautauqua the attempt is consistently made to do away 
with even the slightest suggestions of a privilege system. 
The necessary restrictions which are laid upon the com- 
munity are placed upon all residing within the limits of 
Chautauqua, from the highest officers and most dis- 
tinguished visitors to the youngest and least experienced 
citizens. All persons passing the gates in either direc- 
tion present credentials. All Chautauquans observe the 
necessity of quiet at the close of the evening. No Chau- 
tauquans are treated with personal discrimination in the 
issuance of Sunday passes. Further than this, in the 
courtesies of the audience room and street the members 
of the community have come to regard their mutual 
rights. No seats are reserved at popular lectures and 
concerts for late-coming friends. And while the natural 
deference due to age or physical frailties prevails, the 
urging of special claims has come to be a matter of rare 
occurrence. In brief, the spirit of Chautauqua is es- 
sentially democratic. Moreover the sentiment of the 
community is distinctly opposed to putting emphasis, by 
means of elaborate dress or social formalities or ex- 
pensive entertainments, on distinctions of wealth or 
position. 

Chautauqua has been called a veritable "children's 
paradise," for nature has provided a never-failing won- 
derland, and the protected conditions of living within 
the grounds guarantee unusual safety for a free child 
life. Children are more than welcome at Chautauqua, 
they are not liable to harmful companionships, and 
elaborate provision is made for directing their activi- 
ties. There are sand piles and wading beaches and 
playgrounds for the tiny children. Kindergarten classes 
were established as early as 1885. The nursery kinder- 
garten will take care of children under four during 
morning and afternoon periods ; ten trained kinder- 
gartners compose the faculty of the Summer kinder- 
garten for children up to seven years of age. The Boys' 
and Girls' Clubs have each buildings of their own with 
a carefully planned day of recreation and study and out- 
of-door life. For the boys and girls a little older there 
are the Junior Athletic Club and Young Woman's Club. 
Under such guidance both indoor and outdoor experi- 
ences at Chautauqua educate and delight. 

What is true of the children is also true of all of the ] 
people upon the grounds. Provision is made for every 
group large enough to have its own social consciousness. 
A Woman's Club meets daily under the presidency of 
Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, formerly president of the 
General Federation of Women's Clubs, composed of 
women from every State of the Union and reaching a 
membership in 1920 of two thousand. The Men's Club 
has its own club house on the lake front. A mere list of 
the various organizations which have their own stated 
times of meeting shows the wide variety of interest rep- 
resented during a summer season : Choir, Men's Club. 
Women's Club, Athletic Club, Golf Club, Boys' Club. 
Girls' Club, Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, 
Bird and Tree Club, Masonic Club, Order of the East- 
ern Star, Daughters of the American Revolution, Law- 
yers' Club, Press Club, Young Woman's Club, Chau- 



jhM. 




•■So-. 1 ^ - ifr?'; Mil 




1HHH^HHh8h9hhIHE9hh 


|P5^^2 r HlB 




1IAI.L (iF CHRIST. RELIGIOUS WORK. 



CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 



329 



tauqua Circle of Kings Daughters and Sons, Chautauqua 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Quoit Club. 

Naturally an institution established for so many 
years and having so many personal relationships has 
built up a great body of traditions. Many of these are 
unique. On the first Tuesday in August of each year 
are held the anniversary services of the founding of the 
Institution, on an occasion which is known as Old First 
Night. It is on this one single occasion during the 
entire summer that gifts are sought. 

The Chautauqua salute — waving of handkerchiefs in- 
stead of handclapping — was devised on the spur of the 
moment by Bishop Vincent at Chautauqua in honor of 
a deaf-mute who had spoken to the audience in sign- 
language and could not hear ordinary applause. The 
salute is given only a few times each season, is limited 
to the honoring of especially distinguished guests, and 
is never initiated except by the presiding officer. As a 
memorial to those who have gone, the handkerchiefs are 
silently raised and lowered. The "drooping of the lilies" 
by the great audience on Old First Night is a sight never 
to be forgotten 

The quiet Chautauqua Sunday is a tradition from 
the earliest days which finds rational sanction in the 
present. No needless restrictions are placed on the 
freedom of anyone on the grounds although no tickets 
are sold, no excursion parties enter, and all needless 
traffic and business is suspended. All possible means are 
taken to make an atmosphere of rest, of thought and 
devotion which will inspire and re-create the spirit, the 
mind, and the body. The eleven o'clock preaching ser- 
vice is the largest audience of the whole week and the 
ablest preachers of the English-speaking world be- 
longing to different denominations are always to be 
heard. There are Sunday school classes for the chil- 
dren, an organ interlude late in the afternoon on the 
great organ in the Amphitheater, the C. L. S. C. vesper 
service at five o'clock in the Hall of Philosophy, a 
Lakeside service at seven on the model of Palestine, 
and a sacred song service at seven forty-five in the 
evening which again unites all of the visitors at Chau- 
tauqua. An experience of a Sunday at Chautauqua is 
something which is always remembered by any one who 
has ever enjoyed it. 

Introduction of speakers to Chautauqua audiences is 
almost an art. The introduction of the late Dr. P. S. 
Henson at Chautauqua years ago by Bishop lohn H. 
Vincent has become classic : Bishop Vincent said : "I 
now take great pleasure in announcing the lecture on 
'Fools' by one — (great laughter) of the wisest of men." 
Dr. Henson arose, bowed, and began : "I would have 
you understand, ladies and gentlemen, that I am not as 
much of a fool as Bishop Vincent — (greater laughter) 
would have you believe." 

A model of the land of Palestine in the early days was 
one of Chautauqua's most famous attractions to visitors. 
It was originally constructed by Dr. W. W. Wythe, the 
idea being to present visual aid regarding Bible lands 
to Sunday School teachers and Bible students generally. 
The suggestion of Chautauqua's origin is here once more 
apparent. The model of Palestine was built to scale, 
plaster cities were properly located, mountains were 
plaster capped, and lecturers were followed by great 
crowds of eager listeners in tours over the land of 
Palestine from Mt. Hermon and the Mountains of Leb- 
anon to the foot of the Dead Sea and beyond. The line 
of the shore of the lake was made to represent the 
Mediterranean Sea, and the artificial Dead Sea, River 
Jordan, and Sea of Galilee are easily recognized by the 
observer. Such an object lesson is of great value, even 
to the children; not only American scholars, but Ori- 



ental representatives, often in costume, lead the tourist 
classes and vividly impress their hearers. 

From the beginning there has been a close relationship 
between Chautauqua county and Chautauqua Institution. 
Judge William L. Ransom of New York City, a native 
of the county and a trustee of Chautauqua Institution, 
said on Chautauqua County Day, July 12, 1914 : 

"It is no accident that such an institution, founded 
in such a county, has been permanent; it is no acci- 
dent that such a county, stimulated and inspirited by an 
institution bringing here the leaders of the world's 
work and thought, has risen to renown and influence 
in many fields of activity. So I say that Chautauqua 
County's distinctive contribution to our national life 
is Chautauqua Institution — a nationwide force for 
things which must be fundamental in a republic. And 
Chautauqua Institution's distinctive contribution to 
the life of the state and nation is a county which ex- 
emplifies faithfully the kind of citizenship and public 
spirit that is the product of the Chautauqua idea at 
work in everyday life. 

"The hand of directing Providence was never more 
obvious in the affairs of Chautauqua Institution than 
in the initial selection of site. It cannot have been 
chance or mere worldly wisdom which brought Dr. John 
Heyl Vincent here from New Jersey and Lewis Miller 
here from Ohio, and started the new movement in soil 
so congenial and favorable. I dislike to think what 
might have happened to Chautauqua Assembly had it 
been founded in some other county than this or some 
other state. Beyond question it is true that what is 
today known thruout the world as the Chautauqua 
idea and the Chautauqua spirit in civic affairs, educa- 
tion and religion, had been indigenous to the intel- 
lectual soil of this county and had flourished here, be- 
fore the Fairpoint camp-meetings were started in 
these groves and along these shores. I am conscious 
of the danger that the local historian will exaggerate 
and lose perspective; I am aware of the perils of local 
pride and county loyalty: but I know these factors and 
still say. with moderation and with truth, that some- 
how it has been the fate and fortune of this county 
to be ever on the firing line of the world's advance and 
to play a part and exercise an influence in state and 
national affairs, far beyond anything warranted by 



cper 



"'>• 



deci 



k County itself. I 
believe that any county in this state, and few. 
in other states, have played so influential and 
e a part in so many state and national events of 
far-reaching importance, or have influenced so pro- 
foundly the currents of popular thought." 

Recent events have called attention to the so-called 
"Chautauqua Circuit." From 1880 to 1890, Chautauqua 
assemblies which imitated more or less closely the 
original institution sprang up in many parts of the 
country, especially in the Middle West. Gradually the 
Iyceum bureaus, through their control of prominent 
speakers and superior executive ability, began to domin- 
ate the field. First the assemblies secured a few speak- 
ers from the bureaus, then the whole program. Finally 
the bureaus began to conduct assemblies direct and there 
are now something over 8,000 of these bureau Chau- 
tauquas, organized in circuits, as compared with 600 
of the independent assemblies. 

The Chautauqua circuit has been developed largely 
through economic causes — savings through efficient or- 
ganization, the elimination of long railroad jumps, guar- 
antees to "attractions" of continuous seasons, better 
publicity, concentration of responsibility. In each place 
a big tent is pitched for a week and a daily program 
carried out. Local organizations guarantee the sale of 
a minimum number of tickets; the Bureau does the rest. 
College boys make up the tent crews ; a Scout Master 
organizes the Boy Scouts ; "morning hour men" give 
lectures in series and endeavor to arouse thecivic life 
of the community: musical companies, bands, individual 
artists and dramatic companies furnish the popular pro- 
grams ; political leaders find here the greatest forum 
for their messages. 



33° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



These local programs, however, can never take the 
place of a summer community where far from the 
routine of daily life people can give their attention to 
new ideas, enjoy the broadening influence of social in- 
tercourse with men and women of many different types 
and find true re-creation. Chautauqua as a summer 
city combines the attractions of nature with exceptional 
opportunities for study, for hearing noted speakers, for 
listening to fine music, and for gaining new inspiration 
for life in home and community. Chautauqua provides 
social groupings of many kinds, so that it is an organic 
whole, not merely a temporary collection of unrelated 
individuals. The permanent demands of human nature 
find gratification in the stimulating community life and 
spirit which Chautauqua offers. 

Chautauqua Institution today has a well-equipped 
plant with over three hundred acres, many permanent 
public buildings, a large clientele, an inspiring history 
and an encouraging prospect for the future. The char- 
ter of Chautauqua provides that all surplus revenues 
must be used for building up the Institution. There 
are no stock dividends. The property is vested in a self- 
perpetuating body of trustees who serve without pay. 
The characteristic features of Chautauqua may be sum- 
marized as follows: (i) A resident summer popula- 
tion organized into a community; (2) a system of sum- 
mer schools ; (3) lecture courses of the university ex- 
tension type ; (4) symposia on current social problems ; 

(5) popular lectures, concerts and entertainments, and 

(6) a plan of home reading. The fundamental aim of 
Chautauqua is educational in a broad sense which in- 
cludes not only mental alertness, but ethical earnestness 
and spiritual idealism. 

Chautauqua has made a large contribution to patriotic 
nationalism. Founded only nine years after the Civil 
War, it has always been a meeting place of the North 
and the South. Men and women from all parts of the 
country, with widely varying economic, religious, social, 
and political beliefs, have been brought together here 
under ideal conditions of common living. They have 
been brought by some dominant interest, but they have 
all been fused together as a social group. Living under 
such conditions offers opportunity for working out some 
of the problems of life which in the bustle of existence 
has otherwise become almost impossible. In this great 
community people have worked out their intellectual 
and religious salvation in terms of intercourse with 
one another and have gained new ideals of national 
unity and the need of patriotic solidarity. 

Chautauqua has also enabled leaders of communities 
in all parts of the country to study under competent 
educators the newer conceptions of the state, and to 
hear discussions of the various movements of govern- 
ment control by the administrators themselves. An 
attempt has always been made to have discussed on its 
platform those problems in which the country and the 
world were to be interested the next day and the day 
alter tomorrow. A list of the symposia conducted here 
and the weeks of discussion will reveal the fact that 
Chautauqua has always been a little in advance of the 
public opinion of the country with respect to these new 
plans. 

A background of knowledge is the first requisite of 
an understanding of our part in the world today. It is 
possible that Chautauqua has a more significant func- 
tion touching all the issues of the present than immedi- 
ately appears. Since 1878 the readers of the Chau- 
tauqua Literary and Scientific Circle have had in every 
four-year cycle a Modern European, an English, and 
an American year besides one devoted to more ancient 
times. Three-quarters of a million people have largely 



secured their historical orientation in this study. A 
book like that of Dr. H. H. Powers, "What Men Fight 
For," written for the Chautauqua course, has been of 
incalculable value in giving these readers and many 
outside the Chautauqua circles an understanding of what 
the war was all about. Nowhere in the world is there a 
forum as influential as this Chautauqua platform, where 
many of the important problems of modern history have 
been discussed by experts. 

The ability of Chautauqua to enter sympathetically 
into world movements is perhaps best illustrated by what 
happened in late July, 1914. On twenty-four hours' 
notice a symposium on the impending war was arranged. 
The German point of view was presented by a member 
of the Chautauqua faculty who had served his time in 
the German army; the French by a member of the 
faculty who had served his time in the French navy; 
the English by a member of our medical staff who had 
been with Kitchener on the way to Khartoum; and the 
general European situation was presented by an assistant 
in the Program Department who had spent his winters 
for many years in Europe and who said on the after- 
noon of Franz Ferdinand's assassination, that that was 
the opening event in the European war. A little later 
a Cambridge professor, James Hope Moulton, who two 
years later lost his life by exposure on a ship torpedoed 
in the Mediterranean on its way back from India, gave 
his interpretation of England's entrance into the war. 
During the last week of the season there were addresses 
by religious leaders who were on their way to the 
Church Peace Congress in Constance when the war 
broke out. What was true of the season of 19.14 has 
been true of each successive season. 

Chautauqua lasts because it is able to adapt itself to 
new conditions as they arise. Ideas, not buildings, have 
made it what it is. Beginning as an experiment, it was 
not strange that physical equipment at Chautauqua 
should be considered a more or less temporary matter. 
Nevertheless, it is a revelation to note how many 
phases of development have left their visible mark on 
the Chautauqua grounds in some concrete form. Having 
proved its right to be recognized as an established In- 
stitution, the tendency is toward permanent buildings, in 
the long run less expensive to maintain and more suit- 
able for the work. 

In the domain of ideas Chautauqua has been won- 
derfully prolific. As a School for Out-of-School Peo- 
ple she has contributed an educational plan and an 
educational impulse of inestimable value; as the mother 
of study clubs and reading circles; as the model for 
scores of Assembly centers of popular culture all over 
the country; as a feeder of colleges — in any one of 
these fields alone her fruitfulness is unparalleled. 

Some of her ideas, as we have seen, have gone over 
to institutions endowed with facilities to handle them to 
better advantage. Although empowered as a university 
to grant degrees, Chautauqua determined that her special 
field was to be distinct from the university. The "old 
Chautauquan" can recall an honorable roll of ex-Chau- 
tauqua organizations, like the "School of Theology,'^ 
"School of Sacred Literature," "Church Congress," 

"Missionary Institute," "Teachers' Retreat, Feachers' 

Reading Union," "Tourist Conferences," "Town and 
Country Club," "Young Folks' Reading Union," "Boys' 
Congress" (Mock Senate and House of Representa- 
tives), and "Mothers' Meetings." Adapted to the times 
and seasons when they were promulgated, they have 
been absorbed, appropriated, revived, or promoted un- 
der other names and auspices, or superseded by means 
better adapted to changed conditions. In a sense, there- 
fore, Chautauqua has been and will continue to be an 




POST iiKFK'K 




MEN'S CLUB 



CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 



33i 



ideal experiment station. For such sociological and 
educational tests it is considered that the capacity of 
the station is only limited hy the endowment in various 
forms which may be provided. 

It is being demonstrated at Chautauqua, that a town, 
like more familiar kinds of educational "plants," can be 
administered summer and winter for educational pur- 
poses. Town activities have centered upon the creation 
of special conditions of life and work during the sum- 
mer season. Then there are some ten thousand resi- 
dents besides excursionists. But the permanent popula- 
tion of the place has grown to over five hundred persons, 
and several thousand residents choose to live there in 
the spring and fall. Interesting possibilities of develop- 
ment for such an institutional town might tempt to 
prophecy. 

The idea of the "vacation school" for children is hav- 
ing a new-century run in progressive municipalities. 
As a long-established and successful vacation school of 
life for the whole family — father and mother as well as 
children — the Chautauqua summer community presents 
another specific claim to endowment quite as strong as 
that of other institutions. 

As an educational institution Chautauqua has many 
desirable features. There is no element of private 
profit, the control being in the hands of a board of self- 
perpetuating trustees composed of men of standing, 
business acumen and vision, who serve without salary. 
It gives its advantages to its recipients on a basis of 
individual payment of less than cost. Few educational 
institutions with a general appeal have been able to 
maintain themselves without state or private support or 
endowment. While its business administration is con- 
ducted according to the most efficient principles, it is 
subordinate to its educational administration. Its plant 
is adequate for its needs and its whole organization has 
been built and carried on according to a definite educa- 
tional program. 

The principles of the development of Chautauqua 
may be clearly traced. It is a system of popular educa- 
tion designed primarily for adults but with facilities 
for all members of the family. While religious and 
educational in purpose, it had from the beginning many 
recreative features and it offers a scheme of life to all 
to whom it appeals. Courteous conformity and co- 
operation are enforced by public opinion and necessary 
regulations. It is a pioneer in educational development, 
having established the first summer school in the country 
at a time when conventional institutions held that it 
was impossible for people to study in the vacation, and 
having inaugurated the idea of the summer conferences 
so successfully conducted by the Y. M. C. A. and other 
organizations. It blazed the way for the modern 
emphasis on the use of leisure and the margin of time 
for study and gave the initial impulse and opportunity 
to many movements which are carrying on their own 
work under their own names. When other institutions 
are developed which can do specific work in a more 
effective way or where elaborate equipment becomes 
necessary for success, it withdraws from these fields. 
For instance, when endowed universities began to con- 
duct correspondence courses it withdrew from that field 
and conducted thereafter its own distinctively cultural, 
non-resident courses. It carries on its work under the 
guidance of experts. While popularizing knowledge, it 
welcomes to its educational leadership only those who 
have a right to speak and teach because of experience 
and thorough study. 

In the religious field Chautauqua has been a meeting 
place for people of different beliefs and therefore a 
center for real church unity and the application of 



Christianity to social and industrial life. Nine Protestant 
denominations maintain headquarters and several of 
them entertain missionaries during the summer in their 
own missionary homes. The National Board of the 
Y. W. C. A. has expended $10,000 for property for a 
Hospitality House. 

Its national significance lies in the deepening sense of 
national unity. Founded within ten years of the end of 
the Civil War, it has helped to break down sectionalism 
by providing a common meeting ground for the North 
and the South. It brings together the most influential 
and widely representative gathering in the entire coun- 
try. During the war it was a dynamo for patriotic 
education, and its leaders everywhere were influential in 
the unification of the country. As an exponent of effec- 
tive community organization Chautauqua has institution- 
alized its own community and carries on its activities 
under a common educational impulse. It brings to- 
gether the most influential leaders of public opinion and 
activity, who under expert direction receive instruction 
with respect to current problems, and who go back into 
their own communities in all parts of the country to try 
out in actual life these new methods in social organiza- 
tion and community welfare. 

Every friend of the Institution has a right to look 
to the future with high hopes. Chautauqua's past is 
secure because it has profoundly influenced two genera- 
tions of American life and has had a significant part 
in making the public opinion which rules the country 
today. It has been a center of patriotic education, an 
experiment station for new ideas, a great national in- 
fluence making for intelligent, religious tolerance and 
democracy. 

Chautauqua's present is one of large opportunity. The 
Institution is in a powerful position of leadership 
through a platform known around the world, through 
the oldest summer schools of the country marvelously 
adaptable to new educational needs, through a system of 
educational home reading without a rival in the cultural 
field, through a physical plant, giving opportunities for 
wholesome recreation and high thinking and out-of-door 
living. 

Chautauqua's future is wholly in the hands of its 
friends. It can be put in a position of unassailable 
security, it can be maintained as one of the potent 
factors in the life of the nation, it can adapt its methods 
and scope and mission to the changing social order 
which the coming years will bring. 

It would not be easy to estimate the effect of Chau- 
tauqua on the unification of national sentiment, the 
promotion of civic reform, the cultivation of religious 
spirit, or the development of popular taste. Bishop 
Vincent, who died in May, 1920, at the age of 88, 
had the wonderful pleasure of seeing many of his 
dreams come true. This history of the development 
of the Institution can best be closed in his own lan- 
guage summing up what he felt were the essentials of 
the movement which he and Lewis Miller inaugurated 
in 1874: 

"Chautauqua is a place 'beautiful tor situation,' 
where Nature and Art unite to bless all who land on 
its shores, wander among its forests, float on its wa- 
ters, enter its halls, and enjoy its fellowships 

"Chautauqua is an iilea. embracing the 'all things of 
life— art, science, society, religion, patriotism, educa- 
tion — whatsoever tends to enlarge, refine, and ennol.'e 
the individual, to develop domestic charm and influ- 
ence, to make the nation stronger and wiser, and to make 
Time and Eternity seem to be what they are — parts of 
one noble and everlasting whole. 

"Chautauqua is a force, developing the realities of 
life in the consenting personality; applying to the in- 
dividual the energies that make for character — wisdom. 
vision, vast horizon, ever-brightening ideals, strength 



332 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



of resolve, serenity of soul, rest in God, and the mul- 
tiplied ministries that enable the individual to serve 
society." 

Hoard of Trustees — Honorary President — George E. 
Vincent, President Rockefeller Foundation, 61 Broad- 
way, New York City. 

President of Institution — Arthur E. Bestor, 311 Sixth 
Avenue. New York City. 

President of Board of Trustees — Clement Studehaker, 
Jr., South Bend, Indiana, formerly Treasurer Stude- 
baker Corporation. 

Chairman of Executive Board — Charles E. Welch, 
tfield. New York, President Welch Grape Juice 



Company 

First V 
som, 120 
firm of W 

Second Vice-President 



of Trustees— William L. Ran- 
sw York City, member of law 
ger and Ransom. 

"" Schoyer, 437 Com- 



mercial Trust Building, Philadelphia, Penn., Vice- 
President lvnnsvlv:inia Railroad Company. 

Third Vice-President— Ira M. Miller, 31 Mull Avenue, 
Akron. Ohio. 

Treasurer — H. A. Truesdale, Conneaut, Ohio, Manu- 



Ernest Cawcroft, 4S Fenton Building, Jamestown. 
Xew York, City Corporation Counsel; Noah F. Clark, 
803 Magee Building. Pittsburgh, Penn.. capitalist: Mel- 
vil Dewey, President Lake Placid Club, Essex County, 
Xew York; George W. Gerwig, Secretary Board of Ed- 
ucation, Pittsburgh, Penn.; E. Snell Hall, 127 Forest 
Avenue, Jamestown, New York, capitalist; Louis J. 
Harter, Chautauqua, New York, real estate; Fred W. 
Hyde, Jamestown. Xew York. City Treasurer; J. C. 
McDowell. 1321 Farmers Bank Building. Pittsburgh. 
Penn., capitalist; William F. McDowell, 1500 Sixteenth 
Street. Washington, D. C, Bishop Methodist Episcopal 
Church; Vincent Massev, Secretary Massev Harris Com- 
pany, Ltd.. Toronto, Canada; Shailer Mathews, Dean 
Divinity School. University of Chicago, Chicago, Illi- 
nois; Mrs. Robert A. Miller, 17 West 45th Street, 
Xew York City; S. I. Munger, President Continental 
Gin Company. Dallas. Texas; Mrs. Percy V. Penny- 
backer, 2«06 Whitis Avenue. Austin, Texas; Frank M. 
Potter. Chautauqua, New Y'ork. real estate. 

Honorary Trustees — Scott Brown, 208 South LaSalle 
Street, Chicago; W. H. Hickman, Montpelier, Ind.; 
Julius King. Julius King Optical Companv. Cleveland, 
Ohio; Chester D. Massev, 519 Jarvis Street, Toronto, 
Canada; J. C. Neville, 703 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, 
Cal.; Z. L. White. Columbus, Ohio. 

Educntlonnl Council — Lyman Abbott. Editor Outlook. 
New York City; Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago; 
Percy H. Boynton, University of Chicago, Chicago; 
Frank Chapin Bray. League of Nations Union. New 
York City; John Graham Brooks, 8 Francis Avenue. 
Cambridge, Mass.; Elmer E. Brown, Chancellor Xew 
York University, Xew York City; E. B. Brvan, Pres- 
ident Colgate University, Hamilton, X. Y.; Richard T. 
Ely, University of Wisconsin. Madison. Wis.; W. H. P. 
Faunce, President Brown University, Providence, R. 
I.; J. M. Gibson. Linnell Close, Hampst-ad Gardens. 
London. England; Frank M. Gunsaulus, President Ar- 
mour Institute. Chicago; G. Stanley Hall, President 
Clark University, Worcester, Mass.; Jesse L. Hurl- 
but, 981 Broad Street, Newark, N. J.; F. G. Peabody, 
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; Sir George 
Adam Smith, Principal Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, 
Scotland; Charles David Williams, Bishop of Michigan, 
Detroit, Mich. 

Officers of < hniitniiaun Institution — Arthur E. Best- 
or. President; Ernest II. Smith. Assistant to Presi- 
dent; Edward X. Teall. Managing Editor, "Chautauqua 
Press;" Ida B. Cole, Secretary of the C. L. S. C; George 
W. Rowland. Superintendent of Grounds and Buildings; 
Jessie M. Leslie, Cashier and Accountant; Wallace Da- 
vis. Manager Drug Store; Jesse H. Baxter, Manager 
Book Store; Charles A. Bentz, Health Officer; Wilson 
C. Price, Counsel. 

1874 — CHAUTAUftUA INSTITUTION— 1021 
Summer Srhools — 1874, Sunday School Xormal; 1875, 
Hebrew; 1S76, Languages and Pedagogy (Teachers' Re- 
treat); ISS.i. Chautauqua University "College of Lib- 
eral Arts" (Dr. W. R. Harper); 1896-1920 seven aca- 
demic and seven special schools with 4000 students, 
100 instructors, 200 courses. 

Home Instruction — 1881, correspondence courses in 
Th.-,, i„gy and Chautauqua Young Folks' Reading 
Union; 1883, collegiate correspondence courses; 1878- 
1919, Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle with 



60,000 graduates, 300,000 enrolled students and 750,000 
readers. 

Plot — 1874, 80 acres; 1880, 130 acres; 1895, 185 acres; 
1908, 215 acres; 1911, 295 acres; 1913, 326 acres; 1916, 
331 acres. 

Important Public Buildings — 1879, Hall of Philoso- 
phy; 1906. new; 1887. College; 1890, C. I„ S. C Building; 

1891, C. L. S. C. Alumni Hall; 1893. Amphitheater; 1907. 
remodeled; 1906, Athletic Club; 1905. Colonnade; 1909, 
rebuilt; 1909, Postottice; 1909, College Hill Group, en- 
larged in 1911. 1915. 1916, 1917, now two-thirds com- 
pleted; 1912, Hospital; 1916, Pier Building; 1917, Trol- 
ley Station (Chautauqua Traction Company); 1917, 
Bathing Pavilion. 

Memorials— 1886, Jewett House; 1889. Kellogg Hall; 
1895, Higgins Hall; 1898-12, Hall of the Christ; 1.103, 
Grange Building; 1907, Massey Organ; 1911, Miller 
Bell Tower; 1912, Sherwood Music Studios; 1917, Bo'.in 
Gymnasium. 

One Hundred Notable Speakers — Ulysses S. Grant, 
Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William Me- 
Kinlev, Theodore Roosevelt. William H. Taft. Chares 
E. Hughes, John P.. Gordon, O. O. Howard, Schuyler 
Colfax, Mark A. Hanna, Henry Watterson. Russel A. 
Alger. Viscount Bryce. Lord and Lady Aberdeen. La- 
dy Henrv Somerset. Sir owe,, Seaman. Sir George Ad m 
Smith. Henrv Drummond. A. M. Fairbairn. J. P. Ma- 
haffy, Percy Alden, R. J. Campbell. Marcus Dods. Ab- 
ide Felix Klein, Sir Chengtung Lieng Chang, Su an 
B. Anthonv. Maud Ballington Booth. Francs E. Wil- 
lard. John B. Gough, John G. Woolley, William James, 
Alice Freeman Palmer. Edward Everett Hale. James 
\\ hitia, ml. Riley. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Lew 
Wallace, Agnes Repplier, Thomas Xelson Page, John 
Fox, Jr.. Hamlin Garland. Ralph Connor, George W. 
Cable. John Fisk, Herman von Hoist, Henry Adams. 
Moses Coit Tyler, Bliss Perry, Marv A. Livermore, Ja- 
cob Riis, Julia Ward Howe. Amu, Howard Shaw. Jane 
Addams, Carrie Chapman Catt. Phillips Brooks. George 
A. Cor, lo„, p. S. Henson. Russell H. Conwell, Lyman 
Abbott, Samuel Fallows, Charles H. Fowler. Frank 
W. Gunsaulus. Henry C. Potter, Samuel McC. Crothers. 
Matthew Simpson, S. l'arkes Cadman, W. F. Oldham. 
George Hodges, Harry E. Fosdick, Francis E. Clark, 
Graham Taylor, G. Stanley Hall. Francis W. Peaho.lv, 
Mark Hopkins. Lillian M. X. Stevens. Charles S. Whit- 
man. James Wadsworth. Jr.. Wm. M. Calder, Franklin 
D. Roosevelt, George W. Wickersham. Brand Whit- 
lock, George W. Guthrie, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 
Henry Clews, John Mitchell, Carroll D. Wright, J. G. 
Phelps Stokes, Ben B. Lindsay, John Finley, Albert 
Bushnell Hart. James B. Angell, Josiah Strong, Ray- 
mond Robins. Frederick Starr, W. T. Jerome, Henrv J. 
Allen, Frank P. Walsh, Charles W. Elliot, Geo. E. Vin- 
cent. 

SURVEY OP THE SEASONS, 1S74-1020 
1874 — The first Assembly, August 4-18, had been 
prepared for by Dr. John H. Vincent and Lewis Mill- 
er during almost all of the preceding year. The ma- 
terial conditions were, of course, of the simplest. The 



lgs 



held. 



the 



part. 



the ope 



and in the evening were lighted by pine fires. Tents 
were used for the housing of the first Chautauquans 
and in externals the Assembly partook of the nature of 
a literal camp meeting. 

The department of entertainment was under the 
.lir.ction of Dr. W. W. Wythe, who supervised the 
building of the model of Palestine. Fire-works and 
baloons. music, "views" and panoram is supplemented 
the heavier features of the normal classes and lecture 
hours. Music was under charge of Professor W. F. 
Sherwin. supplemented by The Wyoming Trio. 

A series of temperance meetings which followed upon 
a lecture by Mrs. J. W. Willing, led to the convention, 
later in the year, in Cleveland, at which the National 
W. C .T. U. was organized. 

1873 — The most important event of the season was 
a visit from President U. S. Grant. 

In addition to the normal work in religious instruc- 
tion, classes in Map Drawing, in Blackboard Sketching 
and Lettering, in Hebrew, in Kindergarten and Sunday 
School Music were introduced, the other general fea- 



bcing 



led. 



ion work was divided into four parts 
— (1) the Scientific Conference, (2) the Temperance 
Convention, (3) the Sabbath School Assembly, and 
(4) the Church Congress. The season was lengthened 
to twenty-four days. 

Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly was in- 
corporated. 

The first number of the Chautauqua Assembly Herald 
appeared June 15 and from July 27 was published daily 
during the season. 



CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 



1877 — The program was divided into seven depart- 
ments — (1) the Council of Reform, (2) Church Work, 
(3) Biblical Work, (4) Sunday School Work, (5) Nor- 
mal Work, (6) Scientific Work, (7) Recreation. Mu- 
sic was under the direction of Prof. W. F. Sherwin, the 
Apollo Club, a boy choir from New York, being the 
chief feature. 

1877— The name Fair Point was changed by act of 
Legislature to Chautauqua. 

The Old Chapel (now the oldest public building on 
the grounds) was erected. 

1878 — The chief event of the summer, and one of 
the most important in the whole history of Chautau- 
qua, was the organization on August 10 of the Chau- 
tauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (C. L. S. C.) by 
Bishop John II. Vincent. Kate F. Kimball became Ex- 
ecutive Secretary of the C. L. S. C. in the fall of this 
year and continued until her death in 1917. 

Chautauqua Assembly Herald was issued monthly for 
members of the C. L. S. C. 

Children's Temple given by Lewis Miller was ded- 
icated. 

1879 — This year the first Amphitheater and the old 
Hall of Philosophy were dedicated. 

It was the first year of the Chautauqua Normal 
School of Languages, the Chautauqua Teachers' Re- 
treat, the Fureien Missionary Institute, and the occa- 
sion of the Sixth Annual Sunday School Assembly. 
Season was lengthened to forty-three days. 

18S0 — Fifty acres were added to the grounds, the Ho- 
tel was projected and begun, and the Congregational 
House was erected. 

The National W. C. T. U. held its sixth anniversary. 
The National Education Association held its annual 
meeting here. 

General James A. Garfield, then candidate for Pres- 
ident of the United States, spent a Sabbath at Chau- 

The Chautauquan Magazine was begun with monthly- 
issues to take the place of the Assembly Herald. 

1SS1 — The Hotel Athenaeum was finished and the 
new Museum Building opened. 

The Chautauqua Young Folks' Reading Union was 
started. The Chautauqua School of Theology was 
chartered and correspondence courses instituted. 
Courses in the "Tonic Sol-Fa" and in Kindergarten 
were new features in the Summer Schools. 

Chautauqua was connected with Buffalo. New York 
and Philadelphia Raiiwav bv line from Mayville. 

1S8S— The first class (The Pioneers) of the C. L. S. 
C. was graduated on Recognition Day, August 12. 

The first pipe organ was installed in the Amphi- 
theater. 

1SS3 — Prof. William Rainey Harper taught for the 
first time in the Summer School. Collegiate correspon- 
dence courses were begun. 

Concerts were given under direction of W. F. Sher- 
win and C. C. Case. 

Name of corporation was changed to Chautauqua As- 
sembly by act of Legislature. 

18S4 — The Youth's C. L. S. C, a paper for boys and 
girls, was established this season. Especial attention 
was given to the Chautauqua foreign tour in lectures 
on the general program. A large number of special 
musicians and soloists is recorded. 

Principal A. M. Fairbairn of Oxford offered the first 
course of philosophical lectures. 

Class Building of 18S3 and 1SS5 was built. 

1885 — The season was lengthened to fifty-three days 
by the introduction of a preliminary week. 

A series of organ recitals by Prof. I. V. Flagler is 
recorded as something of an innovation. 

The Meneely Chimes (ten bells) were first rung on 
the opening day of this year, and Normal Hall and the 
1882 Class Building were erected. 

Chautauqua University was chartered by the Legis- 
lature. 

188C — In this year the Pier Building was erected and 
the chimes hung therein; and Jewett House was given 
to the Institution bv Mrs. A. H. Jewett. 

A faculty of sixteen conducted the work in the Chau- 
tauqua Teachers' Retreat and fifteen instructors of- 
fered courses in the School of Language. Lessons in 
Harmony, Organ and Piano, Drawing, and Paint ins 
were added to the curriculum. Chautauqua School of 
Physical Education was established. 

An Oriental Exhibition under charge of Mrs. Frank 
Beard was a feature of this season. 

18S7— The College Building and the Methodist Epis- 
copal House were erected. 

Chautauqua summer classes as announced were six- 
teen in number including among others Clay Model- 
ing, a School of Art with three instructors, a School of 



Vincent's classes 



Music with three instructors, and a School of Physical 
Culture. 

Dr. William R. Harper was made Principal of Col- 
lege of Liberal Arts. 

isss— The list of courses in the College of Liberal 
Arts announced, among courses of special interest, 
instruction in Old French. Scandinavian Languages, 
and Literature, Sanskrit. Zend and Gothic, Hebrew, 
Sen,, tic Languages and Philology. A School of the 
English Bible was organized. 

Mr. George E. Vincent became Vice Principal of In- 

Chautauqua Woman's Club was organized with Mrs. 
Emily Huntington Miller as President. 

1889— James H. Kellogg built as a memorial to his 
mother the Anne M. Kellogg Hall. The old Adminis- 
tration Building was erected. 

A notable event of the season was the visit of ex- 
President Rutherford B. Haves. 

Chautauqua School of Music organized to take the 
place ot Summer Institute of Music started in 1887. 

1S90— The C. L. S. C. Building, the Presbyterian 
House, and the Gymnasium were erected. 

The College of Liberal Arts (Frederick Starr, Regis- 
trar. Xew Haven, Conn.), announced various courses 
in Physics and ecology, as well as a School of Journal- 
ism conducted by Hamilton Wright Mabie. Prof. W. 
R Harper was one of four instructors in the School of 
Til g v 

1891— The C. L. S. C. Alumni Hall, the Arcade, the 
Chapel, and the United Presbyterian House were 
erected. 

Col. Francis W. Parker was Principal of the Teach- 
ers' Retreat and Dr. H. R. Palmer in charge of the 
music work in all its branches. Pres. W. R. Harper 
continuing the direction of the Bible Study. 

1892— Summer Schools' announcements called espe- 
cial attention to the Sunday School Normal iVpartmorn 
under Dr. J. L. Hurlbut, and Dr. B. T Vinn.mv 
for boys and girls. 

The American Economic Association held its annual 
meeiing. This was the most successful year Chautau- 
qua had yet known. 

The Chautauqua System of Education was substitut- 
ed for Chautauqua University. 

1893— Many new buildings were erected— the new 
Amphitheater, the electric light and power house, the 
Men's Club House, and the sewage disposal plant. 

A new departure in the Summer Schools was the in- 
troduction of courses in Law. 

28114 — Episcopal Chapel of the Good Shepherd was 

This was the first year of the School of Expression 
under Prof. S. H. Clark and Mrs. Emilv M. Bishop 
The department of political science was unusually 
strong under Professors Hermann von Hoist of Chi- 
cago. Herbert B. Adams of Johns Hopkins, and 
George B. Adams, of Yale. 

1S95— Higgins Hall was erected by Hon. Frank W. 
Higgins and his sister, Mrs. F. S. Smith in mrawv 
of their father, Orrin Trail Higgins. The Baptist House 
was also built. 

In the Schools, particular emphasis was given to 
English, under Professor Winchester of Weslevan- 
Professor Cook of Yale; Professor Sherman of" the 
University of Nebraska; and Professor Lewis of the 
University of Chicago. Many professional journalists, 
authors, etc., took the courses. 

An event of the season was the visit of Governor 

The Department of Instruction was divided: Dr. 
George E. Vincent became Principal of the Assembly 
Department including the general program, var.ou's 
clubs, and the Reading Circle; Dr. W. R. Harper be- 
came Principal of the Collegiate Department including 
all the work of organized instruction. 

Mrs. B. T. Vincent became the President of the Chau- 
tauqua Women's Club. 

1S9C— The School of Fine Arts and the New York 
State Summer Institute for Teachers were new fea- 
tures. The Schools of Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Sa- 
cred Literature showed very marked growth. 

1S97-— The School of Domestic Sciences, in charge of 



Mrs. Emma P. Ewing, attracted wide 
press. 

189S— The Hall of Pedagogy was erected. 

Attendance in the Schools increased twenty-five per 
cent, this advance being attributed pretty generally 
over the departments. 

Dr. George E. Vincent became Principal of Instruc- 



334 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Th 



n of the department of Bible Study, aimed to place 
lgious teaching on a scientific and accurate basis 
e department of Sacred Literature was conducted 
.... Chancellor Wallace of Toronto; Religious Peda- 
gogy, by Dr. J. R. Street. s s aa 
ofS! 1 n a n U i.- t f U f Ql t a o Pr i esS c W o S est ablished for the production 
?™«»«5fflSI S ' C courses, and general adminis- 
tration offices were moved to Cleveland. General En- 
dowment Fund was established. 

l-MH>— The Hall of Christ was begun and the Power 



Hm, 



'I'll. 



features 



S'lini 



moved from 



>r Schools, 
as snown. however, in every de- 
o College .Annex buildings were 
tormer location in the grove and 
joined, to make the present Hall of Pedagogy 

Scott Brown became General Director and Vice- 
Principal of Instruction. 

,ri F i'\ n ine C L^f !ray iQ^ ca » n ? e editor of the Chautauqua 
azine and in 1906 Managing Editor of the Chau- 



duced for the first 
lso the Chautauqua 
ght of 



luqua Press. 
I!M»1— Manual Training was int] 
time. Mr. Henry J. Baker in charge; „.„ 
School of Library Training under genei 
r,- )e ' V1 ,? eW 1 ?'' New York State Librarian; Reside 

,;..° ;,-;'" .• M:l . ry ''• Hazeltine, of Jamestown. 

r.i ,fT~ w '',"'" '' !ub ' the Unitarian House, and the 

ilea Headquarters were built. 

A " ,on S tlie Summer Schools the courses in Psvehol- 

'v n nd Pedagogy were especially strong, including in 

Angell, Earl Barnes, Edward 

Comstock, Prof. S. H. 

r? Alfred'HaTi 

new charter was grar 

the name of Chautauq 

E. Jones erected in memory of his 
Jones, a Grange Building and presented 
.. ^ *r"in"iia Grange or Chautauqua Countv as th. -it- 
hear quarters. The Arts and Crafts Shops were as 
mhiert and the Men's Club remodeled 

s the first year of the combination of Fine 
atic instruction in Arts and 

' Baker yoiT e 2\Z Ur p% S ^lZlt K stlK%A r h S e 
cation School for bovs and 
^tem of co-operation be- 
he Alliance Francais was 



der 

1903 — C; 

father, En 



This 

.rts courses with syste 
11, over twe 



School of Expri 
girls was opened, and a 
twcen the Institution and 
att< mpted. 

Mr. Percy H. Boynton 



ecretary of 



„. 1;l "fTu Th ?. 5?useum Building was remodeled for the 
?^>ut SS h *2 , ,2? 1 T?' SfJPf""*?"!" addition. was built 



l' e ^ C '^°A °i English was notably strong, including 

Prof. R. G. Moulton and Mr. Edward How- 

in Nature Study was extend. -.1 

iotany and Physiography. The 



ard Griggs. The woi 
to include courses in 

te'n-anc i" ? eflag, !F were "arranged -to' include sys 
cematic work in all grades from Kindergarten to col 



opened from James- 



.■riiing 
introdl 



uced 



le - 

Chautauqua Traction 
town to Mayville. 

lIi,;r,_The Colonnade, the Athletic Club and the 
modeled "' ere erected ' The Museum Building was re- 

In the Summer Schools the mid- 
hour for all regular students wa 

were delivered by Professor George E Vm- 
Bu'rV,n ndr C V 1S P BaU r m§:artner ' S ' C ' Schmucklr. Richard 
Burton, and Presidents Lincoln Hulley and G. Stanlej 
Han. The department of Element.u-v Eduction v, -, -■ 
put in charge of Miss Ada Van Stone Harris and a tH 
f U our ?n U s r t ruct n ors' UbliC SCh ° 01 MUS ' C Was condu^ecTTy 

.^r%fTres!d , ert rt T a ?eod e o'r e e nt R°o f sevelt SeaSOn WaS the 
of Philosophy was completed and 



was installed, and to this 
"The'chitf n i P n n n^ eater - Wa l extensively remodeled 
,tJl<, £ hi ei innovation in the Summer Schools was the 
xtension of the work in Nature Studv to include i„ 

-=ory ttA?lB k *X3&&£l 

r£%3£ S^&^ffiSF*'^ and «^<* to 
losM , °t1a _ !h e ' 0n , na t d , e . was destroyed by fire involving a 
wft S h t fns t u h r e an I c n e St o t f U T5 , 5 00S d COncess '°— of SlOO.fuo" 
Ch-Ji.t ^'h St ^ Xisht Gift was d evoted to the Hall of 
uni V.' Ch wa s completed externally. ' ° r 

\rt" aTj ,%aV e ,= *;° Ionn ade. Post Office Building, and 
Arts and < tatts Simps were ererterl ti^ \ r-t a **„a 
Crafts Shops, enlarged in 19l! 1915,' 1916 and if 
Coneg b e e H m i e ^ nUCi6US ° f the Schools QuadrTnsle on 
ai££i?&L e .i n the development of the Schools were the 
4 s a r! <• -,°f = H n ry T t Urner Bailey as Director of he 
^ou-rse a s n 1n C E a sp1ra D n e to artment ' a " d the ^reduction of 
of T \VaUer' n°^. Syn h Phony Orchestra, under direction 
ot waiter Damrosch, gave a concert The second 
ttauqua an Esperant ° Congress was" held at Chau- 

Ins r tu e ufio aU w a U = qU ^ f ^ n V er J Comm ? ns for employees of 
Colonnade established on the third floor of the 

Fiei6 neW grand st and was erected on the Athletic 
... A Bys . te K. °_ f , 50 annual scholarships in the Schools 
School "?w, e „ d ' the Chapel was 'remodeled for a 
rie a. d £ P™ mons ' and the Old First Night Gift was 

lle\,.t,d f.i these purposes. 

Bffi-^ filler Bell Tower in memory of Lewis 
™", ™ "lade possible by the Old First "Night Gift 
Institution offices were moved to second floor of Col 
m nfstrauon' B„?lfli r ° {? Y as 0pened in the °"d M- 

-3 Schools in European 

th the Bureau of Uni- 

ient of Chautauqua 

tablished under Dr. 



travel and in co-operation 
ve,-s,ty Travel of Boston, a u.„„ 
European Travel Extension was ca , 
H. H. Powers. 

1912— Sherwood Memorial Studio 
'■am H. Sherwood, for 22 y< 



y of Wil- 



rem ide led. 



the 
than 

exc.u 



iber of individu 
any previous v 
e of the 550 ir 



were introduced 
id.-ral.ly higher 



<ew York State Free 



tin i . after for ten mon" 
<"hautauqua Traction 
„f';'-,' T— Prof ' Geor Sfe E. Vincent w" 
or t hautauqua Institution and Mr 



issue, 1 



established 
he year. 

s extended to Westfield. 
elected President 
Arthur E. Bestor, 



n-V rtrn nt V ,i i . P years head of the Piano De- 
partment of the Schools, was made possible thru the 
old First Night Gift; the new emergency hospital (The 
we^ma^n^he P n .az^ 

w;eu ri C f h ,p r0srram was 'offered during the concluding 
\ e.-k ot the season under the title of "The \wakened 

Partisan political addresses were for the first t,-„,„ 

ottered on the program, that by William Jennfngs Br?! 

Pna r nS e ." ,i? th^'argest attendance of the summer 

nans were outlined for moving- the hiehwav nn tho 

west side of the grounds, for the building'™ a brick 

highway by the State, for the erection of a new sis. 

Cha\itann, , , -, h T^ 1 ,' din f. ° f " ew double tracks by ^the 

'",,„,_„, rraction Company, for the inclusion with- 

£=£ A f ^?» 8 of el ej , teen acres to be known as the High- 

l\ ay Addition, and for the creation of a Labor far 



US \ n y w n"i» e J"^ Plan 5 m aking many flights daily. 

v a Ci P i )S ou " d was established for the children, 
a private Smw"™'^ throughout the grounds by 

..,;. ; "t _T i 1 ,u Prosfam emphasized the fortieth anni- 
^I^Z^A.tn^es^ablishment of Chautauqua. The™. 



ar Herbe 



the gift of the estate of 



sociation a°nd n the ad T?;-t. Th f A ? e , lcM Forestry As". 
h^^r T&^cX^^Wf&VSu^glSr. 



CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 



335 



ers presented six plays on the public program and two 
plays a week in Higgins Hall. 

Normal Hall was remodeled for class rooms, a prac- 
tice organ studio was erected, a bindery was estab- 
lished, and the golf course was opened. 

Dean Percy H. Boynton became Principal of the 
Chautauqua Summer Schools. 

New brick highway along the western side of 
grounds completed by the State and County. 

1915 — President George E. Vincent became Honorary 
President of the Institution and Mr. Arthur E. Bestor 
was elected as his successor as President. 

Music Week was continued with the Russian Sym- 
phony Orchestra. 

Courses in History, Social Science and Practical So- 
cial Work were greatly extended. Additions to the 
Schools plant were provided thru the Old First Night 
Gift. 

101G — The New Pier Building was erected and paid 
for thru the Old First Night Gift. 

The Russian Symphony Orchestra again appeared 
during Music Week. 

1917 — Emphasis was naturally on America's partici- 
pation in the war. A symposium on "Our Country" 
and a Speakers' Training Camp and Conference of Or- 
ganizations Engaged in Education for Patriotic Ser- 
vice in co-operation with the National Security League 
received country-wide publicity. All Red Cross and 
military training for men and women were intro- 
duced. Students of the Carnegie Institute of Tech- 
nology presented a brilliant pageant, "The Drawing of 
the Sword." 

Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker became President of the 
Chautauqua Women's Club, and a clubhouse on the 
lake front was purchased as their headquarters. 

President E. B. Bryan became the Director of the 
Summer Schools. 

A new $50,000 addition to the Chautauqua Union 
School was completed by the School District; the new 
Bath House and Jacob Bolin Gymnasium were built; 
the new trolley station and double track was com- 
pleted by the Chautauqua Traction Company; the Fen- 



ton Memorial Home for Methodist Deaconesses was 
occupied for the first time. 

1918 — National patriotic leadership of Chautauqua 
was recognized by our own and the Allied Govern- 
ments. The French High Commission placed the 
French Military Band for a week, their longest en- 
gagement in this country. Great Britain. France, Bel- 
gium, Italy, and Greece sent official speakers either 
thru their embassies or their special war missions. 

The schools of course declined in attendance, as did 
all other departments, but adjusted themselves to the 
new war conditions. A National Service School con- 
ducted in co-operation with the Woman's Naval Ser- 
vice under the direction of Mrs. George E. Vincent did 

1919 — In attendance, gate receipts, and school regis- 
tration this was the high water mark in Chautauqua 
history. Over $325,000 was subscribed to the Compre- 
hensive Campaign for the elimination of all indebted- 
ness and the putting of the Institution on a firm, safe, 
and permanent basis. 

President Bestor assumed the responsibility for 
administration of the Schools. The Schools were 62 
per cent in receipts ahead of 191S and 18 per cent 
ahead of the best previous year, 1914. 

The National Board of the T. W. C. A. purchased 
and rebuilt a Hospitality House. A two-story fire- 
proof vault was erected in the Colonnade and the gen- 
eral offices were rearranged. 

1920 — The most notable feature of the program was 
the engagement of the New York Symphony Orches- 
tra for six weeks with six concerts each week. The 
program as a whole was regarded as one of the most 
su'-c.-ssful in Chautauqua's history. 

The Summer Schools were 25 per cent ahead of 1919 
in income and 20 per cent in registration, making 
this the banner year in their history. 

The Old First Night Gift of over $30,000 was devoted 
to the Comprehensive Plan which reached the sum 
of $450,000. including Mr. John D. Rockefeller's offer 
of 20 per cent on all other subscriptions. 

Provision was made by interested friends for a new 
clubhouse on the golf links before another summer, 
and the addition of nine holes to the course. 



THE JAMESTOWN BOARD OF COMMERCE. 



The Jamestown Board of Commerce with a member- 
ship of about 6oo energetic business men, is zealous in 
its care for the city's commercial welfare and general 
civic good. Its membership is gathered from prac- 
tically every business house, corporation and manu- 
facturing plant in Jamestown and vicinity, and through 
its subdivisions renders service of benefit to all. 

The Board of Commerce operates on a committee 
system, its success depending upon the activity of these 
committees. The Wholesale division maintains cordial 
relations with the retailers of three States ; the Retail 
division is active in promoting the mercantile interests 
of the city ; while a Traffic bureau assists in solving 
Jamestown's transportation problems. The board does 
not confine itself to the business problems of its mem- 
bers, but takes up economic questions, housing and 
public improvements being subjects that are earnestly 
and helpfully discussed. There is no phase of legitimate 
Board of Commerce work that is neglected by the 
Jamestown board, but particular stress will be laid upon 
its war work carried on during a period when its normal 
functions were interfered with. As a means of raising 
the various war funds, after other plans had been tried, 
the Board of Commerce, in cooperation with James- 
town organizations and citizens, organized in September. 
1918, as the Jamestown War Council, and participated 
in the Fourth Liberty Loan, the United War Drive and 
the Red Cross Christmas Roll Call. All these cam- 
paigns were successes, especially the Red Cross "drive," 
in which the Jamestown membership was doubled. From 
January, 1918. the Board of Commerce cooperated with 
the Chautauqua County Chapter of the American Red 
Cross, to the extent of furnishing them all office help and 
quarters. The board handled the work of the Four- 



Minute Men ; cooperated with Charles M. Dow, Chau- 
tauqua County Fuel Administrator, by furnishing office 
quarters and a portion of his office force; conducted the 
Thrift department of the War Savings Stamp campaign; 
and at the request of the United States Department of 
Agriculture appointed a committee on farm labor which 
held itself in readiness to carry out the wishes of the 
Department. These are but a few of the activities of the 
Jamestown Board of Commerce in war and in peace, 
but enough has been said to prove that the board is 
living up to the full spirit of the object of the organiza- 
tion as expressed in its By-Laws — "to promote the gen- 
eral welfare of Jamestown and the surrounding terri- 
tory." 

Officers of the Board for the year 1919-1920: Fred B. 
Tinkham, president; Charles L. Eckman, vice-president; 
John A. Jones, vice-president ; Alfred Anderson, vice- 
president; Lucian J. Warren, treasurer; A. Bartholdi 
Peterson, executive secretary. 

As a matter of public interest this account of the 
Jamestown War Savings Stamp Bank is appended. In 
the Thrift campaign, savings societies were formed in 
various factories, and a little bank was erected in 
Cherry street. The materials, labor and cost of build- 
ing were furnished by the Jamestown Builders Ex- 
change and the design as well as the wqrkmanship of 
the little building excited much favorable comment. 
$100,000 worth of stamps were sold in the bank from 
the time it was opened in June, 1918, till the armistice 
was signed. The bank was manned by volunteer crews 
who were checked in each morning and checked out each 
night by Mrs. E. D. Bevitt, who had the general super- 
vision of the bank. Those in charge usually repre- 
sented some organization or lodge and there was keen 



336 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



competition among them to have the "largest day." 
Following are the records as successively established. 

June 8, 1918. P. E. Cook J306.0O 

June 14. The Elks 637.91 

June 25, Princess Rebekah 702.37 

June 26, Exempt Firemen 2707.17 

Julv 3. Eagles 2S64.53 

July 12, Knights of Columbus 8537.48 

Aug. 2, Maccabees 5048.96 

Sept. 21, Exempt Firemen 6490.50 

Other days also passed the $1,000 mark but did not 
exceed the then existing record as follows : 

June 27, Spanish American Veterans $1324.38 



June 28, Metropolitan Life 1868.: 

June 29, Alpha Zeta 2328. 

July 20, Prudential Insurance 1496. 

July 27, Metropolitan Life 1553.! 

Aug. 3, Sons of St. George 2630.! 

Aug. 28, Police Wives 1973.! 

Aug. 31, Metropolitan Life 1289. 

Sept. 2, Central Labor Council 2969.! 

Sept. 28, U. C. T 1234.1 

Oct. 30, Mecca Chapter, O. E. S 1002.' 

Nov 2, Mt. Sinai, O. E. S 2511.! 

Dec, 21, Traffic Club 2765.! 

Dec. 24, Soldiers' Relief Society 2625.: 

Dec. 27, Mt. Sinai, O. E. S 1926.: 

Dec. 30, Daughters of Isabella 1040.! 

Dec. 31, W. C. T. U 1225.! 



DUNKIRK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
By Jay T. Badgley. 



Dunkirk has the distinction of occupying the fourth 
place in the United States in "the scale of civic pride"— 
that is, the number of members of the Chamber of Com- 
merce according to population, numbering 22,000 peo- 
ple. She has on the roster of her Chamber of Com- 
merce the names of 1,152 members signed for a period 
of three years at the regular fee of $25.00 per year. 
The officers are: Charles D. Armstrong, president; 
Earl C. Reed, first vice-president; John W. Holmes, 
second vice-president; William W. Heppell, treasurer; 
Jay T. Badgley, executive manager. 

The policy adopted by the Chamber is that of carry- 
ing out the idea that the chief function of a Chamber of 
Commerce is not the increasing of the number of smoke- 
stacks by the solicitation of concerns from outside to 
locate, but to make the city so desirable and delightful 
a place in which to live that she will grow by reason of 
her being the best place in which to live, and presenting 
the best opportunities for business and industrial pur- 
poses. Therefore the first endeavors of the newly 
organized Chamber have been to arouse public spirit and 
interest in improvement along the lines of increasing 
the beauty, the utility, the educational advantages and 
the patriotic and moral tone of the city. To this end 
a committee is assiduously devoting itself to materializ- 
ing plans for the beautifying of the harbor front, the 
establishing of parks, the straightening and directing of 
streams, and all else that will add to outward attractive- 
ness. Along utilitarian lines several very ambitious pro- 
jects are being developed: 

First — The return of the city to its birthright. Dun- 
kirk was born because of a supposed mission to be the 
greatest lake port on the Great Lakes. She was se- 
lected as the western terminus of the Erie railroad, 
and while the President of the United States was driv- 
ing the silver spike to mark the completion of the 
first railway across the State, and Daniel Webster was 
d> livering his oration for the occasion, the first fleet 
of steamships to connect a railway system with the 
traffic of the lakes was whistling its celebration of the 
event at the Dunkirk docks. Some years later the 
main line terminus of the Erie was transferred to 
Buffalo, and Dunkirk harbor has been but of more or 
less utilitv ever since. The Chamber of Commerce 
has made considerable advance in working out plans 
bv which the citv's prestige may be restored. While 
this includes plans for trans-lake transportation, pres- 
ent interest is largely centered in taking advantage 



of her strategic position with reference to the Wetland 
canal and the Barge canal, Dunkirk Harbor being 
but twenty-eight miles from the former and thirty 
miles from the latter. Steam barges especially con- 
structed for this kind of traffic and towing fleets of 
other steel barges can make the trip from Dunkirk 
to Buffalo in four hours, from Buffalo to New York 
via Barge canal and Hudson river, where the cargo 
may be discharged directly from barge to steamer 
without the expense or uncertainty of the use of docks 
or lighters; the ordinary time from Buffalo to New 
York is seven days, thence making ports of call at 
the New England cities along the Sound and on to 
Boston through the Cape Cod canal. The same kind 
of craft, using the Welland canal, can reach the more 
important points in Canada with shipments of coal 
and all other commodities. 

Second — Very recently the Chamber of Commerce 
has taken up the matter of procuring electricity and 
water from the Arkwright Hills, at whose feet she 
lies. At the suggestion of this body, the Board of 
Water Commissioners have decided to secure the ser- 
vices of the best hydraulic engineers to at once begin 
a survey and report upon the feasibility of this plan. 
A preliminary report by an engineer appointed to in- 
vestigate, states that an abundance of water is secura- 
ble, and that the needs of the city would be met there- 
by to the point where her population will have trip- 
pled. It will, therefore, doubtless be but a short while 
before the resources placed by the Almighty in the 
Arkwright Hills, for Dunkirk's use, will be fully uti- 
lized. 

During the past year much has been accomplished in 
the way of industrial growth by the Chamber assisting 
local plants in enlarging their plants and production, 
and also in attracting outside interest by reason of her 
unusual industrial advantages. 

The entertainment and education of the people has 
received attention. But one feature of this work will 
be used for example ; the Chamber of Commerce backed 
a movement by which a symphony orchestra with fifty 
pieces was organized and trained until it was able to 
produce music worthy of an organization in any city 
of four times the population. Soloists of national fame 
were secured to assist, and concerts have been given 
through the winter months to the delight of the thou- 
sands who have attended. 

The work of this organization has been but nicely 
begun and a spirit of civic loyalty and progressiveness 
has been aroused which bids fair to make Dunkirk 
phenomenal as to prosperity and growth. 



MANUFACTURING. 



Manufacturing came to Chautauqua county with the 
early settlers, in fact was forced upon them by the 
exigencies of their situation. In order to obtain money 
to purchase the necessities of life while the land was 
being cleared and made ready for sowing the manu- 



facture of pot and pearl ashes and of black salts was 
carried on by the pioneer. This was mostly shipped 
by buying concerns to New York and elsewhere, one 
dealer alone shipping annually from two to forty thou- 
sand dollars worth of the product. Thus the clearing 



MANUFACTURING 



337 



of the land was greatly facilitated by this passing of 
the forests through the ash kettles which were found 
on every tract taken up and a great deal of needed 
money was placed in circulation among the settlers. 
With the retreat of the forest and the coming of the 
fields there were surplus farm products to dispose of 
but means of transportation were yet crude and out of 
that condition arose the necessity of home manufacture 
to reduce the bulk of commodities to be transported to 
outside markets. So grain was converted into liquor which 
was much more easily transported and every section 
almost had its distillery and later grist-mills, fulling 
mills, hat factories and wagon shops sprang into ex- 
istence. Lumber mills were soon found on every stream 
and the great forests gradually melted away before 
woodman's onslaught. 

The first cloth dressing factory in Jamestown was 
operated by Daniel Hazeltine in 1816. He admitted 
Robert Falconer a partner in 1823 and in 1830 their out- 
put was 20.000 yards. Other similar factories were 
started and later consolidated. William Broadhead in- 
augurated the manufacture of worsted goods but it was 
not until 1873 when in partnership with William Hall he 
founded the worsted manufacturing business which 
grew to be one of Jamestown's principal industries. 
Broadhead & Hall soon dissolved partnership but each 
continued as independent manufacturers. William Hall 
furnished the capital for the Jamestown Alpaca Mills 
and at the age of 79 gave his personal attention to the 
construction of the plant. The Broadhead interest is 
still supreme in the Worsted Mills that bear their 
name. 

Fine cabinet work was done by Royal Keyes in James- 
town in 1816, this being the first cabinet making shop in 
the county. In 1821 he entered into a partnership with 
William and John C. Breed and theirs was for years 
the largest furniture manufacturing plant in the county. 
The abundance of suitable hardwood timber near at 
hand fostered that industry and soon Jamestown made 
furniture was on sale in the towns along the Allegheny 
and Ohio rivers. In 1837 they built a factory in which 
they installed furniture making machinery driven by 
water power, the first in the county, and in the fifties 
were supplying dealers by their own team delivery with- 
in a hundred mile radius. The furniture manufacturing 
business has grown to enormous proportions and to- 
day (1920) forty factories are engaged in the business 
in Jamestown alone. 

A distinct line of furniture manufacturing is that of 
the Art Metal Construction Company of Jamestown, a 
business which employed according to the federal 1910 
census 1,130 men, the Broadhead Worsted Mills then 
employing 809 hands, these the two largest employers of 
labor in the city. 

The Art Metal Construction Company, which leads 
all other plants in the world in the manufacture of metal 
office furniture, had its inception in 1888 when the Fen- 
ton Metallic Manufacturing Company was organized 
with R. E. Fenton. president, J. W. Hine, superin- 
tendent. Arthur C. Wade became president of the com- 
pany upon Mr. Fenton's death and in 1890 a consolida- 
tion was effected with several other companies and an 
enormous business has been developed. It is a mat- 
ter of local pride that here in Chautauqua county the 
business of making steel office furniture was originated 
and developed and that today the county possesses the 
world's largest steel and bronze office equipment manu- 
facturing business in the world and that there is not a 
modern bank, public building, commercial office nor 
library in the United States in which the product of this 
Chautauqua plant will not be found. 
Chau— 22 



Jamestown was the pioneer also in the manufacture 
of Emulsion Ready Prepared Photographic Paper, a 
distinct and radical step forward in photographic sci- 
ence. Porter Sheldon was the president of the first 
company formed to manufacture the paper and at his 
death was succeeded by Charles S. Abbott. This busi- 
ness is now a branch of The Eastman Kodak Company. 

Cheese manufacturing was introduced into Chautau- 
qua county by Asahel Burnham, the first factory 
making cheese or butter on a large scale being built by 
him in 1861 in the town of Arkwright. It was built 
at Burnham's Hollow in the Canadaway creek and was 
called the "Canadaway Cheese Factory." He built a 
second cheese factory at Sinclairville in 1865 and there 
he manufactured in that year 4,349,364 pounds of milk 
from 1.450 cows belonging to 120 patrons and made 
7,200 cheeses each weighing about sixty pounds. He 
built and owned several similar factories and became 
known as the "Cheese King." The movement begun in 
Arkwright in 1861 spread rapidly throughout the county 
and in 1900 forty-two cheese factories in Chautauqua 
county made 4,064,760 pounds of cheese and the thirty- 
five creameries made 2,937,062 pounds of butter, almost 
entirely marketed in New York City. Cheese making 
on a large scale has been abandoned but the county in 
1915 (State census) produced for the market 23,384,208 
gallons of milk which was manufactured at the con- 
densaries and creameries into dairy products which sold 
for $2,034,455- 

Silver Creek began manufacturing in 1856, when 
Simon Howes erected a plant for manufacturing smut 
and separating machinery. That business proved lucra- 
tive and other factories for manufacturing grist mill 
machinery developed until in 1900 it was estimated that 
three-fourths of all the grain cleaners in use in the 
entire world were made at Silver Creek. 

Wine manufacturing began in 1859 when Fay, Ryck- 
man & Haywood established their wine house in Broc- 
ton. 

The locomotive works at Dunkirk came to that village 
with the Erie railroad, being at first little more than a 
repair shop, although a few locomotives were built, 
each year. After Horatio G. Brooks became the control- 
ing owner the business was incorporated as the 
Brooks Locomotive Works, Mr. Brooks continuing as 
president until his death in 1887. He was then suc- 
ceeded by M. L. Hinman, former treasurer and secre- 
tary, he remaining executive head until 1901 when 
the works were absorbed by the American Locomotive 
Company. Brooks locomotives went wherever there 
were railroads, and the plant is yet one of the great 
manufacturing centres of the country. The works 
employed in 1915 (State census) 3,009 hands. All fac- 
tories of the city of Dunkirk employed 4,350 hands ac- 
cording to the same authority. 

The Atlas Crucible Steel Company, manufacturers of 
high speed tool steel, is located in Dunkirk, which is also 
the home of the American Glove Company, the Romer 
Axe Company, the United States Radiator Corporation 
and many other factories large and small to the number 
of sixty. 

The canning of fruit and vegetables and the manu- 
facture of fruit products has grown to be an important 
manufacturing business, as is the making of fruit 
baskets. Forestville, Fredonia, Frewsburg, Ripley, Port- 
land. Sherman, Silver Creek, Stockton and Westfield are 
the centres for that class of manufacturing. 

Westfield is the principal grape juice manufacturing 
village, Ripley also being the home of a grape juice 
plant. Sherman has a condensed milk and powdered 
milk company operating in the village, and other large 



338 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



milk products companies operate in the county. Fruit 
baskets are manufactured in Ripley, in Portland, in 
Stockton, in Westfield and elsewhere in the county. 
Mirrors are manufactured in Falconer and at Silver 
Creek, while furniture, veneer, automobile accessories 
and a wonderful variety of manufactured goods swell 
to a grand total which means county prosperity. 

The factories of Jamestown alone paid in yearly 
salaries to officers managing them, according to the 
federal census of 1910, $420,911; to clerks, $574,255; to 
factory hands, $3,305,245- The factories converted raw 
material valued at $7,383,868 into manufactured prod- 
ucts, having a value of $14,720,240. 

Chautauqua county is the eighth county in the State 
outside New York in the number of its inspected fac- 
tories. Jamestown was the twelfth city in number of 
factories, twelfth in the number of wage earners em- 



ployed and fifteenth in capital invested and wages paid. 
In Jamestown in 1913 there were 169 factories in the 
city with an invested capital of $21,000,000. The aver- 
age number of wage earners employed during 1913 ac- 
cording to the State Commissioner of Labor was 9,102 
of whom 2,577 were in the furniture and upholstery fac- 
tories, 2,104 in the woolen mills, 1,237 in the metal 
furniture plants and 960 in the sheet iron concerns. In 
addition there were 1,214 employes in the sixteen fac- 
tories of Falconer. Jamestown is first among the cities 
of this state in the number employed in woolen mills, 
and also in metal furniture and fixtures, while it ranks 
second in wooden furniture. Of every 1,000 inhabitants, 
263 are employed in the factories. The total of salaries 
and wages paid in 1914 according to the Federal Census 
of Manufactures, was $5,839,003 and is now much high- 
er. The eight-hour day now prevails in all leading in- 
dustries. 



THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. 



The official history of medicine in Chautauqua county 
dates from a day in June. 1818, when during court week 
in Mayville a number of physicians and surgeons met 
and founded the Chautauqua County Medical Society. It 
is difficult to write intelligently of the medical profes- 
sion of that and earlier days, as most of the physicians 
left no record of their work except a few incidents 
which have been handed down by tradition. It is only 
since in comparatively recent years that a public record 
has been kept by legal mandate. From the very nature 
of a physician's professional services and under the 
ethics of the profession there is but little publicity given 
to their work. Ethics forbade advertising and even 
newspaper files fail to always tell of their residence. 
These early doctors came to the county, settled in vari- 
ous localities, labored hard and earnestly; passed away 
and are generally forgotten. If they are remembered 
it is generally because of something which they did out- 
side of the profession to which thev devoted their 
energies and talents. Yet no profession has advanced 
as the medical profession has during this last century. 
The physicians of the olden times knew enough to pre- 
scribe calomel or quinine, to use the lancet in bleeding 
the afflicted in nearly all cases and to blister him with 
mustard when all other remedies failed. Those early 
doctors were men of robust health and strong constitu- 
tion and luckily for them their patients were of the 
same type, otherwise they could not have withstood the 
vigorous treatment. 

When the County Medical Society was formed in 1818 
there was no law to forbid practicing medicine without 
a diploma, and the power to grant licenses to practice 
was a prerogative of the Medical Society. The ablest 
exponents of the profession did not understand the 
science of health as it is known today; the purpose of 
the old time physician being to cure the patient when 
taken ill; the purpose of the modern profession to pre- 
vent him from getting ill. It is comparatively a recent 
discovery that anaesthetics could be given to the patient 
so that a surgical operation could be performed with- 
out his immediate manifestation of pain. The books of 
the profession as late as 1844 give explicit directions as 
to the best way to tie a patient when his leg or arm was 
to be amputated. But few other operations were then 
performed. The discovery of anaesthetics has enabled 
the profession to cure many ailments by operations 
which were impossible before, while the discovery of the 
antiseptic dressing has been almost equally beneficial. 



Both have aided materially in lengthening the average 
life of the human family. 

As a rule, in a new country the physician came first 
and after him the lawyer and the clergyman. Until the 
pioneers began to have property to transfer or dispute 
over they could get along without a lawyer, and from 
what we know of them a clergyman was not considered 
an absolute necessity. But ills and pains of the human 
body were as demonstrative then as now and these 
called for the physician's aid as soon as it could be 
obtained. 

Before his arrival the housewife who had been taught 
from her youth the curative virtues of herbs and roots 
ministered to many an ache and pain and doubtless with 
great success. For many years during the early life of 
the county she performed a very important part in the 
health department of household economy. For many 
diseases of children and perhaps for diseases of grown 
persons in their incipient stages, the teas the anxious 
mother brewed from herbs and roots were doubtless 
quite efficient. 

Medical Societies— The Chautauqua County Medical 
Society was formed at a meeting held in Mayville in 
June, 1818, with Dr. Elial T. Foote as chairman, Dr. 
Fenn Denning as secretary. Officers elected were: 
President, Elial T. Foote; vice-president, Samuel Snow; 
secretary-treasurer-librarian, Fenn Denning; censors. 
Orris Crosby, John P. M. Whaley, Henry Sargent. The 
three last named were also appointed a committee to 
prepare a code of by-laws, to be presented at the next 
meeting ; and Dr. Foote was appointed a delegate to the 
State Society. At the meeting in June, 1819, Dr. Sargent 
presented a code of by-laws prepared by himself, which 
were adopted. Dr. Jedediah Prendergast was chosen 
president; Dr. Squire White, vice-president; Dr. Eben- 
ezer P. Upham, secretary ; Drs. Foote, Crosby and .Sar- 
gent, censors. 

In 1844 the first Reform Medical Society was or- 
ganized in Fredonia, Dr. J. R. Bush, president, and 
M. Hobart, secretary. Under the auspices of this So- 
ciety a course of lectures was given in Fredonia by 
Professor Hill, of Cincinnati, commencing in June, 1847. 
About twenty students were in attendance. The last 
meeting of the Society was held in September, 1850, at 
Jamestown. 

By the year 1850. the manner of life of the people 
of the county had changed. The so-called asthenic or 
typhoid conditions became apparent. Nervous prostra- 



THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 



339 



tion, not before heard of, was now a common form of 
disease, and the way was prepared for the great and 
radical change in practice which was brought about 
by the accession of a number of well educated young 
men to the profession in the early fifties. 

In 1851 there was no medical society in Chautauqua 
county. The old County Society which during its life 
had the power of conferring the license to practice medi- 
cine, had died a natural death. At this time the strength 
of the profession was in the older men, some of whom 
were the first physicians who began their practice here 
in a comparative wilderness. One of them, Dr. White, 
of Fredonia, was a man of good name, and much be- 
loved by the early settlers. He was a positive force in 
the community and among the doctors. His eccentricities 
were many. In early days when land cost little, he 
acquired much in the town and near by. Its rise in value 
left a comfortable estate to his heirs. Dr. Ira Peck 
practiced in the early days at Villenova. 

Drs. Walworth of Fredonia, Simons of Brocton, 
Spencer of Stocton, and Jones of Westfield, Foote and 
Hazeltine of Jamestown, and Prendergast of Mayville, 
were of the older class. Drs. Charles Smith of Fre- 
donia, Harrison of Stockton, Holmes of Mayville, and 
others, were active practitioners of middle age, whose 
authority to practice was a license from the old Chau- 
tauqua County Society. Dr. Rodgers of Dunkirk was 
in practice about this time. As has been said, their 
practice was of the "Sangrado" type, the lancet, calomel 
and tartar emetic being the sheet anchors. Quinine was 
used only for malarial fevers. Opium was used to 
quiet pain, but not as a curative agent. The profession 
was then in a transition stage, and in the early fifties 
a number of young medical men came to this county. 
They had been under the instruction of men like Austin 
Flint, Alonzo Clark and Frank Hamilton. Their names 
are familiar to all. Their personal life demonstrated 
their worth, their ability, their manliness, their culture, 
their strong influence for higher ends among the peo- 
ple. They were the early friends of Dr. Strong, and 
his personal associates. Three of them honored Dun- 
kirk by going there — H. M. T. Smith, his brother, Sam- 
uel Smith, and Dr. Irwin. Their life work was done 
there. About the same time Dr. Charles Washburn 
came to Fredonia. He was a most lovable man, one 
of the most scholarly men who ever resided in the 
county. He died in the army, after nearly three years' 
service as surgeon of the 112th New York Volunteers. 
Dr. George Bennett of Ripley also took the field as 
surgeon, rendered most efficient service, and later re- 
moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he practiced the 
remainder of his life. He was a large, handsome man, 
a practitioner of high grade, most honorable and loyal 
in his professional intercourse. Another of about the 
same age was Dr. William P. Bemus of Jamestown, a 
graduate of Berkshire Medical College. He enjoyed a 
large practice throughout the county and beyond its 
borders, was a first-class physician and surgeon. His 
personal address was charming, and his chief charac- 
teristic was his strong common sense. 

Dr. Axtel of Jamestown, Dr. Edson Boyd of Ash- 
ville, Dr. William Chace of Mayville, Dr. Dean of 
Brocton, Dr. Glidden of Panama and others soon ap- 
peared upon the stage — all good men and faithful citi- 
zens. Drs. Gray and Hedges of Jamestown, and Dr. C. 
Ormes of Panama, who afterward removed to James- 
town, were the prominent physicians in the homoeopathic 
line. 

With the accession of strength among the regular 
profession of the county, came the organization of the 
present Chautauqua County Medical Society. From 



the first it was a vigorous working society, and soon 
controlled the medical thought of the county. The 
discussions which took place at the meetings of that 
society would have done honor to any medical society. 
Later other associations of medical men of the county 
have been organized: The Chautauqua County Branch 
of the New York State Medical Association, the James- 
town Medical Society, and the Dunkirk Society. These 
have been educators for the members, and their meet- 
ings have always been well attended and full of in— 
terest to the profession. The disappearance of per- 
sonal bickerings, jealousies and illfeelings, has been a 
direct result of a better acquaintance among the mem- 
bers. Broader views of the profession and the com- 
munity at large opened to view. Higher education com- 
mended itself to all, and long before our medical col- 
leges or the State had taken steps in that direction, 
the Medical Society of this county placed upon its 
records that no member thereof should receive into 
his office as a student anyone who had not an elementary 
education sufficient to pass the Regents' examination, 
and enough Latin to intelligently read and write pre- 
scriptions. This is practically the State law. With 
the conditions and membership of the profession of 
medicine of later years, we are all familiar. 

A list of members of the medical profession of Chau- 
tauqua county who acted as surgeons in the different 
wars of the United States is appended. As Chautauqua 
county had no existence prior to the War of the Revolu- 
tion — none. War of 1812 — Dr. Daniel Bemus, division 
surgeon. War with Mexico — none. War of the Re- 
bellion — Drs. Washburn, Irwin, George Bennett, T. D. 
Strong, Marvin Bemus, Glidden, Edson Boyd, A. Water- 
house, regimental surgeons. War with Spain — Dr. Wil- 
liam M. Bemus, regimental surgeon. 

The Eclectic Medical Association of Chautauqua 
County was organized in September, 1856, Dr. O. C. 
Payne, president, Dr. A. P. Parsons, secretary. During 
nine years this association held thirty meetings and re- 
ceived thirty-five members. 

At a meeting held at Dunkirk September 15, 1865, a 
new constitution was adopted in compliance with a re- 
quest of the State Society, and to become auxiliary 
thereto, the name was changed from "Association" to 
"Society," the name becoming The Eclectic Medical So- 
ciety of the 32nd Senatorial District. 

The present Medical Society of Chautauqua County 
has ninety-eight members. Officers: Dr. Elmer W. 
Powers, president, Westfield ; Dr. Geo. W. Cottis, 
Jamestown, Dr. Geo. E. Smith, Dunkirk, vice-presidents; 
Dr. Geo. F. Smith, treasurer, Falconer; Dr. J. W. Mor- 
ris, secretary, Jamestown. Censors — Dr. E. M. Scofield, 
Jamestown; Dr. V. M. Griswold, Fredonia; Dr. H. A. 
Eastman, Jamestown; Dr. A. Wilson Dods, Fredonia; 
Dr. Edgar Rood, Westfield. 

The Dunkirk and Fredonia Medical Society meets 
monthly at the Librarv building in Dunkirk. The James- 
town Medical Society meets monthly in the Young 
Women's Christian Association building. The Medical 
Society of Chautauqua County meets four times each 
year, the last Tuesday of March, June, September and 
the second Tuesday in December. Officers being elected 
at the December meeting, which must be held in James- 
town or Dunkirk. 

The First Licensed Physician in Chautauqua 
County — Dr. Squire White, was born at Guilford, Ver- 
mont, November 20, 1785, and came at an early age with 
his father into Chenango county, New York. By patient 
study he acquired an education and laid the foundation 
of those literary tastes which his habitual reserve pre- 
vented him from publicly displaying, but which were 



340 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



through life in moments of relaxation a source of the 
highest gratification. He studied medicine in the office 
of his brother Dr. Asa White in Sherburne, New York, 
and in the office of Dr. Joseph White of Cherry Valley, 
at that time one of the most celebrated physicians and 
surgeons in the State. Dr. Squire White came to Fre- 
donia in 1809 and bears the distinction of being the first 
educated physician to be licensed to practice in Chau- 
tauqua county. He soon acquired a large practice of 
which his numerous friends would not permit him to 
divest himself, and for many of the last years of his 
life his services were in most instances rendered 
gratuitously. He was noted for the depth of his medical 
knowledge, the clearness of his observations and his 
nice discrimination in everything relating to his profes- 
sion. An old physician of the county alter an intimate 
acquaintance extending over a period of nearly forty 
years said of Dr. White: "He was esteemed by the 
pioneer settlers as a good physician, humane, attentive 
to their calls, extremely lenient to nis patrons and never 
avaricious." 

On the organization of the county he was appointed 
surrogate, an office which he held two years. He was 
elected representative to the State Legislature in 1830- 
31-32; served as supervisor of the town of Pomfret in 
i8jS-39- His first wife, Sarah, daughter of Hezekiah 
Barker, to whom he was married October 28, 1813, bore 
him four children: William D., a lawyer, who married 
Susan Blanchard and lived 111 Fredonia; Devillo A., 
married Lamira Jones, and resided in Fredonia ; Julia 
S., married Francis S. White, a lawyer of Fredonia, 
where she died; Fdwin, died in infancy. Mrs. Sarah 
White died July 13, 1823, and Dr. White married (.sec- 
ond; August 24, 1826, Lydia, daughter of Judge Zattu 
Cushing, of Fredonia, and his first wife, Rachel Buck- 
ingham, their children were: Ellen D., married Col. 
Stephen Morgan, (.second) Joseph Queuing; George 
H., married Ellen E. Pierce, and resided in Fredonia; 
Mary S., died aged nine years. Dr. White died April 
2, 1857. 

Hospitals— I here are three modernly equipped public 
hospitals in Chautauqua county. The Woman's Chris- 
tian Association Hospital, The Orsino E. Jones Me- 
morial Hospital, both in Jamestown, and Ihe Brooks 
Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk. The Woman's Chris- 
tian Association Hospital is supported largely by volun- 
tary contributions, Ihe Orsino E. Jones Hospital is 
municipally owned and controlled; ihe Brooks Me- 
morial Hospital is endowed, but the city of Dunkirk 
aius in its maintenance. 

t'he Woman's Christian Association of Jamestown 
was organized in 1884, Mrs. Josephus H. Clark, presi- 
dent, ihe same year the Association began the work 
ol organizing the hospital work and in 1885 the Wo- 
man's Christian Association Hospital was incorporated. 
On July 9, 1887, the hospital was opened for the re- 
ception of patients, there then being no similar in- 
stitution within seventy miles of Jamestown nor was 
there a graduate trained nurse living in the city. The 
hrst superintendent, Christine M. Hall, remained in that 
ofiice twenty-three years. In 1890 a training school for 
nurses was established in connection with the hospital, 
'ihe hospital is beautitully located at the corner of Allen 
treet and Foote avenue, the Hutton-Cheney Me- 
morial Cottage being for the use of private patients. 
There is also a Maternity Pavilion given by Mrs. D. 
H. Post and a nurses cottage. The hospital is well 
equipped and is a source of pride to the Association 
which founded, owns and controls it. The public has 
been very generous in responding to every call the hos- 
pital has made for financial aid. 

The bequest to the city of Jamestown by Orsino E. 



Jones of the valuable tract of land lying between Baker 
and Steele streets, long known as Jones Hill, made pos- 
sible the erection of that valuable addition to the means 
of giving care and comfort to the sick and injured, 
the Orsino E. Jones Memorial Hospital. Ihe hospital 
was erected at a cost of $100,000 and is intended for the 
use and benefit of all regardless of race, creed or sex. 
This institution, one of Jamestown's notable entrances 
into the realm of municipal ownership, is strictly modern 
in its equipment for the care of the afflicted and ranks 
with the best institutions of its kind in the country. 
The J. W. Humphrey Contagious Pavilion, used ex- 
clusively for contagious diseases, is constructed on the 
same general plan of the main hospital, the latter a 
three-story and basement fireproof structure of stone, 
brick, steel, glass, sand and cement, with but little wood 
used in its construction. The management of the hos- 
pital is under the control of the Hospital Commission 
of the city of Jamestown, they having placed in charge 
a superintendent, with an assistant, also a night super- 
intendent, head medical, surgical and maternity nurses, 
operating room nurse and a staff of general day and 
night duty nurses. The hospital was opened and the 
first patient received July 8, 191 1. John Morrison, a 
typhoid case, was the hrst patient and for a day he had 
the great building and its staff at his service, but he soon 
lost his exclusive importance. The records of the hos- 
pital show that during its first six months of ex- 
istence 260 patients were received. 

ihe Brooks Memorial Hospital, Dunkirk, is a well- 
equipped registered hospital supplying an especially large 
territory, its nearest neighboring hospitals being Buffalo, 
Jamestown, Corry and Erie, it was established in 1899, 
through the generosity of the Horatio G. Brooks heirs, 
who donated their magnificent home property on the 
corners of Central avenue, Sixth and Eagle streets, 
upon which were situated a magnificent dwelling and 
spacious clubhouse. The former has been converted 
into the hospital proper, and the latter into an annex. 
The hospital also received a liberal endowment from 
the Brooks heirs. Ihe steady and rapid growth of the 
hospital has rendered these buildings inadequate for the 
present needs, and plans are now being developed for an 
addition connecting these two buildings, which will 
materially add to the capacity and convenience of the 
institution. A modern and exceedingly complete X- 
ray equipment has been installed through the generosity 
of the American Locomotive Company, affording ample 
opportunity for instruction in this rapidly developing 
branch. 

This hospital represents the medium size type of hos- 
pital, which gives the nurse in training the unusual op- 
portunity of individual care of patients. The institution 
was incorporated under its present name July 13, 1898. 
The present officers are: F. F. Jewell, president; G. 
W. Woodin, vice-president; J. A. Holstein, secretary; 
Ed. Madigan, treasurer. Directors : George E. Black- 
ham, H. P. Monroe, A. W. Cummings, F. F. Jewell, F. 
B. Barnard, J. F. Kauffman, G. W. Woodin, J. A. Hol- 
stein, H. C. Ehlers, Ed. Madigan, R. J. Cooper, J. 
Foss, Jas. L. Pierce, W. R. Nowak, J. L. Weidman. 
Margaret Braid, superintendent. 

A Training School for Nurses is conducted at the 
hospital, and enjoys a particularly large surgical and 
obstetrical service, affording exceptional advantages for 
instruction in modern surgical and obstetrical technique. 
In accordance with the New York State law, the 
school is registered by the Board of Regents of the 
State of New York, thus placing it in the ranks of 
officially recognized training schools of the State. It is 
a requirement of the Board of Regents of the State 
that all pupils shall have at least one year of high 



THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 



34* 



school or its equivalent, and the pupils must be ac- 
cepted by the Board of Regents before they are accepted 
into the Training School. The pupils reside in the 
Nurses' Home, which is a spacious, comfortable build- 
ing near the hospital, equipped with all the modern con- 
veniences and comforts. 

Officers of the Training School: C. H. Richards, 
M. D., president; A. Wilson Dods, M. D., vice-presi- 
dent ; W. J. Sullivan, M. D., secretary ; Margaret Braid, 
superintendent. 

A county institution of worth is Newton Memorial 
Hospital for Tubercular Cases, founded under the will 
of Elizabeth M. Newton. 

The Board of Supervisors entered into an agree- 
ment with the trustees of that will, on December 17, 
1915, for the acceptance of a tuberculosis hospital under 
the terms and conditions set forth in Mrs. Newton's 
will. On November 12, igi7, the supervisors entered in 
a supplemental contract by which the county agreed to 
pay a certain part of the expense of furnishing and 
equipping the hospital. The hospital is located at 
Cassadaga and was first opened for the reception of 
patients in August, 1920. 

The County Hospital is located at Dewittville in con- 
nection with the County Poor Farm. 



The Visiting Nurses' Association of Jamestown is an 
incorporated body which owes its inception to Mrs. 
George W. Critchlow. The Association was organized 
early in the year 1909, the object being to furnish train- 
ed attendance for those unable to bear the expense of 
graduate nurse. Grace Cooper was the first visiting 
nurse and but a single nurse was employed until Janu- 
ary 1 1913, when a second nurse was engaged. Selma 
Lincoln as visiting nurse during one year, 1912, cared 
for 247 patients and made 2,785 visits. 

The statistics for the year ending February 1, 1919, 
show 843 cases attended and the grand total of 7,200 
visits made. Three nurses were employed in the work 
The Association maintains a Child Welfare Station and 
Dispensary which during the year attended 377 cases. 
An Auxiliary to the Visiting Nurses' Association does 
a great deal of purely charitable work, and the Associa- 
tion performs the nursing service for the Metropoli- 
tan Life Insurance Company. The funds to carry on 
this valuable work are obtained through subscriptions 
from a generous public. The officers of the Association 
are: President, Mrs. Erwin D. Shearman; vice-presi- 
dent, Mrs. J. Ernest Johnson; secretary, Mrs. C I. 
Eckman; treasurer, Mr. A. W. Swan; president Ladies' 
Auxiliary, Mrs. John F. Westrom. 



RELIGION AND RELIGIONS. 



The history of the different sections of our country 
show a wonderful similarity of statement regarding the 
early pioneers in their willingness to receive a traveling 
minister and to listen to his teaching. New England 
early communities brought their minister with them 
and he was their trusted guide. When these New Eng- 
enders began to reach out for other wild regions to 
subdue they carried into the forests a reverence for 
religion, and the missionary preacher was welcome. 
This was true in Chautauqua county which was sup- 
plied with religious instruction in the earliest days by 
the Congregational Connecticut Missionary Society, the 
Presbyterian General Assembly, the Methodist circuit 
rider of every pioneer community, and his equally effici- 
ent coworker, the Baptist missionary. 

The first gospel sermon preached in the county was 
doubtless by Rev. Joseph Badger, at the funeral of the 
lamented McHenry in 1803. This Rev. Joseph Badger 
was a missionary sent by the Connecticut Missionary So- 
ciety to the Western Reserve. The Rev. Robert Patter- 
son, who had just been ordained by Rev. Joseph Badger 
and others at a meeting of Presbytery in Erie, Penn- 
sylvania, was about this time engaged to preach a quar- 
ter of the time at Cross Roads, now Westfield, the rest 
of the time services to be maintained by the use of 
printed sermons. At an early date Lorenzo Dow preach- 
ed occasionally at Silver Creek. Like one of the old 
prophets, he would suddenly make his appearance, 
mount a stump and deliver his message, and naming 
a time to the day and the hour when they might expect 
him again, as suddenly depart. He was a Bunyan in 
religious experience, had personal fights with the devil, 
and won personal victories over him. A Methodist in 
belief, he was assigned a district, but could not confine 
himself to its narrow bounds, but felt moved by the 
Spirit to go to regions beyond. He traveled extensively 
in the United States and went twice to Europe, feeling 
a strong call to preach to the Catholics in Ireland. He 
attracted great crowds, had some successes, and many 
persecutions. He was a strange character, and yet 
he made a powerful impression and was the means 
of more conversions than many of the regular itiner- 



ants. The celebrated Adam Clarke is said to have look- 
ed upon him with favor, and others in high positions 
abroad counted themselves as his friends. He introduc- 
ed camp-meetings into England, and the controversy 
over them led to the organization of a new society called 
the Primitive Methodists. Born in Coventry, Conn in 
1777, and dying in Washington in 1834, he put more of 
successful labor into his fifty-six years than many men 
into a much longer period, and with his faithful wife 
Peggy is worthy the high esteem of all Christian people 
for their self-sacrificing labor. 

The most distinguished missionary who labored in 
the early settlement of Chautauqua county was the Rev. 
John Spencer. He was of Spencertown, New York, a 
relative of Ambrose and Joshua Spencer, of legal fame, 
and also of Ichabod Spencer, that famous pastor in 
Brooklyn. After the Revolutionary War, in which he 
served, he prepared to preach, was ordained by the 
Northern Associated Presbytery and sent by the Con- 
necticut Missionary Society as their missionary to the 
Holland Purchase. For about nineteen years, 1808-1827, 
he made Sheridan his home, and Chautauqua county, 
then much larger than now, his parish. He preache'd 
about every evening, and sometimes his congregation 
was a single family. 

Among the ministers of the early pioneer period was 
Rev. Jonathan Wilson, a Baptist missionary from Ver- 
mont, who was very active in founding Baptist churches. 
He lived to the age of ninety, and supplied churches 
nearly to the end of his life. The Rev. Elisha Tucker, 
third pastor of the Baptist church at Fredonia, labored 
energetically and successfully to complete the church 
edifice believed to be the first erected in the county. 

Gregg's "History of Methodism" states that "in 1808 
a circuit was formed by the Philadelphia Conference 
called the 'Holland Purchase,' which embraced all of the 
State of New York west of the Genessee river, to 
which Rev. George Lane was appointed." It says that 
Mr. Lane formed a class in Sheridan in 1808-09. "This 
was undoubtedly the first Methodist preaching and the 
first class formed in Chautauqua county, which has 
since that time been a very fruitful field for Methodism 



342 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



and very productive of Methodist ministers." Among 
the Methodist, Rev. "Billy Brown" was remarkable for 
his unusual gift in prayer, and for his habit of search- 
ing out and elucidating obscure passages of Scripture. 
He was the first Methodist minister to preach regularly 
in the county, coming to the classes in Villenova and 
Sheridan about 1810. Gregg's history states that a 
class was formed in Silver Creek in 1812; Young's 
history gives it as 1819. 

Rev. Samuel G. Orton, D. D., was one of the most 
useful men of his time. His evangelistic and pastoral 
labors in Chautauqua and neighboring counties ex- 
tended over the whole period from 1830 to 1870. He was 
a man of such amiable, judicious, and well-balanced 
character as is rarely to be found. He possessed a na- 
ture that was ruled by the spirit of love. Both before 
and after he settled in Ripley he spent much time in 
revival meetings, building up the churches of the coun- 
ty very largely. At Jamestown his labors were especial- 
ly blessed, bringing into the new Presbyterian church 
some of the strongest men of that place. 

Among the early Presbyterian preachers in Silver 
Creek were Rev. Abiel Parmalee, who in 1830-31 supplied 
the first stated Presbyterian ministry in that region; 
Rev. O. C. Beardsley, the first pastor of the church 
organized in 1831, who had the longest pastorate (ex- 
cept one) in that church; Rev. Mr. Rogers and Rev. 
Mr. Hunter were Methodist preachers of the early day 
in Silver Creek; Rev. William Hall for more than sixty 
years was a devoted Presbyterian missionary to the 
Indians ; Rev. Mr. Frink, a Baptist minister, was said to 
have baptized six hundred persons, all of whom had 
been converted at his own meetings. 

Three pioneer churches were organized in 1808, one 
in Chautauqua, now Stockton ; one in Westfield ; and 
one in Fredonia. The one in Chautauqua was taken into 
the town of Stockton when the town was formed. It 
began with nine original members and increased twelve- 
fold in the first twelve years. This Baptist church 
dissolved itself by its own vote in 1846. 

The Presbyterian church of Westfield was organized 
a little earlier probably than any other in the county, 
the Rev. John Lindsley, a missionary sent out by the 
Presbyterian General Assembly, officiating. For some 
reason it fell into decline. A revival occurring in West- 
field in 1817, this church was reorganized. That was a 
glorious day for the Presbyterian church of Westfield 
when Rev. Johnston Eaton and Rev. Phineas Camp ad- 
ministered the sacrament to forty persons in connection 
with this church and the banner of the Cross was lifted 
never again to droop. 

The Baptist church of Fredonia was the result of a 
covenant meeting held for two or three years under the 
leadership of Judge Zattu Cushing. It was organized by 
a council held in Mr. Cushing's barn. He himself was 
made a deacon and afterwards a preacher. The first 
pastor of this church was Rev. Joy Handy. 

The Presbyterian church of Fredonia was organized 
in 1810 bv the Rev. John Spencer. This church had for 
its first pastor the Rev. Samuel Sweezy, and has been 
favored with many revivals, some of the most important 
of which occurred during the pastorate of Rev. William 
Bradley in the thirties. 

A Congregational church was organized in Sheridan. 
1809, by Rev. John Spencer. The Methodist Episcopal 
church of Sheridan is set down as formed in 1809. the 
Rev. "Billy Brown" being their first pastor. The Bap- 
tist church of Nashville is supposed to have been or- 
ganized in 181 1 and is still maintaining services. The 
Methodist Episcopal church of Fredonia was formed in 
or before 1812. In 1812 a Methodist Episcopal church 



was formed at Villenova, and one in Charlotte. Of 
the latter there were eight original members, one of 
whom was Judge Burnell, whose home was the preach- 
ers' home, who was himself a local preacher and about 
as well versed in theology as in the law. In 1814 a 
Baptist church was formed in Ellery. In 1815 the Con- 
gregational church at Kiantone was formed by Father 
Spencer with ten members and in 1816 the Congrega- 
tional church at Jamestown was organized by John 
Spencer. Abner and Daniel Hazeltine were among the 
nine original members. In 1817 a Baptist church was 
organized at Forestville ; a Baptist church at Panama 
and Baptist and Congregational churches at Stockton. 
In 1818 a Congregational church at Portland was or- 
ganized; a Methodist Episcopal church in Harmony; 
Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal churches in Rip- 
ley, the last named organizing with five members. In 
1819 four churches were formed, a Baptist and a Free 
Methodist at Portland; a Baptist and a Methodist 
Episcopal at Busti. 

The year 1820 added five other churches — a Baptist 
and a Methodist in the town of Chautauqua; and a 
Congregational church in Ashville, which had fifty-eight 
members in 1830; a Baptist and a Methodist each in 
Gerry, both extinct. In 1821 a Universalist church was 
formed in Portland, and a Methodist church in West- 
field, consisting of six members and having the Rev. 
M. Hatton as minister in charge. 1822 witnessed the 
organization of the Methodist Episcopal church in 
Portland. In 1822 Trinity Episcopal Church was or- 
ganized in Fredonia, and in 1823 St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church in Mayville. 

In 1823 the Methodist Episcopal church in Jamestown 
was legally organized. Soon after, a venerable lay- 
man, Lyman Crane, of great magnetic power and gift 
in prayer, became the means of adding largely to the 
growth and stability of the church. These, with a 
Christian church at Delanti, complete the list of churches 
formed prior to 1825. 

For the "Centennial History of Chautauqua County" 
published in 1902, Rev. Chalon Burgess, D. D., prepared 
a chapter on the Churches and Clergy of the Pioneer 
Period in Chautauqua, from which this chapter has 
been largely drawn. 

In his summary he says : 

Thus we have thirty-five churches formed in seven- 
teen years by the pioneers. These church organiza- 
tions include a great variety of denominations: Con- 
gregational and Presbyterian. Baptist regular and 
Free Will, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, 
Free Methodist and Wesleyan. Protestant Episcopal. 
Lutheran in its various branches. United Brethren, 
Christian, Unitarian, Universalist. Catholic and Chris- 
tian Science. So that from the Calvinistie core to the 
outermost fringe of Christianity the people of our 
county have been appealed to, to join in some form 
of worship of their common Creator. 

The growth and the power of the churches since the 
pioneer period has been very marked and gratifying. 
The Swedish churches of various denominations are 
very flourishing in numbers and pecuniary strength. 
More than one-half of the Swedish population are 
church-members. The Episcopal churches in different 
parts of the county are, with scarce an exception, 
strong and prosperous. The Catholic churches in 
some towns show great numbers and wealth. 

Many of the smaller denominations doing work, if 
not as extensive, perhaps in every way as acceptable 
to the Master as any. The Chautauqua ministry is 
a pious and scholarly ministry. The work they do con- 
stantly giving evidence of their piety, and the" colleges 
testify to their scholarship by the honors they have 
bestowed upon so many of their number. They well 
deserve the praise given by Addison, in his recent 
book, to the American clergy, when he says, "They 
rank high among the men of' letters in our land." 

Baptist Church— The Baptist churches of Chautau- 
qua county are gathered for mutual benefit into a. 



RELIGION AND RELIGIONS 



343 



voluntary union called The Chautauqua Baptist Associa- 
tion. This Association claims no authority over its 
member churches, but is a self-governing body and 
may by a two-thirds vote at any annual meeting exclude 
any church from membership for violation of the Asso- 
ciation's Constitution or for so changing in faith and 
practice as to be out of harmony and fellowship with the 
other churches in the Association. The Association was 
organized in 1823 but did not become an incorporated 
body until 1895. The statistics herein given are taken 
from the published Minutes of the Ninety-seventh Anni- 
versary of the Association held in the Baptist church of 
Kennedy, September 23-24-25, 1919. 

The following table shows the number of churches 
composing the Association from 1895 until 1919, in- 
clusive, the number of baptisms each year, the total 
membership : 

Tear Churches Baptisms Members 

1S95 31 123 3144 

1896 31 102 3073 

1897 31 79 3037 

1898 31 73 3032 

1899 30 115 2987 

1900 30 93 2964 

1901 30 141 3045 

1902 27 121 3112 

1903 28 89 3109 

1904 28 138 3139 

1905 28 146 3181 

1906 29 240 3341 

1907 29 111 3306 

1908 30 140 3492 

1909 30 224 3593 

1910 30 97 3552 

1911 30 141 3469 

1912 33 198 3677 

1913 33 333 3989 

1914 33 207 4037 

1915 33 284 4132 

1916 33 271 4259 

1917 33 245 4358 

1918 33 105 4297 

1919 34 111 3992 

There are thirty-three churches in the Association, 
nearly all in Chautauqua county. The churches that are 
temporarily without a pastor or unable to support one, 
are supported by the Association Missionary. 

The following statistics show the churches in the 
Association, with the date of organization, present mem- 
bership, settled pastor, and the date of his settlement 
over the church, and the value of the church property: 

Brocton. organized 1819; membership, 125; church 
property, $15,000. Pastor, Rev. B. L. Lewis, in 1918. 

Busti, founded 1819. Celebrated its 100th anniver- 
sary in August. 1919. Membership, 88. property, $3,500. 
Pastor, Rev. D M. Ratcliff, settled 1916. 

Cassadaga, founded 1834; membership, 95; property, 
$7,000. The pastor, Rev. D. M. Sutton, settled 1917. 

Cherry Creek, organized 1831; membership, 115; prop- 
erty, $8,000. No pastor at time minutes were printed. 

Dunkirk, established 1830; membership. 138; prop- 
erty, $15,000. Pastor, Rev. Willard Howells, settled 
1919. 

East Greenfield, organized Sept. 14, 1919, as a result 
of a revival under the preaching of Rev. E. W. Chap- 
in, the first pastor; membership, 34; property, $4,000. 

Ellery, founded 1817; membership, 46; at present 
without a pastor; property, $6,000. 

Falconer, organized 1907; 83 members; property, 
$3,000. Pastor, Rev. R. W. Neathery, settled 1916. 

Findley Lake, organized 1864; membership, 68; prop- 
ertv $11,000. Pastor, Rev. F. C. Peck, settled 1916. 

Forestville, organized 1817; membership, 100; prop- 
erty, $40,000. Pastor, Rev. W. A. Weart, settled 1919. 

Fredonia, organized 1808; shares with Mount Olivet 
the distinction of being the oldest Baptist congrega- 
tion in the Association, both organized the same year. 
Fredonia church has a membership of 494, and is the 
second largest Baptist congregation in the county. The 
church property, $7,000. Pastor, Rev. C. L. Rhodes, 
settled 1919. 

Frewsburg, organized 1838; membership, 104; prop- 
erty, $7,000. Pastor, Rev. A. J. Stanton, settled 1917. 



. G F, ee "5 eld A or&anized 1843 : membership, 106; proper- 
ty, $1,700. Pastor, Rev. E. W. Chapin, settled 1910. 

Hanover First Church, organized 1811, and Hanover 
Centre, 1856; small congregations with combined mem- 
berships of 24; church property, $1,000. No settled 
pastor; Rev. W. A. Weart, pastor of Fredonia church, 
preaches every second Sunday. 

Jamestown First Church, organized 1832, is the 
banner church of the Association in size and wealth. 
Membership, 875; property, $150,000. Pastor, Rev. 



let (i 



edish), organized 



Guy Brown. 

Jamestown, Chandler _. 
1884; membership. 255; Rev. G. A. Goranson, pfstor 
^J.^ eS '?"'."' '' alvar >' Church, organized 1903; me 
bership, 1,0; property, $10,000. Rev. E. P. Stoddard, 
pastor, settled 1915. 

.,?? nnedy ' organized 1836; membership, 84; property, 
$4 500. Rev. O. J. Gage, pastor, settled 1915. 

Leon, organized 1826; church of 13 members; with- 
out a pastor; property valued at $1,000.. 
je'ooT'no-p^to?. 12 ^ 182 ° : raembershi P' «! property. 
Mt. Olivet, organized 1808; but 12 members; property, 
$550; no pastor. " ' 

.„^j.°, ve ' organized 1855; membership, 61; property, 
$6,000. Pastor, Rev. G. R. Holt, settled 1913. 
., Panama, organized 1817; membership, 157; property 
$7,000. Pastor, Rev. W. D. King, settled 1913 

Randolph, organized 1825; membership, 56; property. 
$8,000. Pastor, Rev. J. M. Markwick, settled 1918. 

Ripley, organized 1826; membership, 101; property, 
$12,000. Pastor, Rev. W. H. Randall, settled 1917. 
.-^ rrnan ' organized 1S26; membership, 118; property, 
$5,000. Pastor, Rev. F. H. Baker, settled 1918, who 
also preaches Sunday afternoons at Waits Corners. 

Sinclairville, organized 1826; membership, 28; prop- 
erty. $3,000. Work carried on under federated plan, 
and a pastor will be called to serve the three feder- 
ated churches. 

Stockton, organized 1817; membership, 106; proper- 
ty, $10,000. Pastor, Rev. M M. Rector settled 1917 

Town Line, which includes Clvim-r. Harmony or- 
ganized, 1830; membership, 31; propertv. Sl.Oiin. Preach- 
ing every Sunday afternoon by pastor of Panama 
Church, Rev. W. D. King. 

Waits Corners, organized 1836; membership, 44- 
property, $2,500; Sunday afternoon services, the preach- 
er being pastor of Sherman Church, Rev. F. H Baker 

Westfield, organized 1825; membership, 181; property, 
$10,000. Pastor, Rev. F. B. Vreeland, settled 1919. 

West Portland, organized 1842; membership, 19: 
property, $6,000. No settled pastor. 

Twenty-four of the churches enumerated have par- 
$370 l -00' The t0tal Value of a11 church Property is 

The Sunday schools of the churches of the Associa- 
tion have a combined membership of 4,264 scholars, of- 
ficers and teachers. This record shows that from the 
founding of the Fredonia church in 1802 the Baptist 
church has been one of the great forces for good in the 
upbuilding of the community which resides within the 
borders of the county, and that its usefulness will in- 
crease with the coming years is a fair inference. 

Church of Christ (Scientist)— There are four or- 
ganizations of the Church of Christ (Scientist) in Chau- 
tauqua county- — the churches at Jamestown and Dun- 
kirk, and societies at Westfield and Silver Creek. The 
last named attained the status of a church, but under 
a law of the Mother Church, the First Church of Christ 
at Boston, Mass., of which it was a branch, was obliged 
to return to a society organization, there being no 
Christian Science practitioner residing within its juris- 
diction. 

The First Church of Christ (Scientist) of Jamestown 
was organized in 1891, and later a church edifice was 
erected at the corner of East Fourth street and Pren- 
dergast avenue. The church maintains a free reading 
room in the Wellman building, corner of Third and 
Cherry streets. 

The Silver Creek Society has its rooms on the second 
floor of the White Bank building, and there maintains a 
reading room. The Westfield Society has its quarters 
on the first floor of the Welch building, its reading 
room being open at stated hours. 



344 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The First Church of Christ (Scientist) of Dunkirk 
was organized as a Society in iqio and as a church in 
1919. The present quarters for church and reading room 
are on Washington street, between Fifth and Sixth 
streets. This was formerly a private residence but was 
bought by the church and converted to their purposes. 
The reading room is open every day from 3 till 5. 

The church is planning a church edifice which will 
cost about $40,000. The present membership is fifty. 

Congregational Church — The Chautauqua District 
of the Western New York Association is a member of 
the New York Congregational Conference, which in 
turn is one of the conferences forming the National 
Council of Congregational Churches. Churches of this 
oldest of organized churches in New England are es- 
tablished in the Chautauqua District in Jamestown, 
Kiantone, Busti, Ellington, Portland and Sinclairville. 
There are three churches of this denomination in James- 
town. The First Church on East Third street, Pil- 
grim Memorial Church, McKinley and Forest avenues, 
and the Danish church on Institute street. 

Free Methodist — The churches of this denomination 
in Chautauqua county, with those in Cattaraugus county, 
form the Chautauqua district of the Genesee Confer- 
ence. Churches of this faith are located in Jamestown, 
Forestville, Ellington, Gerry and Fredonia. 

Lutheran— The Jamestown District of the New York 
Conference of the Augustana Synod of the Lutheran 
Church includes the First Lutheran, Lutheran Im- 
manuel, and Holy Trinity Lutheran of Jamestown; 
Bethlehem Lutheran of Falconer; and churches at 
Ellery Center, Mayville, Ashville, and Busti. All of 
these are Swedish congregations save Holy Trinity 
English Lutheran. 

Methodist Episcopal Church— The churches of this 
denomination in Chautauqua county are under the au- 
thority of the Erie Annual Conference and are partly 
located in the Erie district of that conference and 
partly in the Jamestown district of that same body. 
There are fourteen charges in the Erie district : Brocton. 
Chautauqua, Dunkirk, Findley Lake, Forestville, Fre- 
donia, Mayville, Portland, Ripley, Sheridan, Silver 
Creek, Stockton, Volusia, Westfield. 

In addition to these there are churches at Mma and 
South Ripley, served by the pastor assigned to Findley 
Lake: at North Harmony, served by the Mayville pas- 
tor; at State Line, connected with the Ripley church; 
at Centralia, served by the Stockton pastor; at Sum- 
merdale and Adams, served by the pastor assigned to 
Volusia. The full membership roll of the churches 
totals 3,46=,, including 157 non-resident members. They 
own 23 church buildings, valued at $241,800, and 13 
parsonages valued at $50,400. This property is practical- 
ly clear of debt, the total amount of indebtedness on 
churches and parsonages being but $18,260. 

The charges of the Jamestown district number 18. 
Ashville, Bemus Point, Busti and Lakewood. Cherry 
Creek, Ellington and Kennedy, Falconer, Frewsburg, 
Jamestown, Brooklyn Heights; Jamestown, Buffalo 
street; Jamestown, Camp street and Celoron ; James- 
town, First Church; Jamestown, Italian Mission; Kel- 
lettville, Panama, Perrysburg, Sherman, Sinclairville, 
Watts Flats. ... _, . ... 

There are other churches in the district: Blockville 
coupled with Ashville : Newtown and Mayburg, served 
bv the pastor at Kellettville ; Ebenezer served by the 
Panama pastor ; West Perrysburg and Versailles served 
bv the Perrvsburg pastor : Charlotte Center and Pjckard 
Street, served bv the Sinclairville pastor ; Lottsville and 
^ -ar 1 ake, served by the Watts Flats pastor. .These 
churches have a combined membership of 3,937, includ- 



ing 164 non-resident members. The 34 church edifices 
of the Jamestown district are valued at $220,700 ; the 
15 parsonages at $48,300. The banner church of the 
Jamestown district is Jamestown First Church, with a 
membership of 1,309, a Sunday school numbering 787, 
and church property valued at $81,000. Fredonia is the 
largest of the churches lying in the Erie district, hav- 
ing a church membership of 535, a Sunday school of 
519, church property valued at $40,000. The Dunkirk 
Church has a membership of 370. Sunday school 437, 
church property $60,000. Westfield has a membership 
of 456, Sunday school 390, church property $59,000. 

The foregoing statistics are compiled from the "Jour- 
nal and Year Book of the Eighty-fourth Annual Session 
of the Erie Conference held in Franklin, Pa., September 
17-22, 1919." The appointments to the several charges 
in the county as given in the same authority were: 

Erie District, John E. Black, Superintendent — Broc- 
ton, S. M. Gordon; Chautauqua, C. O. Mead; Dunkirk, 
C. T. Greer ; Findley Lake, C. E. Arters ; Forestville, 
K E. Shindle Decker; Fredonia, H. M. Conaway ; May- 
ville, Henry Smallenberger ; Portland, F. A. Mills; Rip- 
ley, R. G Hildred; Sheridan, C. J. Baker; Silver Creek, 
H. H. Bair; Stockton, W. L. Updegraff; Volusia, H. E. 
Frazier; Westfield, H. B. Potter. 

Jamestown District, Herbert A. Ellis, Superintendent 
—Ashville, W. E. Bassett ; Bemus Point, Charles S. 
Robertson; Busti and Lakewood, C. E. McKinley; 
Cherry Creek, Albert Marriat ; Ellington and Kennedy, 
P. F. Haines ; Falconer, H. L. Dunlavy ; Frewsburg, 
C. L. Brainard ; Jamestown, Brooklyn Heights, W. A. 
Thornton ; Jamestown, Buffalo street, L. S. Cass ; James- 
town, Camp street and Celoron, W. J. Baker; James- 
town, First Church, T. R. Courtice ; Jamestown, Italian 
Mission, Pietro Campo ; Kellettville, E. W. Chitester ; 
Panama. B. H. Morey ; Perrysburg, David Taylor ; Sher- 
man, W. A. Thornton ; Sinclairville, R. H. Ellinghouse ; 
Watts Flats, A. L. Pardee. 

Presbyterian Churches — From the Minutes of the 
131st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States held in St. Louis, Missouri, in Au- 
gust, 1919, the following facts are gleaned. 

The Presbyterian churches of Chautauqua county are 
a part of the Presbytery of Buffalo, Synod of New York, 
and are eight in number. 

The church at Dunkirk was formally constituted May 
22, 1830, a minister, Rev. Timothy Stillman, settled the 
same year, and a church built in 1835. The present 
congregation numbers 229. Rev. Jay T. Badgley was 
pastor of this church for twenty-five years. 

Silver Creek Presbyterian Church has a membership 
of 363; Ripley, 73. The latter is one of the very old 
churches of the county, tracing its history to the year 
1818, Rev. Giles Doolittle the first pastor. In 1871 a 
union of the First and Second churches of East Ripley 
and Ripley was effected under the name of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Ripley. 

The Presbyterian Church at Westfield was formed 
in 1808, no records existing until 1817, when on June 
25 "The First Presbyterian Society" was organized. The 
first church was built about 1821, a second in 1832, 
which burned in 1872. The third church edifice, dedicat- 
ed in 1874, also was destroyed by fire, but one equally 
expensive was reared without delay. The congregation 
numbers 427 members. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Pomfret was or- 
ganized in Fredonia, September 29, 1810, as a Congrega- 
tional church, but adopted a Presbyterian form of gov- 
ernment January 30, 1817, and incorporated as The Pres- 
byterian Church in 1819. The present church was built 
in 1875. The church has 237 members. 



RELIGION AND RELIGIONS 



345 



The First Presbyterian Church of Jamestown was 
organized in 1834, and a wooden church built in 1837 
at the corner of Third and Cherry streets. That build- 
ing burned in 1877, and a brick church replaced it on the 
same site. The interior of that building burned in 1890, 
the church then being immediately rebuilt. The present 
membership is 465. 

Olivet Presbyterian Church, Jamestown, is the new- 
est member of the Buffalo Presbytery in Chautauqua, 
and has a membership of 100. The church building is 
located on Lakin avenue. Rev. A. A. J. Hogg, pastor. 

The first church organized in Sherman was a Con- 
gregational Society formed June 23, 1827. This church, 
known as The First Congregational Church of Mina, 
later became the First Presbyterian Church, and in 1854 
was moved to its present location in the village of Sher- 
man. The first church was erected on Presbyterian 
Hill, and was dedicated March 7, 1833. The first pas- 
tor, Rev. D. D. Gregory, came from Connecticut, and 
was installed in October, 1828. The membership is 104. 

The churches of Sherman are conducting an experi- 
ment that is rather startling in its unusualness, but one 
that has thus far proven most encouraging in its results. 

Protestant Episcopal Church — The diocese of West- 

I ern New York, which includes the Protestant Episcopal 

churches of Chautauqua county, was organized in 1838; 

the first Bishop, Rev. William Heathcote Delancey, born 

October 8, 1797, died April 5, 1865. 

There are now (in 1920), according to the church 
calendar for 1918, nine churches in the county : Trinity, 
Fredonia, 177 communicants; St. John's, Dunkirk, 253; 
St. Luke's, Jamestown, 367 ; St. Paul's, Mayville, 85 ; 
St. Peter's, Westfield, 115; St. Peter's, Forestville, 31; 
Trinity, Ripley, 22; St. Alban's, Silver Creek, 26; All 
Saints, Sinclairville, 14. 

Trinity at Fredonia was organized August 1, 1822, 
and a church edifice dedicated in 1835. Rev. David 
Brown was the first rector. St. Paul's of Mayville was 
organized in April, 1823, Rev. David Brown, of Fre- 
donia, caring for the twenty communicants until a pas- 
tor was settled. The first church edifice was consecrated 
by Bishop Hobart, September 4, 1828. St. Peter's at 
Westfield was organized January 20, 1830, its first rec- 
tor, Rufus Murray. The first church edifice was con- 
secrated by Bishop Onderdonk, August 22, 1833. St. 
Luke's, Jamestown, was organized in 1834, but was 
without a settled rector until 1853, when Rev. Levi W. 
Norton organized the parish and took charge. The first 
church edifice, of wood, at the corner of Fourth and 
Main streets, was consecrated in 1856. An Episcopal 
Society was organized in Dunkirk in 1850 by Rev. 
Charles Avery, and in 1852 a church edifice was erected. 
This was the beginning of the present parish of St. 
John's. At Forestville, Ripley, Silver Creek and Sin- 
clairville, the congregations are small, and worship in 
chapels supplied by clergy from neighboring towns or 
by the diocese. 

Roman Catholic Church — The Standard of the 
Cross was raised in Western New York two and one- 
half centuries ago, and many events of historical in- 
terest have transpired since the missionaries to the In- 
dians first traversed the region. The section now com- 
prised within the Diocese of Buffalo was organized as a 
bishopric in 1847. the Very Rev. John Timon, the vis- 
itor-general of the Lazarists. being selected as the first 
bishop. He was consecrated bishop of Buffalo in the 
cathedral at New York, October 17, 1847. His first two 
years were spent in visiting all the little Catholic settle- 
ments and parishes in his diocese, and in becoming thor- 
oughly familiar with his charge. He found the crying 
need was for priests and teachers as well as for money 



to support them, and in 1849 he sailed for Europe to 
attempt to provide for the most pressing wants of his 
new diocese. He sought aid from the Society for the 
Propogation of the Faith, importuned wealthy nobles of 
France, visited the Holy Father at Rome, and on Julv 
6, 1850, sailed for the United States, having collected 
about $8,000, obtained many vestments and sacred ves- 
sels for his poor churches, and received students for 
his diocese. He returned to Buffalo and labored earnest- 
ly and efficiently for every interest of his diocese, and 
after a most successful term of service preached his last 
sermon in the cathedral which he had built in Buffalo, 
on Palm Sunday, April 14, 1867, died the next week^ 
and was buried the following Monday. 

Bishop Timon was looked upon as one of the holiest 
and wisest bishops in the hierarchy. He was a ceaseless 
and tireless worker, and felt the deep responsibility rest- 
ing upon him to build up parishes wherever they were 
needed, to instruct the people in every settlement, and 
to provide all the necessary institutions. There was not 
a parish in his diocese in which he did not give a mis- 
sion, a retreat, or a lecture. He did not wait to be 
asked, but sent word in advance to the priest that he 
would be with him on a certain day, and what he pro- 
posed doing. His lectures were of general interest and 
attracted both Catholics and Protestants. 

It was while on such visits that Bishop Timon first 
came to Chautauqua county, and upon his visit to Dun- 
kirk in 1848. he remarked that he never knew a place 
where the devil made such headway. It was to his 
energy and persevering character that churches were 
started in Chautauqua county, a work that has been ably 
carried on by his successors, the county being still 
within the limits of the Diocese of Buffalo. 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Silver Creek— In the early 
forties a few Catholics settled in Silver Creek, but there 
is no record of Mass being said there before the ad- 
vent of Rev. Peter Colgan, who held services at a 
very early date in the home of Mr. Joseph Clohessy. 
When the Passionist Fathers began to visit North 
Evans they gave some attention to the Catholics settled 
at Silver Creek, and from 1862 Mass was occasionally 
celebrated in the old bank hall. When the Rev. G. 
Burns was pastor of Angola he secured a site on Oak 
Hill for a church, and here erected a small building 
which was used as a church. 

In later years the influx of Sicilians has increased the 
Catholic population of Silver Creek, the parish now 
numbering about 800 Sicilian- and 200 English-speaking 
Catholics, the latter the children and grandchildren of 
the early Catholic settlers. Although the Sicilians have 
a separate service at which they are addressed in the 
Italian language, a congenial, fraternal spirit exists both 
in church and parochial school. 

In 1914 the old Swift homestead built by C. C. Swift 
seventy-five years earlier, was bought from his grand- 
daughter, Miss Francella Swift, and in the summer the 
original frame church was moved from Monroe street 
and Porter avenue to the newly acquired site on Cen- 
tral avenue. The old brick mansion has been con- 
verted into a parochial school and home for the Fran- 
ciscan Sisters conducting it. The school was opened 
in the fall of 1914, with a registration of 199 pupils. 

The parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel dates from 
the building of that small frame church in 1882, the 
church standing on the southwest corner of now Mon- 
roe street and Porter avenue. Father Lafinand, and 
next Father McCarthy, administered to the spiritual 
needs of the little Silver Creek mission for sixteen 
years, both coming from Angola. Father Burke, pastor 
of the Angola church, then attended the mission until 



346 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



1906, when it was formed a mission of the Italian parish 
of Farnham, Rev. Dr. Hennessy, pastor. In 1908 Rev. 
Joseph F. Jacobs was assigned to Silver Creek as the 
first resident pastor, he also taking charge of the mission 
at Forestville. On March 2, 1909, the parish was in- 
corporated as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Roman Catholic 
Church Society of Silver Creek, New York. In 1910 a 
parochial residence was erected and the frame church 
enlarged. Rev. Edmund J. O'Connor, the present pas- 
tor (1920), was appointed by Bishop Colton, May 5, 
1912, he having for five previous years served as as- 
sistant to Rev. James F. McGloin at the chapel. 

St. Mary's, Dunkirk— Dunkirk was incorporated as 
a village in 1837, but there were no Catholic inhabitants 
until about ten years later. In the early forties two 
or three Catholic families settled in the neighborhood 
of Dunkirk, Rev. Thomas McEvoy was the first priest 
to visit them, and he probably said Mass in one of the 
farmer's homes at Pomfret. Bishop Timon visited 
Dunkirk in 1848, and he remarked that he "never knew 
a place where the devil made such headway." At that 
time there was no place for him to hold Divine service, 
and he proceeded to Fredonia, where he said Mass in 
the home of a Catholic family. 

The building of the railroad and the prospects of 
the lake trade brought many Catholic settlers to Dun- 
kirk. Father Carraher came in the fall of 1850 and 
remained some weeks, then Father Lannon came and 
purchased property at the corner of Second and Ronins 
streets, on which there were two old frame buildings, 
the larger of which he converted into a chapel. Fath- 
ers Fitzsimmons and Mallon also attended Dunkirk a 
few times before the advent of Father Colgan. The 
Rev. Peter Colgan was appointed pastor in 1851, and he 
immediately enlarged the little frame building to suit the 
wants of his growing congregation. In August, 1851, 
he purchased the site of the present cemetery, which 
was consecrated by Bishop Timon in the following 
year. 

Father Colgan purchased the present site of St. 
Mary's Church and began its erection in 1852, though 
the cornerstone was not laid until July 24, 1853. The 
Holy Sacrifice was offered for the first time on the 
feast of St. Patrick, 1854. The church was solemnly 
dedicated November 12, 1854, by Rt. Rev. Joshua Young, 
Bishop of Erie. The original cost of construction was 
about $9,000. The first Passionist pastor of St. Mary's 
was Rev. Father Albinus, who took charge in i860. 
Bishop Timon laid the corner-stone of the monastery 
adjoining the church in 1861, this being the second 
monastery built by the Passionists in this country. 
Father Albinus, Father Anthony, Father Stanislaus and 
Brother Lawrence were the pioneers of the Passionists 
Order in America, founding the first monastery at Pitts- 
burgh in 1853. Other foundations of the order now 
exist in West Hoboken, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Louis- 
ville, St. Louis, St. Paul, Kansas, and Scranton, Penn- 
sylvania. 

In 1873 St. Mary's Church was remodeled and as- 
sumed its present form. For this purpose an outlay of 
$16,000 was made. The Right Rev. Stephen Ryan re- 
dedicated the church the same year. Columbus Hall 
was completed during the administration of Rev. Father 
Guido; it cost $25,000. Until 1903, the first floor was 
used for the parochial school; in that year improve- 
ments were begun with the view of devoting the entire 
building to school purposes. Columbus Hall, now St. 
Mary's Academy, is affiliated with the Regents Uni- 
versity of the State of New York, the only Catholic 
school in the district so affiliated. 

The following have been pastors of St. Mary's 



Church: Very Rev. Father John Baudinelli, Fathers 
Guido Matassi, Martin Meagher, Basil Keating, Al- 
phonsus Rossiter, Stephen Kealy, Felix Ward, Albert 
Phelan, and Mark Moslein, all of the Passionist Order. 
Since Father Moslein, the pastors of St. Mary's have 
been : Rev. Francis Rossiter ; Rev. Basil Malone, born, 
lived and died in Dunkirk ; Rev. Linus Monahan ; Very 
Rev. Clement Lee, the last to hold the dual office of 
pastor of St. Mary's and rector of the monastery; Rev. 
Oswin McGibbin ; Rev. Coleman Burns, who retired in 
August, 1917, to become rector of a Boston monastery; 
Rev. Casper Hartmann, who continued an assistant after 
six months service as pastor and died in office ; Rev. 
Chrysostom Smith, the present pastor (August 15, 1920). 

After Very Rev. Clement Lee, the monastery and 
parish were separated so far as having a common 
pastor and rector. Very Rev. Herbert McDevitt was 
rector of the monastery 1914-17, and from 1917-1920 
Father Clement Lee was again rector, his term just 
expiring. 

In September, 1920, Holy Cross College on the Lake 
road, Dunkirk, was opened for students under the direc- 
tion of the Passionist Order. Here also is the prepara- 
tory college exclusively for young men desiring to 
affiliate with the Order. 

A school for the Catholic children of Dunkirk was 
established in 1854, and still continues the good work 
begun more than half a century ago. A lyceum was 
established in 1891 by the enterprising Catholics of this 
parish as a club room for men, which became the liter- 
ary and social center for the Catholics of the city. 

Church of St. James Major, Westfield— Rev. Peter 
Colgan who took charge of St. Mary's, Dunkirk, April 
24, 1851, visited Westfield at times and said Mass in the 
homes of Catholic families. About the year 1858 he 
built the church in Westfield, dedicated to St. James 
Major, and said Mass there as often as possible. The 
Passionist Fathers came to Dunkirk, February 10, i860, 
and in 1865 Bishop Timon placed them in charge of 
St. James Major parish, which they attended from 
Dunkirk until 1871. Among the priests who have cared 
for Westfield during these years, 1859-1920, were: Rev. 
Andrew McGurgan, C. P.; Rev. Basil Keating, C. P.; 
Rev. John B. Bandinell, C. P. ; Rev. Angelo Sugero, C. 
P.; Rev. Guido Matassi, C. P.; Rev. Daniel Rimmels, 
C. P.; Rev. Thomas O'Connor, C. P.; Rev. Hugh K. 
Barr, C. P. 

On June 20, 1871, the Passionists gave up Westfield, 
and Bishop Timon appointed as the first resident pas- 
tor Rev. Thomas P. Brougham, who remained in charge 
until October, 1872. During his pastorate he attended 
missions at Brocton, Ripley, French Creek, Sherman 
and Mayville. From 1872 until 1882 the pastors of 
Westfield church and missions were : Rev. M. O'Dwyer, 
Rev. Martin Bryne, Rev. D. F. Lasher, Rev. P. N. 
O'Brian, Rev. Thomas Nedwith, and Rev. J. C. O'Reilly. 
Rev. Nicholas A. Gibbons, brother of the present Bishop 
of Albany, was pastor 1882-84; Rev. James J. Leddy 
(now pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Lock- 
port, New York) from 1884-87; Rev. John Lafferty 
came in 1887 ; Rev. James P. Lasher, 1890-93 ; Rev. 
Frank Meyer, 1893-97; Rev. Martin Corbett, 1897-1912; 
Rev. Michael Moynihan, October, 1912-November, 1917; 
Rev. Francis Clancy, November, 1917, until the present 
(October 1, 1920). 

Father Clancy has under his care in the parish and 
in the two present missions, Brocton and Ripley, 1,350 
souls. French Creek, Sherman, Clymer and Mayville 
were taken from Westfield and united to Lakewood in 
1912. The present church was built in 1915 by Father 
Moynihan after its predecessor had been destroyed bv 






RELIGION AND RELIGIONS 



347 



fire. The corner-stone was laid in the presence of a 
large gathering of the clergy and laity by Mgr. N. 
H. Baker, LL.D., builder of Father Baker's famed in- 
stitutions for children, at Lackawanna City, then ad- 
ministrator of the Diocese of Buffalo. Figure stained 
windows of artistic and beautiful design were installed 
in 1920, and the church moreover embellished in the 
same year by a beautiful altar railing and otherwise 
improved. 

Sacred Heart, Dunkirk — The German Catholics of 
Dunkirk attended St. Mary's Church until they had 
grown sufficiently in numbers to require the services 
of a priest of their own nationality. The parish was 
organized in 1857, and the following year a little church 
was built under the direction of Father D. Geimer, who 
occasionally visited the little congregation. Father 
Geimer came during 1858-59, when Rev. J. N. Arent suc- 
ceeded him in his own parish, and came occasionally 
to say Mass for the little congregation at Dunkirk. The 
Rev. A. Pfeifer, a Franciscan, came a few times in 
1861-62. The parish was then handed over to the 
Passionists, who had charge of the little congregation 
from 1863 to 1874. A school was opened here in 1865 
by the Passionist Fathers, and was taught by a lay 
member of the congregation until 1873, when the Sis- 
ters of St. Joseph assumed charge of the school. 

The first resident pastor of the church came in 1874 
in the person of Father Ferdinand Kolb. Father Kolb 
began the erection of a larger and more substantial 
church building in 1876, that was completed and dedi- 
cated November 18 of the following year. Father 
Kolb remained there ten years, when he was succeeded 
by Rev. A. Frey, 1884-1891, who built a parochial 
residence and school building. Father Frey remained 
until 1891, when he was succeeded by Rev. F. N. Sester, 
who continued here until his death in 1896. Father 
Sester was succeeded by Rev. Joseph M. Thies, who 
served the parish until May, 1914, and died the follow- 
ing August. Rev. Henry Laudenbach was pastor until 
January, 1917, when he was succeeded by the present 
pastor, Rev. Joseph Lensmeier. Sacred Heart is a 
parish of eight hundred souls, the two hundred chil- 
dren of the parochial school being under the instruction 
of five sisters who are their teachers. 

St. Hyacinth's Polish — In 1874-75 the large number 
! of Catholics of Polish nationality settled in Dunkirk 
warranted the forming of a separate parish for their 
benefit, there being at that time but one Polish Catholic 
church in the diocese — St. Stanislaus in Buffalo. The 
Rev. Charles Lane, O. S. B., being commissioned by the 
Bishop to organize a new congregation, erected a little 
building in 1875 which served as a church. Father 
Lane remained until 1879, when he was succeeded by 
Rev. E. Bratkiewicz, who remained one year, being 
followed by Rev. J. Schneider, who remained a few 
months. He was followed by Father Klawiter, who 
built the parochial residence and also remodeled the 
church building to accommodate the largely increased 
number of parishioners. Father Klawiter remained until 
1884, when he was succeeded by Rev. Frank Ciszek, who 
remained two years and was followed by Rev. W. 
Zareczny, who after a pastorate of one year was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. P. Pawlar. Father Pawlar remained 
J two years, when Father Klawiter again came as pastor 
for one year. Rev. A. Sulek came in June, 1891, for one 
year, when the Rev. A. Lex was appointed pastor and 
remained until 1896, he being succeeded by the Rev. 
i B. Swinko. Father Lex erected a school building in 
1893. Father Swinko converted the old rectory into a 
convent for the Sisters, and built a new parochial 



residence on a lot adjoining the church property, which 
he purchased for $9,500 and also bought fifteen acres 
of land on the Lake road, which was blessed for ceme- 
tery purposes by Bishop Quigley in 1902. Father Swinko 
remained pastor of this parish until succeeded by Father 
Woycik, and he by Father Chodocki. The present pas- 
tor, Rev. Michael Francis Helminiak, was installed Feb- 
ruary 12, 1917-. This parish is provided with all the 
necessary buildings, and is in a prosperous condition, 
with a fine school. 

St. Hedgewig, Dunkirk— Father Schultz caused St. 
Hedgewig's Church to be erected in 1902 to accommo- 
date the Polish population of the Fourth Ward. The 
present pastor, Rev. Petrus Letocha, came to the parish 
in 191 1, and under his ministration the church has at- 
tained spiritual and material strength. It now numbers 
3,200 souls. The parochial school is divided into seven 
grades, the 436 pupils being taught by eight sisters. 

Holy Trinity — Holy Trinity parish was organized 
for the benefit of the Italian population of Dunkirk in 
1907, and in 1909 the present church edifice was erected. 
Rev. Vincent Fragrometi, the first pastor, was follow- 
ed by Rev. Peter C. Santy, who was pastor until 1917, 
when he was succeeded by Rev. C. H. O'Hara, the pres- 
ent pastor, who has accomplished most successful work 
in raising the parish to a higher material and spiritual 
plane. 

St. Joseph's, Fredonia — Fredonia is one of the young- 
er Catholic congregations in the diocese. Catholics 
did not settle here in any numbers until near the close 
of Bishop Ryan's episcopate. There was no settlement 
in Western New York that had not been visited at some 
time by Bishop Timon during his reign over the 
Diocese of Buffalo. He visited every settlement, wheth- 
er he knew Catholics were there or not; and he held 
services for them, or preached to the Protestants when 
there were few or no Catholics present. He visited 
Fredonia on February 19, 1851, and preached for two 
hours before a large crowd, said Mass the next morning, 
and baptized some converts. There were only two 
Catholic families in the vicinity at that time. He said 
Mass in the home of a family named Wurtz, near the 
village. 

The few Catholics in Fredonia attended Mass in the 
neighboring town of Dunkirk up to the year 1899, when 
steps were taken to organize a parish in the town with 
a resident pastor. The Rev. Thomas F. Clark was ap- 
pointed by Father Connery, who was then administrator 
of the diocese, in September, 1899, to form the Catholics 
of Fredonia and vicinity into a parish. He said the 
first Mass in Maccabees' Hall, September 24, but Mass 
had been celebrated in the previous June by the Passion- 
ist Fathers of Dunkirk. Father Clark rented the 
Women's Christian Temperance Union Hall, which he 
fitted up for services ; and there the little congregation 
worshipped until the new church established under 
the patronage of St. Joseph was ready for services. 
Father Clark bought a fine property on the main street 
of the town, including a brick residence with land 
sufficient for church buildings. The residence was used 
as the priest's house, and on February 8, 1900, the cor- 
ner-stone of a suitable brick church was laid. The 
building was rapidly pushed to completion, and on 
December 9, 1900, was ready for use. Father Clark 
continued as pastor of St. Joseph's until succeeded by 
Rev. Hugh Wright, April 30, 1905. During Father 
Wright's pastorate, St. Joseph's parochial school was 
established, that school now having an attendance of 
fifty pupils under the care of five Sisters of St. Joseph. 
Father Wright was succeeded in July, 1915, by the pres- 



348 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ent pastor (1920) Rev. John E. Mullett. The parish 
contains one hundred and fifty families, communicants 
of St. Joseph's. 

St. Anthony's, Fredonia — The Italian residents of 
Fredonia worshipped with the congregation of St. Jo- 
seph's until their numbers justified the formation of a 
separate parish and the installation of a pastor who 
could preach and minister to them in their own lan- 
guage. In 1905, the parish of St. Anthony was organiz- 
ed, and the same year a brick church was completed. 
The first pastor was Rev. Theophilus Glessa, who was 
succeeded by Rev. John Prosseda. Rev. Ornaldo Vanoli 
was the third pastor, he being succeeded by the present 
pastor, Rev. Louis Zilliani, early in 1920. St. Anthony's 
is a parish of 180 families, and is well organized, having 
six societies, one exclusively for men and five for 



St. Matthias, French Creek— French Creek parish 
owes its origin to a little settlement of Catholics of 
Irish nationality found in that section by Father Colgan 
in the early 6o's. For a number of years they were at- 
tended by' the Passionist Fathers from Dunkirk, the 
territory in which French Creek was situated, also em- 
bracing' Westfield, Brocton, Mayville, and Sherman. In 
1S68 a church was built at Sherman, but the attending 
priests still came from Dunkirk. About 1870 the West- 
fiel I Mission was founded, and French Creek was 
made a part of it. In the fall of 1873 the French Creek 
church was built, but remained attached to Westfield 
until 1912, when the latter mission was divided and 
French Creek put under the care of Father Harrigan 
of Sacred Heart Church, Lakewood. Father Harrigan 
attended French Creek until July 20, 1914, when the 
Rev. John A. Marencovick was appointed to the parish 
of French Creek as its first resident rector. The parish 
included French Creek, Sherman, Clymer and Mina. 

On February 17, 1915, a certificate of incorporation 
was issued to St. Matthias Roman Catholic Society of 
French Creek. The parish with its neighboring missions 
now numbers about 270 souls, under the pastoral care 
of Rev. Aloysius P. Sander, who was appointed May 
6 and began his rectorship May 8, 1920. 

Sts. Peter and Paul, Jamestown— Prior to 1874 the 
now parish of Saints Peter and Paul was a part of a 
great parish embracing a large extent of territory ex- 
tending sixty miles from Steamburg, Randolph and 
South Valley on the east through Jamestown west to 
the State line. At the time of the founding of a 
separate Jamestown parish, there were probably two 
hundred Catholics in the city, Rev. Father Baxter be- 
ing in charge. On June II, 1874, Rev. Richard Coyle 
succeeded Father Baxter and for more than forty years 
he was the loved and honored pastor of the parish of 
Sts. Peter and Paul, that parish soon claiming all his 
time. At the close of Father Coyle's twentieth year 
as pastor the parish numbered sixteen hundred souls. 
The church edifice was twice enlarged, and in 1894 the 
stone church at the corner of Sixth and Cherry streets 
wa> completed. The parish now numbers about 1,900 
souls. Father Coyle died August 25, 1914, and was 
succeeded by Rev. Luke F. Sharkey, who was in charge 
until November 19, 1917, when the present pastor, Rev. 
David J. Ryan, came to the church, its third pastor dur- 
ing a lifetime of now forty-six years. 

A parochial school was organized in 1888, the build- 
ing being located at the corner of Fulton and Fifth 
streets. In 1905 a building was erected at the corner 
of Fulton and Fifth streets, where students are prepared 



to enter the city junior high school class. The school 
has about 300 pupils taught by eight Sisters of Mercy, 
the convent building adjoining the school. 

St. Rose of Lima, Forestville — The few Catholics in 
Forestville were attended by the Passionist Fathers 
from Dunkirk until 1908, when Rev. Joseph F. Jacobs, 
first resident pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish, 
Silver Creek, received charge of the Mission St. Rose of 
Lima at Forestville. Later the charge was given over 
to the Dayton church, and forms a church of the 
Dayton, Perrysburg, Forestville circuit, now in charge 
of Rev. Joseph Maguire, of Dayton, who visits the 
Missions at stated intervals. The Mission owns a small 
but appropriate church in the village of Forestville, near 
the centre. 

St. James, Jamestown — In 1910, St. James' parish 
was formed for the benefit of the Italian Catholics of 
Jamestown, the upper story of the present rectory being 
used as a church. Rev. James Carra, the first pastor, 
at once began building plans and on September 27, 
1914, the corner-stone of the present brick church was 
laid in the presence of the Apostolic Delegate, Rev. John 
Donzano, and Bishop Colton of Buffalo. The church 
was dedicated May 2, 1915. The parish numbers over 
4,000 souls, its numbers having doubled during the ten 
years of Father Carra's pastorate. The first floor of 
the church is devoted to school purposes, three hundred 
pupils being instructed from kindergarten to the eighth 
grade by six Sisters of Mercy, the convent adjoining 
the church. 

Our Lady of Loretto, Falconer — This parish was 
organized in 1912 as a mission by Rev. James Carra, 
pastor of St. James' Church, Jamestown. A church 
was erected in 1919, and the parish now numbers about 
800 souls, chiefly of Italian birth or parentage. Rev. 
Peter Lozza is pastor. 

Sacred Heart, Lakewood — In 191 1, Rev. David Moun- 
tin, a missionary father sent by Rt. Rev. Bishop Colton, 
bought a church property in Lakewood, formerly owned 
by a Protestant congregation. On May 26, 1912, Sacred 
Heart Church opened as a parish, Rev. Thomas H. 
Harrigan the first and as yet (1920) the only pastor. 
High Mass was celebrated by Rev. Martin Blake, C. M., 
of Niagara University, and the new parish has since 
attained a flourishing condition. Father Harrigan has 
also attended St. Mary's of Mayville as a Mission, 
that parish being incorporated in September, 1920, and 
building arrangements begun. French Creek, now a 
parish, was also attended as a Mission by Father Har- 
rigan for a time. 

Swedish — The Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant 
of America is represented in the county by two strong 
congregations, both located in Jamestown — the First 
Church, No. 108 Chandler street, and Zion Church, 
on College street. The headquarters of this denomina- 
tion is No. 56 Washington street, Chicago, Illinois. 

Unitarian — There are two churches of the Meadville 
Conference of the Unitarian Church in Chautauqua 
county — the First Unitarian Church of Jamestown, 
Chandler and East Second streets, and Adams Memorial 
Unitarian Church of Dunkirk, both members of the 
American Unitarian Association. 

United Brethren — These people have several churches 
in the county under the fostering care of the Erie 
Conference. These churches are located in Cassadaga, 
Chautauqua, Cherry Creek, Findley Lake, Frewsburg, 
Kiantone, Hartfield ; and two in Jamestown, Grace 
Church and Kidder. 



THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION 



349 



THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION. 



Now that the liquor traffic is outlawed and the Eigh- 
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States the law of the land, temperance workers have 
come into their own, and rejoice in a land freed from 
an iniquitous partnership. New York boasts the first 
temperance society in the world, one formed at Saratoga 
Springs in 1808. Chautauqua county boasts that it gave 
birth to the White Ribbon movement, in Fredonia, 
December 13, 1873, following an address by Dr. Dio 
Lewis at a union meeting of churches. That movement, 
which later encircled the world, gave birth to the Wo- 
man's Christian Temperance Union, and that organiza- 
tion more than any other, secular or religious, is re- 
sponsible for the Eighteenth Amendment. Their cam- 
paign of education bore fruit and inspired workers of 
both sexes until first towns, then counties, then States, 
fell into line for "God and Home and Native Land." 
Then came the consummation of the hopes of all the 
temperance workers of the land — an amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States prohibiting the manu- 
facture and sale of intoxicants. State after State 
legislature ratified the amendment until it became law, 
the Volstead Act then putting the necessary "teeth" in 
the amendment to make it an effective law. 

When the Woman's Temperance Crusade started, the 
liquor traffic was at the height of prosperity and power, 
and they went forth without the shield of law or public 
sentiment, armed only with the power of prayer and the 
justness of their cause. There was but a glimmer of a 
hope that any good would follow, but they gladly fol- 
lowed that glimmer, and their reward was a national 
awakening that brought the full fruition of their hopes 
less than half a century later. On a tombstone in 
Orange, New Jersey, which marks the last resting place 
of a sainted White Ribbon worker, is the inscription 
carved in 1891 : "The liquor traffic will be outlawed, 
blessed is he who helps." Does she know that her 
prophecy has come true? The history of the beginning 
of the Woman's Crusade is taken from an article by 
Martha S. Meade in the "Centennial History of Chau- 
tauqua County" (1902): 

Dr. Dio Lewis, of Boston, was 
Temperance Crusade. He came t 
a popular lecture, Saturday, December 13, 18 
mained at the request of the Good Templs 



■ ion 



to give 

of the 

address was 

ttacking the 



churches on Sunday evening. 

out of the ordinary, and his plan 

liquor traffic unique. He told the women that they 

could solve the problem of ridding the country of 

the saloon. He enthusiastically related the success of 

the women of his native town, who many years before 

had marched in a body to the saloons, prayed and sung. 

and besought the liquor sellers, for the sake of God 

and humanity to quit their deadly business, and had 

finally prevailed. 

Every man and woman in his audience was deeply 
moved with hope, and a growing determination to do 
this one untried thing. Several gentlemen spoke 
strongly in the faith that this plan would work auc- 



i-as in favor of the undertaking. Nearly 
y woman present thus expressed herself. A meet- 
was at once called for consultation, with Dr. Lewis 
aairman. The names of fifty women were secured 
the special work proposed. Mrs. A. L. Benton, 



At least three hundred people 
fast purpose by their attendance ; 
ing meeting. The following appe: 
adopted: 

APPEAL— In the name of Go. 



make our appeal; knowing as we do, that the sale of 
intoxicating liquors is the parent of every misery, 
prolific of all woe in this life and in the next, potent 
alone in evil, blighting every fair hope, desolating fam- 
ilies, the chief incentive to crime we, the mothers, 
wives and daughters, representing the moral and re- 
ligious sentiment of our households from the tempta- 
tion of strong drink, from acquiring an appetite for 
it, and to rescue if possible, those that have already 
acquired it, earnestly request that you will pledge 
yourselves to cease the traffic here in these drinks, 
forthwith and forever. We will also add the hope 
that you will abolish your gaming tables. 

After many prayers and exhortations, the women 
withdrew to the basement, to plan the march. The 
men arranged prayer meetings for every night of the 
week, and twenty-three of them demonstrated their in- 
terest and faith, by subscribing the necessary percent- 
age of J1.000 each, for sustaining the movement. 

About half-past twelve o'clock, December 15th, a 
procession of one hundred women came forth from 
the Baptist church, Mrs. Judge Barker and Mrs. Rev. 
Lester Williams at the head. There were in line, 
venerable women, wives of the most respected citizens 
and many young women, gladly following where these 
should lead. This notable band first entered the bar- 
room of one of the hotels. Mrs. Barker at once in- 
formed the proprietors of their mission, and Mrs. 
Wiliams read the formal appeal. A hymn was then 
sung, and Mrs. Mary Ann Tremaine offered a ten- 
der prayer. The owners were then entreated to lead 
in signing their pledge. After some attempts at dis- 
cussion, one of them answered. "If the rest will close 
their places I will mine— I mean the drug stores, too." 
His brother would not assent to that. The women 
asked him to consider the matter, saying they would 
call again. They were told, "We will be pleased to 
see you every day," and the proprietors were bidden a 
polite good afternoon. 

This program was practically carried out at seven 
other places, the same dear woman voicing the prayer, 
each time, that day. The visits were repeated every 
day during the week, the character and numbers of 
the procession remaining almost unchanged. One ho- 
tel closed its bar, and one druggist promised not to 
sell intoxicants to be used as a beverage. The visits 
so annoyed one dealer that he locked the women out. 
One week of this personal work with liquor sellers 
convinced the women that the great liquor system, as 
a business, and a vice, must be attacked at more than 

1 in .Monday, December 21st. they met to form a per- 
manent organization, which was named "The Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union." They pledged them- 
selves to "United and continuous effort to suppress 
the tratiic in intoxicating liquors in our village, until 
this work be accomplished; and that we stand ready 
for united effort upon any renewal of the traffic. We 
will also do what we can to alleviate the woes of 
drunkards' families, and to rescue from drunkenness 
those who are pursuing its ways." There were two 
hundred and seven charter members of the bnion 01 
which Mrs. George Barker was president. 

Two prophetic statements were made in "The Fre- 
donia Censor's" account of the first day's march. 
"Whether this movement succeeds in the immediate 
object sought or not, it has evidently raised a public 
sentiment here, which if not abated, will sooner or 
later end the liquor traffic in our midst. We venture 

to suggest also, that this mov 
ucator of the worn 
tramped a week, tl 
it who will say 'I ha 
me to vote.' " 

Dr. Lewis went f 



vill be a great 
By the time that band 1 
will not be many 
11 the rights I want 



don't 



Fredoni 



Jamestov 



cember 17. under ver; 
same results. 

The Crusaders we: 
church of that town, 
Dr. Danforth leading 
soon effected with M 
A very significant pi< 
plished by Mrs. 
aided by some 



imil 



mdlti 



'. out from the Congregational 
rith Mrs. Milton Bailey and Mrs. 
A permanent organization was 



Judge Hazeltine as president, 
iece of work was speedily accom- 
itor Fenton and Mrs. Judge Cook, 
lemen supporters. All the liquor 
... New Year's Day. 1874. This cre- 
ted quite a sensation, and was the beginning of the 
verthrow of the almost universal custor 
f treating" in public and private, on t 
Dr. Lewis went to Hillsboro, Ohi 
same work ther 



the tov 
holiday, 
laugurated 
December 23rd. From that place 



inity we and date the work spread with great rapidity over 



35o 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



all the country. Hillsboro Is frequently accounted the 
birth place of "The Woman's Crusade." But the facts 
are Indisputable that both Fredonia and Jamestown 
began this temperance war several days earlier than 
Hillsboro. with the same plan of campaign. 

Within fifty days two hundred and fifty saloons 
were closed in the villages and towns of the country. 
Crusading was difficult, trying work, sometimes dan- 
gerous, and criticism abounded. But today, to have 
been a Crusader, is to receive the highest acclaim in 
the largest organization of women in the world. The 
greatest good that came from it all was the arousing 
of women to openly and aggressively oppose them- 
selves to social and legal sin and their determination 
to organize and keep at it, working according to a 
well-defined plan. 

Many Unions quickly sprang up all over New York 
State, and in nine months the New York State Wo- 
man's Christian Temperance Union was organized at 

It was in Chautauqua county also, at the Chautauqua 
Assembly of 1874. that the movement was inaugural. .1 
for a national organization. At a meeting of widelv 
s. -attered members, a committee was appointed to 
issue the "Call" for the organizing convention at 
Cleveland. November 18-19-20. 1874. Eighteen States 
were represented in that gathering held only eleven 
months after the Fredonia crusade. 

Miss Frances Willard, that lovelv woman of pro- 
phetic Insight and matchless executive ability, led the 
work for nineteen years. On Lowell's principle that, 
"In the gain or loss of one race 



the 



ha\ 



equal claim." 



she founded the World's Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union. Eight round-the-world missionaries have 
been sent out with the gospel temperance message 
And though she "rests from her labors, her works do 
follow her" in more than fifty nationalities. The total 
membership of the World's Union is half a million. 

It was not until June 29. 1882. that representatives 
of the local Unions in Chautauqua county met in 
Jamestown to organize a County Union. Mrs. H. L. 
llubh.-ll, of Jamestown, presided, and Mrs. Jos.-phus 
('lark in a short address welcomed the delegates from 
Fredonia. Silver Creek. Sherman, Kennedy and West- 
field. After the adoption of the constitution, Mrs. Es- 
ther McNeil of Fredonia was elected president. Mrs. 
McNeil was a "Crusader," and from 1877 until 1SH5 
was president of Fredonia Union No. 1, then being 
made its honorary president. Even at a great age. 
she always occupied the chair in the absence of the 
president. She died April 20, 1907, aged 95. She at- 
tended most of the national and State conventions, and 
was known everywhere as Mother McNeil, because of 
her connection with the Mother Union from the very 
first, and nineteen loyal Temperance Legions. 

The distinctive work of the Chautauqua County Wo- 
man s ( hristian Temperance Union has been to or- 
ganize in every locality, and to harmonize the educa- 
tional work according to the plans of the National 
1 n ion, as well as to devise means to increase local ef- 
forts for saloon extinction. There are now thirty- 
eight Unions in the county, eight Young Women's o'r- 

From the very first, work among the children has been 
.' .nsidered the most hopeful. There has alwavs been 
some special work done by the Unions along this line 
in organizations now called "Loyal Temperance Le- 
E »2 8 ' > n , wnicn temperance truths are taught from 
both religious and scientific standpoints. 

In order to better enlist young men and young 
women in temperance principles, Silver Creek organ- 
ized a loung Woman's christian Temperance Union, 
as early as 1884. The "Y's." their members the 
wisest of young women, are auxiliary to and co-oper- 
ate with the mother Unions, the "Ws." 

For preventive work, the County Union has a su- 
perintendent of health and heredity, who strives to 
interest the local Unions in studying and teaching the 
lav. 3 of health, in relation to food, drink, dress and 
saltation. Another work of prevention is securing 
the teaching of non-alcoholic medication, as pre- 
sented by eminent physicians and physiologists. 

The evangelistic spirit which began the work has 
always pervaded it. All Union meetings are opened 
with devotional exercises, that the workers may keep 
an. I pr.-a.l the missionary spirit. An evangelistic sil- 
lier atendent plans and conducts gospel temperance 
meetings. Another advocates the solving of the inevit- 
at. e financial problem through "systematic and pro- 
po, inmate giving." A superintendent of Sabbath Ob- 
s.oa m.e urges plans to secure a broad general obed- 

n. .• to the Sabbath laws of God and of man, for re- 
ligious, patriotic and scientific reasons. 



The Social Purity Superintendent specializes effort 
through legislation and education for "A White Life 
for Two." Rescue work is carried on for the erring 
woman by personal work and assistance in sustaining 
the "Rescue Homes" of the State Woman's christian 
Temperance Union in Elmira and Brooklyn. The pris- 
on and jail superintendent is elected to secure the 
giving of the gospel temperance message in the jails. 

During the first year of its organization (1882) the 
Chautauqua County Union began its efforts to assist in 
securing a State law requiring scientific temperance 
instruction in the public schools. The law was passed 
in 1884. Since then its efforts have been toward secur- 
ing the use of truly scientific text books and the en- 
couraging of teachers by placing the best and latest 
helps in their way. 

A department was formed at the first to secure the 
use of unfermented wine bv the churches in celebrat- 
ing the Lord's Supper. Then, fermented wine was in 
general use. Now, nearly all Protestant churches use 
the wine which can tempt no one. 

The Department of Sunday School Work has se- 
cured much systematic temperance teaching in the Sun- 
day school, and the total abstinence pledges of thou- 
" these years. 



The Soldiers' and Sailors' Department sent out 
ibraries. each containing twenty volumes of helpful 
eading. These have been named in honor of lea. ling 
vorkers of the county, and are changed from ship to 
hip until worn out. Hundreds of comfort bags have 
ieen sent to both soldiers and sailors, with the New 
'estament and pledge among the furnishings. Num- 
and leaflets have presented temperance 



berl 

truths to these who serve the nation in hard 
Anti-narcotic teaching, pledging and legislation 






worked for by a superintendent who believes these 
drugs are allies of the drink habit, as well as ruinous 
themselves. The Department of Medical Contests, both 
recitation and essay, pushes a most attractive wav of 
presenting the broad principles of the organization to 



publi. 

The Parlor Meeting superintenden 
tunity for the exercise of the powe 
attract attendance and attention to 



plans an oppor 
of sociability t 
real temperanc 



The 
the fu 



Press Superintendent teaches i 
est permissible use of the press, 
believing it largely true, "A 



preacher and 

man readeth his newspaper, so is he.' 

As the "Fredonia Censor" prophesied, the temperance 
women learned by many hard experiences their need 
of the ballot to reach the legal status of the sa- 
loon. The Franchise Department is worked to convert 
other women, as well as men, not only to the justice of 
giving women the ballot, but also to the mighty power 
for the general good the measure stands for. In co- 
operation witn tne state and national organizations. 
Chautauqua County Union has helped effect State and 
national legislation in favor of the reforms they rep- 
resent. Not all of the work outlined by the County 
Union can be undertaken by the local Unions, but each 
choose a few phases to emphasize. 

The Chautauqua County Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union has stood for the historical facts con- 
cerning the beginning of this woman's temperance 
work, in every possible way. The first banner bore 
the inscription, "Chautauqua, the birth-place of the 
W. C. T. U." The new banner has a good painting 
of the old Baptist church at Fredonia, under which are 
the words: "Crusade Church, Fredonia, New York, 
December 15, 1873." 

About 1892 the organization erected a beautiful 
marble fountain in the corridor of Willard Hall, in the 
Woman's Temple at Chicago, at a cost of more than 
a thousand dollars. All who pass may read upon it: 
'■Chautauqua County, New York, the birth-place of the 
W. C. T. U." 



The entertainment at Jamestown was full and fre 
befitted the occasion. 

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has ac- 
complished its mission. The women, adorned with a 
little white ribbon bow, and supremely desirous of the 
purity which it represents, did not withdraw or falter 
until the righteous forces which, under God. they kept 
working, ostracised recognized alcoholic liquor drink- 
ing and selling, from the social and political life of 
their land. 

The following facts and statistics are taken from the 
Directory of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
of Chautauqua County for the year 1918-1919: 



THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION 



35i 



County Motto: Faith is the Victory. County Flow- 
er: White Chrysanthemums. County Song: "Chau- 
tauqua Land." County Badge: Knot of White Rib- 
bon. County Rally Cry: 

More than 2000 strong we march along. 

Ready to dare and do; 
Chautauqua County must be white — 
Birth-place of the W. C. T. U. 
County Membership — September, 1917, 2070; Septem- 
ber, 1918, 2309. 

Alphabetical list of County Unions: Arkwright. 91 
members; Ashville, 76; Brocton, 90; Busti, 28; Cassa- 
daga, 42; Celoron, 20; Chautauqua, 41; Cherry Creek, 
23; civmer, 10: < 'nnewango Valley. 28: Dewittville, 7; 
Dunkirk. 33; Ebenezer, 2S; Ellington. 21; Falconer. 100; 
F'irestville, 33; Fredonia. 100; Frewsburg;, 106; Gerry, 
50; Hanover Center, 40; Irving, 13; Jamestown Unions: 
Fannv O. Bailev, 408; Swedish Union, 210; Sylvia A. 
Harris, 8; West 'Side, 40; Kennedy, lull; Lakewood, 31; 
Levant, 38; Mavville, 70; Niobe, 80; Panama. 31; Ripley, 
50; Sheridan, 25; Sherman, 16; Silver Creek, 73; Sin- 
clairville. 28; Stockton, 49; Watts Flats, 13. The total 
membership, 2356. 

There are Young People's Unions at Dunkirk, Fal- 
coner, Fredonia, Gerry, Jamestown, Levant and Niobe, 
with a membership of about 100. 

The Loyal Temperance Legion for Boys and Girls 
has legions at Arkwright, Brocton, Celoron, Chau- 
tauqua, Clymer, Conewango Valley, Ebenezer, Fredonia, 
Frewsburg, Gerry, Gerry School, Jamestown, Lakewood, 
Levant, Niobe, Panama, Stockton and Watts Flats. 

Woman's Christian Temperance Union Day is a rec- 
ognized feature of the Chautauqua Institution each sea- 
son, and there are six groupings of towns for the pur- 
pose of holding Day Institutes. The work of the W. 
C. T. U. is highly systematized, and in Chautauqua 
county the following departments have been organized, 



each with its own superintendent and plan of work: 
Americanization, Anti-Narcotics, Citizenship, Evangelis- 
tic, Flower Mission and Relief Work, Health and 
Heredity, Household Thrift, Humane Education, Medi- 
cal Temperance, Medal Contests, Mothers Meetings, 
Prison and Reform, Press Work, Purity in Literature 
and Art, Rescue Work for Girls, Sabbath Observance, 
Sabbath School Work, Scientific Temperance Instruc- 
tion, Social Meetings and Red Letter Days, Soldiers 
and Sailors, Temperance Literature, Temperance and 
Labor, Temperance and Missions. 

Eight presidents have served the county union during 
its lifetime, 1882-1920: Mrs. Esther McNeil, Fredonia, 
1882-83; Mrs. Milton Bailey, Jamestown, 1883-84; Mrs. 
Esther McNeil, Fredonia, 1884-85; Mrs. R. W. Scott, 
Ripley, 1885-86; Mrs. Silas W. Mason, Westfield, 1S86- 
90; Mrs. Martha S. Mead, Jamestown, 1890-95; Mrs. 
Ursula Babcock, Silver Creek, 1895-1900; Mrs. Martha 
S. Mead, Jamestown, 1900-04; Mrs. Flora H. Sterling, 
Silver Creek, 1904-15; Mrs. Katherine M. Warner, 
Niobe, 1915-20. 

At the Thirty-seventh Annual Convention of the 
county organization held in Frewsburg, September 30, 
1920, the following officers were elected: Mrs. Katherine 
M. Warner, of Niobe, president; first vice-president, 
Mrs. Lizzie M. Perkins, Gerry; second vice-president, 
Mrs. Emma M. Rickenbrode, Ripley; third vice-presi- 
dent, Mrs. Nellie Londquist, Sheridan; corresponding 
secretary. Miss Kathryn Hill, Panama ; recording secre- 
tary, Mrs. Daisy Stowell, Mayville ; treasurer, Mrs. 
Anna L. Wilbur, Jamestown; Y. P. B. secretary, Miss 
Mneatha Cowden, Gerry; L. T. L. secretary, Mrs. A. 
May E. Walters, Jamestown. 



THE POLITICAL EQUALITY MOVEMENT. 



Early in 1914 a representative, Miss Jane Pincus, of 
the Woman's Political Union, an independent organiza- 
tion, came to Jamestown, opened headquarters, and pro- 
ceeded to work, as she stated, "on virgin soil." Miss 
Pincus being much younger than most of the suffragists 
here, probably did not know otherwise. She was a pleas- 
ing, vigorous young woman, and spoke before many 
societies and organizations. 

Chautauqua county, noted for its broad-minded liberal 
men and women and as the birthplace of several pro- 
gressive movements, further prides herself upon the 
fact that Chautauqua was the first county in New York 
State to organize a County Political Equality Club, with 
the various local clubs of the county as auxiliaries. 

While individual women throughout the county were 
believers in the principle of political equality, special 
interest in the movement was not awakened until Mrs. 
Lillie Devereaux Blake, president of the New York State 
Woman Suffrage Association, gave an address in the 
Opera House, Jamestown, on July 24, 1885. She urged 
organization at that time of a local club, but it was not 
until November, 1887, when Mary Seymour Howell 
addressed an assemblage at Institute Hall, Jamestown, 
that the women decided to organize. The following 
day Mrs. Howell met the women interested at the 
home of Mrs. Daniel Griswold, and there helped to 
organize the first Political Equality Club in the county, 
with thirteen members. Mrs. D. H. Grandin was made 
president ; Mrs. R. N. Thompson, secretary ; Mrs. C. W. 
Scofield, treasurer. The membership rapidly increased, 



NOTE — This account is compiled from the writings 
of Mrs. Elenora M. Babcock of Dunkirk and Mrs. Mar- 
tha Fuller Prather of Jamestown, two ladies grown 
white in the suffrage cause. 



and the large club soon aroused the interest of women in 
neighboring towns and villages, and the following year 
clubs were organized in Kennedy, Kiantone, Frewsburg, 
Lily Dale, Ellington, Sinclairville and South Stockton 
through the efforts of the Jamestown Club. They were 
soon followed by nearly every town in the county. The 
clubs formed during 1888 were: Kennedy and May- 
ville, in July; Frewsburg, Ellington and Fredonia, in 
August; Sinclairville and South Stockton, in October; 
Gerry, Westfield, Harmony and Kiantone, in November. 

On August 16, 1888, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and 
Susan B. Anthony, renowned pioneers of equal suffrage, 
addressed afternoon and evening meetings in Allen's 
Opera House, Jamestown. There was present in the 
large audience Kate Stoneman, a native of Busti, the 
first woman lawyer to be admitted to the bar in New 
York State. 

So great was the interest manifested throughout the 
county that a call for the purpose of organizing a West- 
ern New York Political Equality Club was sent out by 
the Jamestown Club. In response, delegates assembled 
in Jamestown, October 31, 1888. from Jamestown, Car- 
roll, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Ellery, Gerry, Harmony, 
Kiantone, Kennedy, Mayville, Stockton, Sinclairville, 
Randolph, Pomona Grange and Ross Grange. Before 
the meeting was called to order by Mrs. D. H. Grandin 
it was decided by those in charge to organize a county 
club, instead of a Western New York Club. 

Mrs. Martha R. Almy, of Mayville, was made chair- 
man, and the Political Equality Club of Chautauqua 
County sprang into being with these officers: Mrs. 
Martha T. Henderson of Jamestown, president; Mrs. 
Anna C. Shaw, of Kennedy, corresponding secretary; 
Mrs. Kate S. Thompson, of Jamestown, recording sec- 



352 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



retary; Mrs. Lois B. Lott, Mayville, treasurer; execu- 
tive committee — Miss Jane Colburn, Fredonia ; Mrs. L. 
McAllister, Sinclairville ; Mrs. Mary T. Hiller, Frews- 
burg. This the first county organization for Woman 
Suffrage in the State was accomplished in the afternoon, 
and in the evening a meeting was held presided over 
by the new president, Mrs. Henderson. C. R. Lock- 
wood, of Jamestown, and Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell, 
of Albany, were the principal speakers. 

A semi-annual meeting of the Club was held in 
Sinclairville, February 20, 1889, when the organization 
was perfected. 

On June 30, 1889, a convention and picnic was held 
in the church at Eemus Point ; addresses were made by 
C. R. Lockwood, Rev. Henry Frank and Miss Kate O. 
Peale. 

On the 4th of July Mrs. Marion T. Skidmore arranged 
for a celebration at Lily Dale, and invited all the clubs 
in the county. A fine program was carried out, consist- 
ing of music, the reading of the Declaration of In- 
doi endence by Josh Ramsdell, and addresses by Rev. 
Henry Frank, of Jamestown, Mrs. R. S. Lily, Miss 
Kate O. Peate and Mrs. Hannah B. Stearns. 

The second annual convention was held in Temperance 
Hall, Fredonia, in the afternoon, and Normal Chapel in 
the evening, October 31, 1889, twenty-seven delegates 
being present from Mayville, Sinclairville, Dewittville, 
Cassadaga, Jamestown, Carroll, Kennedy, Kiantone, Lily 
Dale, South Stockton, Ellington, Frewsburg, Fredonia 
and Bemus Point. Cherry Creek did not send delegates, 
but reported by letter. Mrs. Martha T. Henderson was 
re-elected president. Rev. Anna H. Shaw spoke in the 
evening. 

The semi-annual meeting was held in Jamestown 
with representatives from fourteen clubs, Dunkirk hav- 
ing organized since the last annual convention. The G. 
A. R. kindly donated their hall for the occasion. In the 
evening a public meeting was held in the Opera House, 
which was addressed by Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace of 
Indiana. Dr. J. E. Almy also made a short speech. 

This year was one of unusual activity among the 
women of Jamestown, who determined that they should 
be represented by two women on the school board. Both 
the "Journal" and "Sun" expressed their disapproval of 
the proposed effort to make any change in the Board of 
Education, saying that they should let well enough 
alone. The "Morning News," however, edited by Benja- 
min S. Dean, advocated the election of the women. The 
Political Equality Club worked with a will and elected 
both their candidates — Mrs. N. R. Thompson and Mrs. 
Daniel Griswold — both highly accomplished women, well 
qualified for the positions. During the year 1889, Mrs. 
E. R. Clarke edited a magazine called "Equality." Fine- 
ly edited, and published by Archie McLean, of Sinclair- 
ville, it was not well supported, and passed out of ex- 
istence. During the years 1890-1894 a strong effort was 
made by the women of Dunkirk to secure the election 
of women on the school board of that city, but with- 
out success. 

The third annual convention was held in Dunkirk, 
October 31 and November 1, 1890, this being the first 
meeting ever held in the Woman's Union building. 
Mrs. Elnora M. Babcock was elected president: Miss 
Lotta G. Cheney, Jamestown, recording secretary ; Mrs. 
C. C. Parker, Dunkirk, corresponding secretary; Mrs. 
Lois M. Lott, Mayville, treasurer; Mrs. E. R. Clarke, 
South Stockton, chairman of executive committee; and 
Martha T. Henderson, chairman of Chautauqua com- 
mittee. 

In the summer of 1890 the desirability of having 



an address upon woman suffrage from the Chautauqua 
platform was suggested, and Mrs. Henderson, then 
president of the County Club, began a correspondence 
with the Chautauqua management, which resulted in the 
request being granted. The following year witnessed 
a large attendance at Chautauqua from clubs all over 
the county, over one hundred driving to Chautauqua 
from Lily Dale. Elnora M. Babcock, president of the 
county organization, presided. Bishop Vincent wel- 
comed the clubs in a happy manner. The speakers of 
the day were Susan B. Anthony, Zerelda G. Wallace, 
Rev. Anna H. Shaw and Kate O. Peate. A song en- 
titled "Welcome Wyoming," written by Amanda T. 
Cheney, of Poland Center, was sung. Frances Willard, 
in writing Susan B. Anthony from the Assembly 
Grounds a few days later, said : "Dearest Susan, I could 
sing hallelujah over you and our Anna Shaw and 
'Deborah' Wallace! It was the best and biggest day 
Chautauqua ever saw." From that day to the present, 
Political Equality Day has been on the Chautauqua 
program. Some of the ablest speakers in the country 
have been heard there upon this question. Among them 
may be mentioned Susan B. Anthonv, Carrie Chapman 
Catt, Rev. Anna H. Shaw, Zerelda G. Wallace, Rev. 
Ida C. Hultin, Henry B. Blackwell, Rev. Annis Ford 
Eastman. Alice Freeman Palmer, Rev. C. C. Albertson, 
Kate O. Peate and others. It would be difficult to esti- 
mate the amount of sentiment that has been made for 
woman suffrage at this famous educational institution. 

On August 8-9, 1892, the management at Chautauqua 
arranged for addresses upon the pro and con of woman 
suffrage by Rev. Anna H. Shaw and Dr. J. T. Buckley 
respectively. Each address was prepared upon the 
merits of the question, irrespective of what the other 
might say. The enthusiasm that followed the address 
of Miss Shaw and the absence of the same at the close 
of Dr. Buckley's address, told plainly on which side 
the audience stood. 

The same year that the Chautauqua management in- 
corporated woman suffrage as one of the subjects to be 
discussed from their platform, the management at Cas- 
sadaga Camp set apart a whole day for the discussion 
of the same subject. In describing this day in her 
biography Miss Anthony says : "People came from 
far and near. Fully three thousand were assembled in 
that beautiful amphitheatre decorated with the yellow 
and the red, white and blue. There, hanging by itself, 
was our national flag, ten by fourteen feet, with its 
regulation red and white stripes, and in the center of 
its blue corner just one great golden star. Wyoming, 
blazing out all alone. Every cottage in the camp was 
festooned with yellow, and when at night the Chinese 
lanterns on the piazzas were lighted, Lily Dale was 
as gorgeous as any Fourth of July, all in honor of 
Woman's Day and her coming freedom and equality." 
They, too, have had the best speakers to be found and 
Woman's Day has become a fixture upon their program. 
Among the speakers at Lily Dale on Woman's Day have 
been Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Rev. 
Anna H. Shaw, Rev. Ida C. Hultin, Mary Seymour 
Howell, Kate O. Peate, Clara B. Colby, Isabella Beecher 
Hooker, Jean Brooks Greenleaf, Mary Ellen Lease, 
Gail Laughlin and many others from their regular pro- 
gram speakers. 

These courtesies on the part of the management of 
both these summer assemblies were the direct result 
of the Political Equality movement in Chautauqua 
county. 

At Lily Dale it was directly through the efforts of 
Mrs. Marion T. Skidmore, that staunch advocate and 



THE POLITICAL EQUALITY MOVEMENT 



353 



supporter of woman suffrage, that a permanent place 
was made for woman suffrage on the Cassadaga Camp 
program. 

The third annual convention was held in Sinclair- 
ville, October 8-9, 1891, delegates being present from 
twenty clubs, and a membership of one thousand re- 
ported. Elnora M. Babcock was unanimously re-elected 
president. It was voted at this convention to become 
auxiliary to the State Suffrage Association. For sev- 
eral years Chautauqua county was the largest club in 
the United States, and when it united with the State 
organization it infused new life and energy into that 
body. _ 

During the year 1891 the executive committee of the 
Chautauqua County Club made a strong effort to secure 
the passage of a bill giving women the right to vote 
for County School Commissioners. This bill was 
drawn up by Dr. J. T. Williams, of Dunkirk, at the re- 
quest of the county president. Senator Vedder in- 
troduced it in the Senate and succeeded in passing it 
with a good majority. Hon. W. C. Gifford, then mem- 
ber of the Assembly from Jamestown, worked faith- 
fully for its passage in the House, but owing to the 
rush of business, together with a party wrangle, the bill 
did not come to a vote that year. The following year, 
1892, however, it became a law through the efforts of 
Hon. W. C. Gifford in the House, and Hon. J. T. 
Edwards in the Senate. 

The following year, 1893, the County Club put in the 
field Mrs. Martha R. Almy, of Jamestown, as their 
candidate for county school commissioner in the Third 
Commissioner District. An effort was made to secure 
the endorsement of their candidate by the various po- 
litical parties, but without avail, except by the Prohibi- 
tion party. Mrs. Babcock, of Dunkirk, and Mrs. B. B. 
Lord, of Sinclairville, appeared before the Democratic 
County Convention in behalf of their candidate. While 
there was a strong feeling among some of the delegates 
in favor of endorsing the women's candidate, the ma- 
jority were opposed. This resulted in the defeat of 
Mrs. Almy at the polls. Furthermore, just previous to 
the election three judges in various portions of the State 
had declared the law unconstitutional which frightened 
many women from offering their votes, nevertheless, 
1,875 women voted in the rural districts for county 
school commissioner. Later the Court of Appeals pro- 
nounced the law unconstitutional, and thus ended the 
three years of hard labor for this one little crumb from 
the great political loaf. The inconsistency of not allow- 
ing a person to vote for an office which they can and 
do fill, is clearly manifest to any thinking person. 

The County Club worked for many other bills affect- 
ing women, among which was one providing for the 
representation of women in the Constitutional Conven- 
tion, and also to allow them to vote upon the amended 
constitution when it came before the people. 

Mayville entertained the fifth annual convention of 
the County Political Equality Club, October 13-14, 
1892. Twenty-three clubs sent delegates, and fraternal 
delegates were welcomed from Cattaraugus Political 
Equality Club, from Pomona Grange and Pennsylvania 
State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. Judge Albion W. 
Tourgee welcomed the delegates, Mrs. Elnora M. Bab- 
cock presided, and the meetings were conducted with 
dignity and grace. Mrs. Babcock was re-elected presi- 
dent. 

The sixth annual convention was held at Kennedy, 
October 18, 1893, with fifty-two delegates present. Mrs. 
Babcock positively declining re-election. Mrs. Eveline 
R. Clarke was chosen president ; Mrs. Elnora M. Bab- 
cock, vice-president ; Mrs. Ella C. Barmore, recording 



secretary; Mrs. Hannah D. Love, corresponding secre- 
tary; Mrs. Z. E. Bronson, treasurer. 652 members were 
reported in membership in the county. That year 814 
voted at a school election in Dunkirk, a like proportion 
voting in other towns of the county. 

A semi-annual meeting of the Club was held in Dun- 
kirk, April 5-6, 1894, in connection with a two days' 
mass meeting under the auspices of the State Political 
Equality Association, to arouse interest in the coming 
Constitutional Convention. Over one hundred delegates 
and visitors were entertained by the Dunkirk Club. The 
speakers were Rev. Anna H. Shaw, Mary G. Hay, 
Louis McKinstry and Dr. J. T. Williams. Strenuous 
efforts were made that year to have the word "male" 
stricken from the revised constitution ; 600,000 names 
were secured to a petition asking that that word be 
omitted. The suffrage women of Chautauqua county 
securing 13,993 names to their petition, in addition to 
1,500 secured by the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union. The canvass for these names revealed the fact 
that there were 4,627 women in the county paying taxes 
on $4,618,655 of real estate and on $532,912 personal 
property. At a mass meeting held in Jamestown, March 
20, 1894, speeches were made in favor of the amend- 
ment by Mayor O. F. Price, F. W. Stevens, Rev. L. H. 
Squires, J. L Weeks, F. S. Thorpe, W. C. Lindsey, John 
Woodward, Frank H. Mott and A. C. Pickard, but all 
in vain. The Constitutional Convention refused to sub- 
mit the amendment, totally ignoring the mammoth peti- 
tion secured by the women, the arbitrary vote of ninety- 
seven delegates overruling the expressed wish of 600,000 
petitioners. It is recorded that not only did Chautau- 
qua's delegates — Louis McKinstry, Benjamin S. Dean — 
vote for the amendment, but worked and spoke in be- 
half of the women citizens of their State. 

On September 17-18, 1894, the sixth annual convention 
was held at Lily Dale. The defeat in the convention 
had seemingly disheartened the women, and but twelve 
clubs were represented. The membership fell _ from 
652 to 432. Mrs. Ellen Cheney was elected president ; 
Lotta G. Cheney, recording secretary ; Laura M. Bur- 
gess, corresponding secretary ; Harriet M. Chase, 
treasurer. 

On the evening of October 29, 1894, the first Political 
Equalitv Club of Jamestown tendered a reception in 
G. A. R. Hall to Mr. and Mrs. Louis McKinstry and 
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin S. Dean, in grateful recognition 
of the valiant service rendered by these gentlemen in the 
Constitutional Convention. 

Mrs. A. S. Prather, of Jamestown, made her first ap- 
pearance in arduous physical work for the suffrage 
cause in 1894 in circulating a petition for the amend- 
ment. She writes : 

"Perhaps this is an appropriate time to express the 
gratitude that is and always will be in our hearts for 
the many, many men • • • who unhesitatingly en- 
dorsed resolutions and petitions. • • • We do not 
recall an instance when we could not enter the city 
building at Jamestown and secure the endorsement 
of our resolutions and petition from any and all city 
officers therein. Our representatives in the State 
Legislature with few exceptions were ever ready and 
faithfully championed the cause of woman suffrage. 
Sp.ak.-r S. Frederick Xixon, W. C. Gifford. Judge E. E. 
Woodbury, A. M. Cheney, H. L. Ames never disap- 
pointed our expectations. Fred W. Hyde much in 
Albany during legislative sessions, kept the suffrage 
workers at home well informed on the progress of 
measures pending and rendered valued service." 

The convention of 1895 was held in Jamestown, Octo- 
ber 17-18. Mrs. Ellen Cheney was re-elected president. 
Mrs. Elnora M. Babcock, of Dunkirk, had been called 
the year previous into State work as Superintendent of 



354 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Press Work, and held that office many years. In 1899 
she was appointed National Superintendent of Press 
Work by the National Women's Suffrage Association 
and held that office several years. Mrs. Kate S. Thomp- 
son, of Jamestown, was elected treasurer of the State 
Association in 1895, serving until 1897 and then another 
year as auditor. 

In 1896 the ninth annual meeting was held in Fal- 
coner, October 22, 1896, thirty-four delegates in at- 
tendance, representing eight clubs. The clubs reported 
practically the same number of women voting at school 
elections as in 1895. Mrs. Babcock made an address 
dealing with her success as Superintendent of Press 
Work ; 250 papers, she said, published all material sent 
them, and some papers which had refused to give her 
space, later asked for suffrage literature. Mrs. Ellen 
Cheney was again elected president. Other officers 
•chosen were : Vice-president, Mrs. E. R. Clark ; record- 
ing secretary. Miss Jennie Prescott ; corresponding sec- 
retary, Miss Lydia R. Myers, re-elected; treasurer, Mrs. 
Harriet M. Chase, re-elected. 

Four meetings of the executive committee of the 
club were held during the year 1897, and as in former 
years a great deal of work was done for the cause. 
The tenth annual convention was held in Fredonia, 
October 17, 1897, with twenty-three delegates present. 
Mrs. Babcock suggested a discussion on "What shall 
I do to be saved." Louis McKinstry, always a friend 
to the cause, addressed the club and urged the ladies 
to keep up their work. Reports from the local clubs 
were discouraging, but officers were elected and a pro- 
gram of work for the coming year outlined. Officers 
elected: President, Mrs. Jennie Allen; vice-president, 
Mrs. Ellen Cheney; recording secretary,. Miss Jennie 
Prescott; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Jennie Tucker; 
treasurer, Mrs. Harriet M. Chase, re-elected. 

The annual meeting of 1898 was held at the home of 
Mrs. Elnora M. Babcock, in Dunkirk; fourteen dele- 
gates present. The report of clubs showed a general 
falling off in membership and interest despite the 
earnestness of the ever faithful ones. But plans for 
work were continued, and it was voted that Chautauqua 
county invite the State Suffrage Association to meet 
with them in Dunkirk in 1899. Mrs. Chapman Catt was 
secured as speaker for Woman's Day at Chautauqua. 
Officers elected : President, Mrs. Ellen Cheney ; vice- 
president, Mrs. E. M. Babcock ; recording secretary, 
Miss Jennie Prescott, re-elected ; corresponding secre- 
tary, Airs. Kate S. Thompson; treasurer, Mrs. Martha 
Fuller Prather. 

Jamestown was the scene of the annual meeting of the 
County Political Equality Club in 1899 (October 12-13) 
with twenty-eight delegates, representing 159 members. 
A great deal of aggressive work was planned, and the 
public meetings were full of interest, speeches and 
papers being of a high order. Officers elected: Mrs. 
Ellen Cheney, president, re-elected ; Mrs. Martha T. 
Henderson, vice-president; Miss Grace Strunk, record- 
ing secretary ; Miss Lydia E. Myers, corresponding sec- 
retary ; Mrs. Martha Fuller Prather, treasurer, re- 
elected. 

The New York State Political Equality Association 
met in annual convention in Dunkirk, November 1-4, 
1899, the local club making all preparations possible for 
the reception and entertainment of delegates. The 
sessions were well attended and very interesting, Rev. 
Anna Shaw at one session answering twenty-seven ques- 
tions from the Question Box. Mrs. Mariana Chapman, 
president of the New York City Woman Suffrage 
! ague, said in her address that "Our census of 1890 
showed 56,000 more native born white women in the 



State than native born white men," and that "The 
enfranchisement of women would therefore give a 
larger proportion of native-born voters at the polls — 
voters who have had the advantage of our public 
schools." The Woman Taxpayers bill passed the As- 
sembly at the 1S99-1900 session but failed in the Senate. 
It was again introduced in 1901, Speaker S. Fred Nixon 
supporting the bill in a speech to the Assembly declaring 
it "simple justice" and hoping it would be kept before 
the Legislature until it became a law. The bill became 
a law April 23, iqoi, and was approved by Governor 
Odell. 

The annual convention of the County Club was held at 
Kennedy, October 10-11, 1900, Dunkirk, Fluvanna, Fre- 
donia, Frewsburg, Jamestown, Kennedy and South 
Stockton having delegates present. The report of Mrs. 
Henderson showed that Woman's Day at Chautauqua 
had been duly observed ; the speakers on that day, 
Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Anna Shaw and Carrie Chap- 
man Catt. Routine business was transacted, and the 
following officers elected : President, Mrs. Martha Fuller 
Prather; vice-president, Mrs. Ellen Cheney; recording 
secretary, Mrs. Estella White ; corresponding secretary, 
Miss Lydia E. Myers ; treasurer, Mrs. Rose Waterhouse. 

The convention of 1901 was held in Jamestown, Octo- 
ber 17-18. Good work was reported by all clubs, and 
interesting sessions were held during two days. Officers 
elected: President, Mrs. Agnes Williams; vice-presi- 
dent, Mrs. Ellen Cheney; recording secretary, Estelle 
A. White; corresponding secretary, Miss Eloise M. Ely; 
treasurer, Mrs. Rose Waterhouse. 

On September 25, 1902, at the home of Mrs. Carrie 
Hanson Fluvanna, the fifteenth annual convention of 
the Chautauqua County Political Equality Club was 
called to order by the president, Mrs. Agnes Williams, 
six clubs halving delegates present : Jamestown, Kennedy, 
South Stockton, Fluvanna, Dunkirk and Fredonia. Dur- 
ing the year, two ladies of the club, Mrs. Alice E. 
Bargar and Mrs. Martha Fuller Prather, made a list of 
the women taxpayers of Jamestown, their self-appointed 
task occupying two full days. It was found that one- 
third of the taxpayers were women, and that one-third 
of the taxes were paid by women, exclusive of those 
paid by stock companies, etc. Miss Vida Goldstein, of 
Australia, who came to the United States to attend the 
first International Woman's Suffrage Conference at 
Washington in February, 1902, lectured before an audi- 
ence in Jamestown City Hall May 21, 1902, the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union and the Political Equality 
Club joining in presenting this lecture. 

The officers of the County Club for 1901 were all 
re-elected except two — the corresponding secretary, who 
was succeeded by Mrs. Anna Nichols ; and the treasurer 
by Mrs. M. F. Prather. 

The sixteenth annual session of the County Political 
Equality Club was held in Jamestown, June 13, 1903. 
Rev. Anna H. Shaw and Miss Harriet M. Mills were 
the guests of honor. Miss Shaw conducting the Ques- 
tion Box in her usually able manner at the afternoon 
session, and in the evening delivering a masterly address 
on "Suffrage the Basis of a True Republic." Miss 
Mills, State organizer, gave a stirring address on or- 
ganization. Memorials were read eulogizing fallen com- 
rades by Martha Tiffany Henderson, and words of es- 
teem and appreciation were spoken by Miss Mills and 
others. Mrs. Henderson was the moving spirit in or- 
ganizing the first club for the crystalization of the 
woman suffrage sentiment in Chautauqua county and 
her influence was State wide. Officers elected : Presi- 
dent, Mrs. Martha Fuller Prather; vice-president, Mrs. 
Agnes Williams; recording secretary, Mrs. Mattie 



THE POLITICAL EQUALITY MOVEMENT 



355 



Young; corresponding secretary, Miss Eloise Ely; 
treasurer, Mrs. Marietta Rhodes. 

The seventeenth annual convention of the county 
society was held in Kennedy June 2, 1904, Mrs. Prather 
presiding, with State President Mrs. Ella Hawley Cros- 
sett in attendance. The holding officers were all re- 
elected, Mrs. Prather also being elected a delegate to 
the National Convention to be held in June, 1905, at 
Portland, Oregon. In 1904 she had attended the Wash- 
ington convention as a State delegate. 

The eighteenth convention met at Grange Hall, Chau- 
tauqua, May 17. 1905, reports being received from clubs 
at Fluvanna, Jamestown, Chautauqua, Kennedy and 
South Stockton. The holding officers were again re- 
elected, save the vice-president who was succeeded by 
Ada B. Falley. The meeting was voted a success in 
every particular. 

"Martha's Vineyard," the home of Miss Ophelia 
Griffith, was thrown open for the Nineteenth Annual 
Meeting of the County Society on May 23, 1906. The 
officers of the previous year were re-elected except re- 
cording secretary, Mrs. Adella M. Vought being chosen 
for that office. Mrs. Rena Soule, chairman on school 
suffrage, read a communication from the State chairman 
which showed increased attendance of women at school 
meetings and more interest in suffrage work. Mrs. 
Babcock's paper on the life of Susan B. Anthony was 
read, and on February 12, 1907, a meeting was held 
at the home of Mrs. C. G. Waller, of Jamestown, in 
Miss Anthony's memory. 

May 3, 1907, was the date of the twentieth annual con- 
vention of the County Society, Y. M. C. A. Hall, James- 
town, the place. The officers elected: Mrs. Prather, 
president; Mrs. Mary Saxton, vice-president; Mrs. Mat- 
tie Young, recording secretary ; Mrs. Marietta Rhodes, 
corresponding secretary ; Mrs. E. C. Gifford, treasurer. 
On June 28, 1908, the faithful few who clung to 
principles which originally bound them together, met in 
twenty-first annual convention at Grange Hall, Chau- 
tauqua, and held a very profitable and successful ses- 
sion. Mrs. Prather was again elected president; Mrs. 
Ada B. Falley, vice-president; Mrs. Mattie Young, re- 
cording secretary ; Mrs. Sarah Bentley, corresponding 
secretary; Mrs. Marietta Rhodes, treasurer. 

Grange Hall, Chautauqua, was also the scene of the 
twenty-second annual convention, September 21, 1909. 
The former officers were continued in office except the 
vice-president, Mrs. Falley, who had removed from the 
county. Mrs. Martha Beaujean was chosen her suc- 
cessor. The convention ordered a memorial prepared 
on the death of Mrs. Martha T. Griswold, a much be- 
loved member who had passed to her reward. 

The twenty-third annual convention was held Sep- 
tember 10, 1910, in Y. W. C. A. Hall, Jamestown. Re- 
ports were received from four clubs — Jamestown, Flu- 
vanna, Chautauqua and Westfield. Resolutions of re- 
spect to the memory of Mrs. Carrie E. S. Twing, Mrs. 
Ada B. Falley and Miss Martha Bortel were read. 
Officers elected: Mrs. Prather, president; Mrs. Sey- 
mour, of Westfield, vice-president; Mrs. Mattie Young, 
recording secretary; Mrs. Bertha E. S. Phillips, corre- 
sponding secretary ; Mrs. Marietta Rhodes, treasurer. 

Chautauqua, beautiful in autumn, was again a favorite 
choice for the annual meeting, and again the use of 
Grange Hall was cordially granted for the twenty- 
fourth annual convention. Mrs. Prather, discerning 
gleams that predict a favorable change in the atmos- 
phere for woman suffrage and feeling that the future 
work in the county would be more interesting because 
more hopeful, kept her promise to her family and asked 
for a release from all official positions. She had attended 
every State convention, 1898 to 1910 inclusive, save one; 



had been county president nine terms ; and was fre- 
quently in attendance at national conventions. She was 
made honorary president, as a graceful compliment to 
a faithful untiring worker. Officers elected: Mrs Het- 
tie Sherwm, president; Mrs. Martha Beaujean, vice- 
president; Mrs. Bertha E. S. Phillips, recording secre- 
tary; Mrs. Mattie Young, corresponding secretary; Mrs. 
Marietta Rhodes, treasurer. A memorial service was 
held sacred to the memory of Miss Louise Falley Mrs 
Thompson, of Westfield, and Mrs. Eliza C. Gifford. 

The act of the New York Legislature of 1912 in con- 
sidering a bill, a constitutional amendment extending 
the franchise to women, roused the dormant hope of 
suffragists, and again set in motion campaign prepara- 
tions, but by March 19th it was known that all hope 
for such an amendment was gone for the session. The 
twenty-fifth annual convention of the County Political 
Equality Club was held in the Methodist Church at 
Chautauqua, August 27, 1912. At this meeting the name 
of the organization was changed to Chautauqua Countv 
Woman Suffrage Party. The holding officers were all 
re-elected. 

The twenty-sixth annual convention of the Chau- 
tauqua County Woman Suffrage Party was held at Lily 
Dale, August 12, 1913. Clubs reporting were Chautauqua, 
Cassadaga, Fluvanna, Jamestown, Silver Creek, and Lily 
Dale. Officers elected: President, Mrs. Hettie Sherwin 
(unanimously); vice-president, Mrs. Nellie Erb ; cor- 
responding secretary, Mrs. Edith Cheney; recording 
secretary, Mrs. Myrtle Nelson ; treasurer, Mrs. Marietta 
Rhodes. A special meeting of the executive committee 
was held in Jamestown, November 14, 1913, to consider 
the campaign, a district assembly plan of organization 
recommended by the State Association. This plan, 
which would secure enrollment of all men and women 
over twenty-one, was adopted. Mrs. Hettie B. Sher- 
win was chosen leader of the First Assembly District of 
Chautauqua county; Mrs. Nellie Erb, leader of the 
Second Assembly District. 

The winter of 1913-14 was one of unusual activity in 
preparation for the suffrage campaign expected in 1915. 
A conference of leaders and workers was held in Buf- 
falo, January 1, 1914, Mrs. Hettie Sherwin and several 
other Chautauqua county women attending. The First 
Political Equality Club of Jamestown in February, set 
in motion the proceedings which finally resulted in the 
appointment of Mrs. Margaret F. Jackson as a police 
woman in Jamestown, she beginning her service July 1, 
1914. 

On April 22, 1914, the woman suffrage convention 
was called to order in Eagle Temple, Jamestown, by 
First Assembly District leader, Mrs. Hettie Sherwin, 
twenty-five delegates being present, representing nine 
different towns. Mrs. Myrtle Nelson called attention 
to the election of April 7 on a constitutional amend- 
ment which was carried by less than one-tenth of the 
qualified voters of the State. Mrs. Carrie Chapman 
Catt made the address of the afternoon. Mrs. Shuler. 
chairman of the Eighth District, giving instruction in 
working methods. Leaders elected: Mrs. Hettie Sher- 
win for the First District of Chautauqua (re-election) ; 
Mrs. Nellie Erb, Second District (re-election). A con- 
stitution for county assembly districts was adopted, and 
announcement made that Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt 
would speak at Chautauqua, August 29. It was also 
learned that a club had been organized among the young 
women of the high school in the interest of equal 
suffrage. In August, 1914, the first suffrage street meet- 
ing was held in Jamestown, and was addressed by Miss 
Harriet May Mills, who also spoke in neighboring 
villages. 
The 1915 annual convention of the First and Second 



356 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Assembly Districts of the Chautauqua County Suffrage 
Association was held in Mayville, May 24, Mrs. Hettie 
Sherwin presiding. Reports were made by captains on 
enrollment work, and increasing interest reported. Much 
literature had been distributed, good progress along 
suffrage reported. The election resulted in the choice 
of Mrs. Hettie Sherwin as leader of the First District, 
with Mrs. G. A. Haynes, secretary, Mrs. Marietta 
Rhodes, treasurer. Mrs. Gertrude Nelson Andrews was 
elected leader of the Second District, she to choose a 
secretary and treasurer. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt ad- 
dressed the evening meeting. Many speakers of na- 
tional reputation were here in the county during the 
summer of 1915, preparatory to the battle of the ballots, 
a bill having passed two successive legislatures authoriz- 
ing a State referendum on the suffrage amendment. 
Every nerve was strained, and a gallant fight was made, 
a fight which was won in Chautauqua county by a ma- 
jority of 2,667, a larger majority than any other county 
in the State. The strongest woman suffrage town in the 
county was Ellicott. But the amendment failed in the 
State, and, greatly disheartened, the women prepared for 
another test of strength. 

Early in 1915 a group of young women formed an 
organization known as the Campaign Club, with Miss 
May Gellstrom as chairman. Another group of young 
ladies was formed, called the City Committee, Miss 
Marion Patterson, chairman, and, working in harmony, 
both these groups accomplished a great deal for the 
suffrage cause during the campaign of 1915 and on 
through until the victorious finish in 1917. 

The annual convention of Chautauqua suffragists for 
1916 was held in Jamestown. May 15, 1916, the county 
being well represented. Mrs. Sherwin declining re- 
election, Mrs. Hermes L. Ames was elected leader of 
the First District; first vice-leader, Miss Marion Pat- 
terson ; second vice-leader, Mrs. George L. McClelland ; 
secretary, Mrs. Alfred G. Haynes; treasurer, Mrs. 
Marietta Rhodes, this making Mrs. Rhodes' fourteenth 
year in the treasurer's office. For the Second District, 
Mrs. Joseph Reiger was elected leader; Mrs. Fairchild 
of Silver Creek, first vice-leader; Nella Londquist, sec- 
ond vice-leader; Mrs. E. F. Caflisch, secretary; Mrs. E. 
Jones, treasurer. 

It was the policy of the leaders to keep suffrage con- 
tinually before the people in some form, this being 
State as well as local policy. One of the things ac- 
complished between the convention of 1916 and the end 
of the successful campaign of 1917 was the enrollment 
of nearly 12,000 women favorable to suffrage; monthly 
conferences of all leaders were held; a debate was held 
at Ashville between Lucy Price, an anti, and Dorothy 
Thompson, a suffrage organizer; a local organizer was 
engaged on salary for one year ; many telegrams sent 
to assemblymen asking their vote for resubmission of 
the amendment; a suffrage school was held in James- 
town; every conceivable form of legitimate entertain- 
ment was resorted to to raise funds and spread suffrage 
propaganda ; voters were circularized and new clubs 
formed. Mrs. Gertrude C. Wilcox, the organizer, spoke 
in every township. Mrs. G. A. Haynes, press superin- 
tendent for the county, made the most of her opportuni- 
ties for publicity, and polling lists were copied for 
future use, and everything done to further the cause. 
The military census was taken by the suffrage organiza- 
tion, and they also bore their full share of Red Cross 
work and other war activities. The newspapers of the 
county rendered valuable services, every paper in the 
Second District being favorable to woman suffrage. 

In May, 1917, Miss Marion Patterson was made First 
District leader, with Mrs. Ames as vice-leader. The 
work in the country was largely under Mrs. Ames' 



direction, the city and general rush work being under 
the supervision of Miss Patterson. Mrs. Joseph Rieger, 
of Dunkirk, was chosen leader in the Second District, 
with able assistants as vice-leaders, secretaries and 
treasurers. The petition signed by 1,200 names was sent 
on to New York and appeared in the big parade where 
the million signatures of New York women were car- 
ried through the streets. Helen Todd, of California, 
Helen H. Greeley, of New York, Congressman Helen 
Ring Robinson, of Colorado, Adella Potter, Miss L. 
Rogers, Rose Livingston, of New York, Mrs. Forbes 
Robertson Hale, Carrie Chapman Catt, and many others, 
spoke in the county. Twice during the amendment 
campaign, Rev. Anna Howard Shaw spoke at Lily 
Dale on Woman's Day, and did much with her splendid 
powers of oratory to aid in the final victory; and the 
women of the county, those who had been identified 
with the cause when it was unpopular, and the new 
comers, all labored valiantly, and to mention all those 
worthy of having their names enrolled in the Suffrage 
Hall of Fame would be almost like calling the roll of 
the women of the county. And the public men of the 
county, suffrage husbands and suffrage friends, all 
responded, and at the November polls, 1917, the cause of 
political equality was won, New York State adopting 
the amendment to her own constitution, Chautauqua 
county out of 9,238 votes cast, giving a majority for 
the amendment of 3,583. 

Now that the battle is won and political equality the 
constitutional law of the land, it is but fair to acknowl- 
edge the great help the cause received from the teach- 
ing of the Patrons of Husbandry. The New York 
State Grange as long ago as 1881 adopted a resolution 
in behalf of equal civic rights for men and women, 
and that action was followed every year by similar 
resolutions in State, county and local granges. 

The following letter was received by Mrs. Martha 
Fuller Prather in January, 1919, from Mrs. Kate Cheney, 
first president of the Political Equality Club of Ellery, 
formed June 8, 1889, with seventeen charter members. 
At the time of writing the letter, Mrs. Cheney was 
ninety-two years of age: 

Dear Mrs. Prather, 

For nine years I was president of the Ellery Club. 
Our meetings through these years attended strictly to 
suffrage work. At the Sinclairville meeting when the 
rural clubs voted to join state, I was appointed dele- 
gate to Auburn State convention; went all aloni.-. I 
want to tell you I went to Bemus election day, voted 
the whole Republican ticket. It was no trick at all 
to cast a ballot. 

With much love to you 

Tour friend. 

MRS. KATE CHENEY. 

The foregoing pages show that Chautauqua women 
held their county organization intact from 1887 until 
final victory in 1917, holding thirty annual conven- 
tions, and each year showing some good work performed 
for the suffrage cause. Some clubs faltered and passed 
away, but there were enough clubs that remained in 
the field to keep the county organization in line with the 
State leaders whose every movement was supported by 
these loyal women of Chautauqua who sent duly elected 
delegates to every State convention of the movement. 
Jamestown points with pride to the two women elected 
members of the Board of Education in 1889 and to the 
fact that ever since women have sat as members of that 
board. Jamestown women also secured the presenta- 
tion of the women's suffrage question from the Chau- 
tauqua platform in 1890; the appointment of a police 
matron by Mayor James L. Weeks in 1906 and of a 
police woman in 1914. But all worked and endured and 
the victory was won. 



YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 



357 



THE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 



Young Women's Christian Association, Jamestown 
— Since the day when machine-made garments began 
to replace those made by hand, girls have left their 
homes to live in cities and larger towns, there to engage 
in the manufacture of commodities. The question of 
proper housing and recreation then became a serious 
one in the minds of people concerned with the safety 
and welfare of young women away from home. It was 
out of such social conditions that the great movement 
known as the Young Women's Christian Association 
grew, until today it is the agency looked-up to through- 
out our country as at once the safeguard and the friend 
of girlhood and young womanhood. 

A history of the Young Women's Christian Associa- 
tion of Jamestown would be most incomplete without 
grateful tribute at the beginning to its natural parent, 
the Women's Christian Association, now known as the 
W. C. A. Hospital. In the early days the Y. W. C. A. 
was but a sub-committee of the older organization, 
operating under a president appointed by the W. C. A. 
In October, 1888, it became apparent to the older 
women of the city that something definite must be done 
to provide a center where her many girls in industry 
might find recreation in their leisure hours. At this 
time the Young Women's Committee was appointed, and 
the Chapel of the Hospital became the Center. The 
first activities were classes in Bible, dressmaking, mil- 
linery, cooking and embroidery — also common school 
branches were taught those who had been obliged to 
leave school early in order to go to work; purely 
social nights were conducted once a month, and re- 
ligious services were held on Sunday afternoons. 

Three times during its history, the increased activities 
of the Association have demanded that larger and more 
suitable quarters be secured. On November 3, 1890, 
new rooms were opened on East Third street, in the 
Fenton Block. The work continued as the Young 
Women's Branch of the W. C. A. The increasing re- 
sponsibilities were carried entirely by committees of 
volunteer workers until 1894. It then became apparent 
that much more could be accomplished if a secretary 
could be in constant attendance at the rooms. Miss 
Minnie Fowler, the first general secretary, took up her 
duties in September of that year. Again, in January, 
1897, the growing work crowded the Association out 
into larger accommodations, — this time in the Pren- 
dergast building on Main street. 

The activities of the Young Women's Branch con- 
tinued to increase and the responsibilities of the board 
of managers for the Hospital became heavier with the 
growth of that institution. At the suggestion of the 
Hospital Board, in September of 1905, the Young Wo- 
men's Branch withdrew from that organization which 
had so faithfully watched over its development. The 
younger Association became a charter member of the 
Young Women's Christian Association of the United 
States of America in March, 1906; the articles of in- 
corporation of the Young Women's Christian Associa- 
tion of Jamestown, New York, were filed in March, 
1907, and its constitution adopted. 

The cornerstone of the Association's present delight- 
ful home was laid September 26, 1908, by Mrs. W. C. J. 
Hall, donor of the initial gift of $10,000, which was 
the incentive to build. The splendidly up-to-date build- 
ing which stands at the corner of Main and Fourth 
streets is a monument to the perseverance, consecrated 
service and vision of those brave women who courage- 
ously undertook its erection. It is the outward sign of 
the spirit of friendly helpfulness which it houses. It 



bears constant tribute to the good judgment and taste 
of the building committee who so thoroughly set about 
making this last new home for the Association. With 
keen foresight they provided for the future in a dur- 
able, usable and sufficiently large building to accommo- 
date those phases of the work then being carried on and 
allow for its extension. 

Thoughtfully planned, the attractive lobby with its 
surrounding social rooms and beautiful stairway breathes 
the homelike atmosphere which invites the most timid 
girl to enter and be at home. On the upper floors are 
pleasant club rooms where the self-governing clubs for 
employed girls meet. Here girls from office, factory 
and store carry on their varied programs. There are 
also meeting places for the younger girls still in school ; 
the experience given them in the management of their 
own clubs is valuable training for similar responsibilities 
which they will meet later. The educational work of 
the Association has its center on these upper floors, 
where classes in Bible, practical arts, cooking and other 
subjects are taught. The cafeteria is truly a community 
asset, providing noon meals at a moderate price to 
hundreds of busy employed people. The gymnasium and 
bowling alleys provide physical education, exercise and 
recreation. The commodious auditorium with its beau- 
tiful stage is the scene of many gatherings which con- 
tribute both pleasure and mental profit to Jamestown's 
citizens. Here, too, the girls' dramatic ability frequently 
finds expression in plays and pageants for which special 
training is given them as part of the program. At the 
time of its erection, the building was fourth of its kind 
in the entire State. So wisely was it planned that after 
eleven years of use, save for the absence of a swimming 
pool, it suffers not at all by comparison with buildings 
now being constructed. Hundreds of strangers from 
all parts of the country visit the city each summer, dur- 
ing their stay at Chautauqua. The Association is used 
a great deal by them as a place to rest between trains 
and for other purposes ; their comments of appreciation 
of the service rendered by it and the beauty of the 
building itself, heartily confirm the statements just made 
in this connection. 

For a number of years a summer program has been 
carried on somewhere on Lake Chautauqua, wherever 
a suitable house could be rented. Owing to the gen- 
erosity of the Misses Anna and Mary Crissey, the Asso- 
ciation now has its own summer place. A delightful 
spot right on the Lake front, with two cottages where 
thirty girls may be housed, was presented by these ladies, 
to be used as a permanent summer home. It is sufficient- 
ly near to town that girls employed by day can spend 
their leisure hours by the Lake side, enjoying the 
gorgeous beauties of nature and find refreshment in the 
invigorating breezes of the Lake. The acquisition of 
this fine property supplies the feature necessary to make 
the equipment of the Jamestown Y. W. C. A. quite ideal. 

During its history the Association has had seven presi- 
dents : Miss Lydia J. Kay, Mrs. A. T. Usher. Mrs. Wm. 
H. Proudfit, Mrs. Mary Yates Johnston, Miss Anna 
L. Crissey, Mrs. E. W. Spring, Mrs. R. R. Rogers. 

The nature of this organization is such that a great 
portion of its work can never be set down in any ac- 
count of its accomplishments prepared for public read- 
ing. It deals with that wonderful thing, the woman- 
hood of tomorrow, which is being made by the girlhood 
of today. The foundations of this particular Associa- 
tion were laid on the firm belief in the power of Jesus 
Christ to lead girlhood into the finest type of woman- 
hood. It has sought always to help her to find Him, 



358 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



and, knowing Him, to come into fuller understanding 
and more intimate knowledge of that "abundant life" 
which He proclaimed as His purpose in coming into the 
world. Jane C. Banks, General Secretary. 

Westfield Young Women's Christian Association 
— In 1919 this Association reached its twenty-fifth birth- 
day, having passed a very useful, successful quarter of 
a century of work along the usual Association lines. 
Since 1908 the Association has owned the old Mrs. Har- 
riet Wells residence on South Portage street, that 
building having been the home of the Patterson Library 
for about eleven years, 1897-1908. After the removal to 
the present beautiful Library building, the Association 
bought the former Wells residence, remodeled it to its 
purpose, and have since greatly enlarged and improved 
it. The Association has always been an active force 
for good in village life, and prior to the great World 
War had reached a membership of 300. During the 
war period, 1917-18, the Association surrendered its 
building to the uses of the Red Cross and its peculiar 
lines of war activity, and for two years practically did 
no strictly Association work. This was a splendid 
gift to the Red Cross but the Association suffered a 
severe loss in membership. The Association home is the 
center of all forms of Blue Triangle work among young 
women, and a strong organization of the Girl Reserves 
is maintained. Rooms for transient guests are a feature 
of the work, and Westfield being a railroad center, this 
branch of the work is very important. In connection 
with the Chautauqua County Y. W. C. A. the Westfield 
Association maintains a summer camp on the shores of 
Lake Chautauqua. A Business Girls' Club is another 
successful feature of the Association work. 

Fredonia Young Women's Christian Association — 
This Association was organized in June, 1911, as a 
branch of the County Y. W. C. A., and has had a career 
of great usefulness. Until the present (1920) Fredonia 
has shared the services of a general secretary with 
Westfield, but that arrangement has ceased. 

The first home of the Association was in the old 
stone house at the bridge, but in 1916 the old Fuller 
home was leased and fitted up as headquarters for As- 
sociation work and a general community center. A 
house mother is in charge and hospitality abounds. A 
room for transients is always available and many clubs 
and organizations for girls and young women have 
headquarters there. Business Girls"' Clubs; the Yo No 
Se Club, a younger girls' club; Young Married Wo- 
men's Club, Girl Scouts, are among these clubs. The 
present officers of the Association (1920) are: Mrs. 
Frank Pier, president; Mrs. W. A. Jackson, treasurer; 
Mrs. W. A. Stock, secretary of the board. 



Chautauqua County Young Women's Christian 
Association — This Association had its beginning in 
June, 191 1, when a few devoted women came from 
their homes in the villages of the Chautauqua "grape 
belt," and in meeting at Fredonia formed the Associa- 
tion, elected a board of managers, and pledged them- 
selves to raise the first year's budget. With the funds 
secured, the dream became a reality, and the work was 
begun. The officers elected at that first meeting were : 
Mrs. S. Fred Nixon (now Mrs. A. B. Ottoway), of 
Westfield, president; Mrs. Bruce Wright, Fredonia, 
Mrs. I. A. Wilcox, Portland, vice-presidents ; Miss Sarah 
Leworthy, Westfield, treasurer ; Mrs. F. N. Jewett, Fre- 
donia, secretary. Miss Eloise Phillips was the first 
traveling secretary secured by the Association, and at 
stated intervals she visited all branches of the Asso- 
ciation or organized clubs in the county. 

County headquarters are now established in Westfield, 
Miss Harriet Fuller, general secretary. She has an 
automobile which may be seen in all parts of the 
county, for she keeps in close touch with the Associa- 
tion's large and growing membership and of the many 
girls' clubs which have been formed all over the county. 
Westfield and Fredonia both have flourishing Young 
Women's Christian Associations which are branches of 
the county organization. 

These are some of the high aims of the Association 
and they strive earnestly to attain them, as practical 
results testify: To develop Christian character and 
leadership ; to build up strong local and community 
consciousness; to aid in increasing the power of the 
church ; to supplement the school in more efficient prep- 
aration for home making and country living; to de- 
velop a wholesome recreative and social life; to keep 
the standard of American home life high and to help 
girls in the home. 

Some of the outstanding activities and achievements 
of the Association are: A Summer Camp for girls on 
Chautauqua Lake ; a Rest Room at the County Fair ; 
Field Day for the grade schools of the county ; a per- 
manent Hospitality House at Chautauqua Assembly ; 
Vocational and Leaders' Conferences; Child Welfare 
and Health lectures ; cooperation in the promotion of 
Public Playgrounds and Free Libraries and Sunday 
School Conferences, and in the work of County Agents 
for dependent children. 

The 1920 officers are: President, Mrs. James Pringle, 
of Ashville; vice-presidents, Mrs. H. C. Drake and 
Mrs. J. C. Reynolds, of Fredonia; secretaries, Mrs. 
Maud Brady, of Clymer, and Mrs. E. E. Hamlet, of 
Sheridan; treasurer, Miss Minnie Allen, of Fredonia. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY CHAPTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS. 



The history of the American Red Cross in Chau- 
tauqua county began with the year 1906. On the evening 
of April 21 of that year a group of citizens of James- 
town, interested in the formation of a branch "of the 
National Red Cross, met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Frank Edward Gifford. The following were present 
at this first meeting: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Edward 
Gifford, Major William M. Bemus, M. D., Rev. I. T. 
Kerrin, Clare A. Pickard, Mavor James L. Weeks, 
Charles H. Gifford, Rev. Walter" A. Tavlor, Clayton E. 
Bailey, Dr. Morris N. Bemus, Brewer D. Phillips, and 
Miss Mae L. Weller. Mavor Weeks presided, with 
Miss Weller as secretary. Dr. William M. Bemus was 
one of the moving spirits, and set forth the aims of the 
Red Cross movement. At that meeting it was decided 



to organize a county subdivision of the New York 
State branch of the American National Red Cross, and 
officers were elected: President, Dr. William M. 
Bemus; vice-president, F. E. Gifford; secretary, Mi<s 
Mae L. Weller; treasurer, Brewer D. Phillips. The in- 
tention was to popularize the movement, for which pur- 
pose it was decided to procure and distribute Red Cross 
literature. The immediate cause of the meeting, how- 
ever, seems to have been in the California earthquake, 
and the local branch began its helpful work by undertak- 
ing to raise funds for the relief of the sufferers. The 
result was the raising of more than $300. 

The names previously given constituted the first 
twelve Red Cross members in Chauatuqua county. The 
secretary's membership list, however, includes two addi- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY CHAPTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS 



359 



tional names, those of Mrs. Elizabeth H. Bailey and 
Major Frederick W. Hyde. 

Following Chautauqua county's entry into formal Red 
Cross work, the history of the organization is that of a 
very small group who kept the organization alive de- 
spite an almost total lack of interest upon the part of the 
general public, the continuation of the society's existence 
being due almost solely to the interest of the officials, 
who were continued in office from year to year. Thus 
a spark of the Red Cross spirit retained its vitality 
through the first decade of Chautauqua County Chap- 
ter's history. It must not, however, be thought that this 
original Red Cross group was inactive. During the 
years preceding the World War, the Chapter responded 
to calls for help in such great calamities as the Italian 
earthquake of 1909, when approximately $300 was raised, 
while during several years substantial sums were for- 
warded to the Chinese Famine Relief Fund. 

The officers originally elected were reelected year 
after year. When the European War came on, Miss 
Weller, whose time was required by the Associated 
Charities and who felt that the Red Cross work should 
be more energetically prosecuted, endeavored to resign 
but did not succeed in doing so until January, 1917, when 
the position was filled by Harry J. Buchanan. Dr. 
Bemus, feeling that he could not carry on the active 
campaign our own entry into the war would make 
necessary, also resigned, and William S. Bailey was 
elected chairman of the County Chapter at a meeting 
of the Chapter held in the Armory April 5, 1917. J. A. 
Osmer was elected vice-chairman. Feeling that he 
would not be justified in accepting the office, Mr. Bailey 
declined the position and Col William F. Endress was 
elected chairman April II, 1917. Mr. Buchanan, being 
unable to serve, was replaced April 21, 1917, by Mr. 
Bailey as acting secretary, who served until May 8, 
when G. R. Broadberry was elected secretary. 

Even after the World War had been in progress some 
time, there was little general participation in Red Cross 
work in Chautauqua county. In January, 1916, however, 
a group of seventeen Jamestown women, under the 
leadership of Mrs. Clayton E. Bailey, began actively 
producing hospital and surgical supplies, which were 
sent to and accepted by the Red Cross. These workers, 
most of whom were not Red Cross members, had no 
o-ganization, although, as recorded later, they worked 
constantly for more than two years and sent in large 
quantities of supplies. When it became apparent that 
America must soon be involved, this group of workers, 
who had become members of and constituted the work- 
ing body of Chautauqua County Chapter in Jamestown, 
determined that the activities of the Chapter must be 
broadened to include the city and county, and they must 
be given credit for beginning the present effective Red 
Cross organization in Jamestown and its vicinity. 

Beginning with its meeting of April 11, 1917, the re- 
organized Chapter began holding frequent meetings 
through its executive committee and arrangements were 
at once undertaken to institute a working program. At 
a meeting of the committee, May 8. 1917, it was decided 
to request the Atlantic Division of the Red Cross to 
divide Chautauqua county so that the jurisdiction of the 
original Chautauqua County Chapter should coincide 
practically with the First Assembly District. This di- 
vision of jurisdiction was later effected. 

At a meeting of the executive committee. May 9, 1917, 
the Yourg Women's Christian Association offered rooms 
in the Association building for Red Cross headquarters. 
The tender was accepted and headquarters and work- 
rooms were established in the building of the Associa- 
tion at the corner of North Main and Fourth streets. 



To secure additional members, in May, 1917, an enrol- 
ment headquarters was opened in a tent on the lawn 
of the First Presbyterian Church on West Third street. 
A very large number of members was secured by the 
workers at the tent. 

On May 18, 1917, the executive committee requested 
the Women's Patriotic League to act as the Civilian 
Relief Committee of the Chapter, Red Cross funds to be 
supplied as necessity arose. The league, under the 
chairmanship of Mrs. Clare A. Pickard, carried on the 
civilian relief work until the Home Service Section was 
organized at a later date. 

At a meeting of the executive committee. May 9, 

1917, was created a board of control, to consist of the 
chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer, and the 
chairmen of the various committees of the chapter. The 
Board continued to transact most of the actual business 
for the Chapter until the annual meeting of the year 

1918, when its duties were taken over by the administra- 
tive committee. 

There not being sufficient funds to meet the production 
capacity of the Chapter workers, the executive commit- 
tee on October 29, 1917. authorized the raising of the 
local Red Cross Patriotic Fund. H. H. Roberts was 
placed in charge of the campaign for raising the fund, 
and created an organization of about thirty-five cam- 
paign workers. On November 22 Mr. Roberts reported 
that the total amount pledged up to that date, to be 
paid within the succeeding twelve months, was $31,260. 
This fund was used entirely for the purchase of raw 
supplies for the local workrooms. 

On November 22, 1917, the executive committee re- 
ceived a tender from the Jamestown Board of Com- 
merce offering, free of charge, the facilities of the 
Board's quarters in the Wellman Building. This ten- 
der included the services of the secretary of the Board 
of Commerce and the office force. This offer was 
accepted, and C. W. Herrick, chairman of the ways 
and means committee, was authorized to undertake 
fitting up the new quarters for Red Cross purposes. 
Under Mr. Herrick's supervision the work was ex- 
pedited, various partitions and equipment were erected, 
and tne Chapter moved its headquarters from the Young 
Women's Christian Association to the Board of Com- 
merce hall immediately after the 1st of January. 1918. 

Early in 1918 it was deemed advisable to place the 
workrooms under the charge of a paid full-time super- 
visor, and on January 3, 1918, Mrs. Ethel W. Curtis was 
emploved as superintendent of the workrooms, a posi- 
tion which she filled until her resignation, September 
5, 1918. 

Henry H. Roberts was appointed chairman of the 
Second Red Cross War Fund campaign. Owing to 
serious illness, he was unable to act, and Fletcher Good- 
will accepted the chairmanship and conducted the cam- 
paign in Mav, 1918. Noonday luncheons for the or- 
ganization wo'rkers were held daily throughout the week 
of the campaign, which resulted in more than doubling 
the city's quota of $50,000. The total amount subscribed 
was $120,000. 

In June, 1918, a campaign for Red Cross nurses was 
conducted bv a committee consisting of Mrs. George L. 
Maltbv, chairman; Miss Julia E. Anderson, and Wil- 
liam S. Bailev. The Chapter's quota was fifteen nurses 
but more than double that number was eventually se- 
cured. 

It becoming necessary to secure permanent quarters 
for the Home Service Section, arrangements were made 
in August, 1918, by which a suite of offices was secured 
in the Wellman Building. 

On August 1, 1918, the Board of Control decided to 



360 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ask E. Snell Hall to take the position of permanent 
chairman of the Home Service Section, with Miss Amy 
Pryor Tapping as executive secretary. Mr. Hall and 
Miss Tapping acceded to the board's request and the 
Home Service Section was thus permanently organized 
and installed in adequate offices. On October 3, 1918, 
the Board of Control accepted from the Central Labor 
Council the sum of $768.90, proceeds from the Council's 
Labor Day parade which was given under the authoriza- 
tion of the Chapter. The secretary of the Chapter was 
directed to convey to the Central Labor Council the 
Chanter's commendation of the object lesson in prac- 
tical patriotism which the laboring men of Jamestown 
gave in behalf of the Red Cross. 

The history of the auxiliaries of Chautauqua County 
Chapter of the American Red Cross is a remarkable 
tribute to the sympathy and energy of the people of the 
county. 

It was about April, 1917, that interest in Red Cross 
matters showed some activity. The Chapter was simply 
the barest skeleton organization, and when a new secre- 
tary was elected with the idea of thoroughly developing 
Red Cross work, it had fewer than two hundred mem- 
bers in the Chapter. From this starting point to the 
close of the last membership roll call, with a record of 
almost six thousand members in the auxiliaries alone, 
the historv has been one continuous advance in a cam- 
paign of splendid achievement. The secretary conceived 
the idea that interest in the Red Cross could best be 
aroused by an appeal first to the churches and the fra- 
ternal organizations. In rural communities meetings for 
organization were held, and soon the whole territory 
of the Chapter was covered. The auxiliaries were 
stimulated to increased activity by publishing in the 
Jamestown papers about twice a month their standing 
in membership and contributions, and this led to much 
good-natured emulation, as first one auxiliary and then 
another would head the list. 

Following is the list of the original officers and the 
date of admission of the auxiliaries of Chautauqua 
County Chapter : 

Unitarian Church, Jamestown, May 18, 1917. Chair- 
man. Mrs. Lucy R. Taylor; secretary, Rhoda F. Root; 
treasurer, Lucia C. Botsford. 

Presbyterian Church. Jamestown, May 18, 1917. 
Chairman. Mrs. Jerome B. Fisher. Jr.; secretary. Mrs. 
William H. Fletcher; treasurer, Mrs. Arthur Swan 

Eagles, Jamestown. May 18. 1917. Chairman, Mrs. 
H A. Hotehkiss; secretary, Mrs. Earl R. Anderson; 
treasurer, O. N. Rushworth. „ , 

Bemus Point, Bemus Point, May 24, 1917. Chairman, 
Dr. J. H. Kellogg; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Anna 

First Baptist Church, Jamestown, May 24. 1917. 
Chairman, Mrs. A. F. Purkiss; secretary, Mrs. O. F. 
Laegeler; treasurer, Miss Susan Berry. 

Lakewood. Lakewood. May 24, 1917. Chairman. Mrs. 
W. R. Foster; secretary, Mrs, Richard Vipan; treas- 
urer, Miss Catherine Verner. 

First Methodist Church, Jamestown. May 24, 191 1. 
Chairman. Mrs, c. Eugene Clark; secretary, Mrs. James 
Iverson; treasurer. Mrs. Nathan Crary. 

Clymer, Clvmer, May 24, 1917. Chairman. Mrs. Fran- 
ces Jaquins; secretary, Mrs. Ida Johnson; treasurer. 
Miss Ruth Neekers. 

Women's Relief Corps. Jamestown, May 24, 1917. 
Chairman. Mrs. James Malier; secretary, Mrs. James 
A. Brown; treasurer, Mrs. Charles Horton. 

Cherry ('reek, cherry Creek, June 7, 1917. Chairman, 
Charles' H. Hunt: secretary, Julia A. Morian; treas- 
urer, Nora B. Lake. _. . 

Falconer Branch. Falconer, June 7. 1917. Chairman. 
Dr. E. W. Storms; secretary, C. R. Crosby; treasurer, 
Mrs. Laura Davis. _ . 

Frewshurg, Frewsburg, June 7, 1917. Chairman. 
Mrs. C. Fred Myers; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Alice 
R. Baldwin. 

First Congregational Church. Jamestown. June 7, 
1917. Chairman, Mrs. David W. Schenck; secretary, 
Mrs. Belle C. Wilcox; treasurer, Mrs. G. E. Knapp. 



Conewango Valley, Conewango Valley, June 27, 1917. 
Chairman, Edwin A. Bagg; secretary, Mrs. C. H. 
White; treasurer, Lillian A. Hopkins. 

Samuel M. Porter Camp, Jamestown, June 27, 1917. 
Chairman, Mrs. C. W. Cozzens; secretary, Mrs. Emily 
Sprague; treasurer, Mrs. Bertha Johnson. 

Maple Springs, Maple Springs, June 27, 1917. Chair- 
man. Mrs. John Prather; secretary, Emma Johnson; 
treasurer, Mrs. C. O. Bosworth. . 

Mt. Sinai, O. E. S., Jamestown. June 27, 1917. Chair- 
man, Mrs. R. C Fess; secretary, Mrs. V. A. Hatch; 
treasurer. Mrs. Oeorgiana Conner. 

D. A. R.. Jamestown, June 27. 1917. Chairman, Miss 
S. Flora Broadhead; secretary, Mrs. D. E. Russell; 
treasurer. Mrs. S. Winsor Baker. 

Kennedy, Kennedy, June 29, 1917. Chairman, Mrs. 
Gertrude Bush; secretary, O. M. Grubb; treasurer, Mrs. 
I. B. Kimball. 

Villenova, Villenova, July 13. 1917. Chairman, Mrs. 
Dime Crowell; secretary, C. H. Mansfield; treasurer, 
Mrs. Esther Mansfield. 

Dewittville. I'ewittville, July 13, 1917. Chairman. Mrs. 
P. E. Smith; secretary, Mrs. G. F. Leet; treasurer, 
Rev. P. E. Smith. „ 

Ellington, Ellington, July 13, 1917. Chairman, Rev. 
Arthur Stockbridge : secretary, Mrs. Mae Anderson; 
treasurer, Rev. R. H. Ellinghouse. 

Conewango, Conewango. August 29, 1917. Chairman, 
Irvin Pool; secretary, Florence L. Phillips; treasurer, 
Charles C. Mason. 

Lutheran Immanuel Church, Jamestown. August 
29 1917. Chairman, Mrs. J. Ernest Johnson: secretary, 
Mrs. Fred Turner; treasurer, Mrs. Richard Berggren. 

Graduate Nurses, Jamestown. August 29, 1917. Chair- 
man, Mrs. Jessie Fizzell; secretary, Mrs. C. Q. Cratty; 
treasurer, Martha Berry. 

Sinclairville, Sinclairville. August 29, 1917. Chair- 
man, John C. Buchanan; secretary, Martha I. Trussler; 
treasurer. Mrs. Lelia Putnam. 

International Sunshine Society, Jamestown, August 
29, 1917. Chairman, Estelle V. Swanson; secretary, 
Jessie I. Haigh: treasurer. Ella C. Ilaigh. 

West Sid.-, Jamestown, October 8, 1917. Chairman. 
Mrs. John Lay; secretary, Mrs. Joseph Woosley; treas- 
urer, Mrs. C. J. Baker. . 

Camp Street, Jamestown, October 8, 1917. Chairman, 
Mrs, W. H. Hunt; secretary, Mrs. C. Campo; treasurer, 
Mrs. A. W. Holm. 

Panama. Panama, October 8, 1917. Chairman. Mrs. 
Etta White; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Margaret 
Appleby. 

Dahlstrom Metallic Door Company, Jamestown, No- 
vember 15. 1917. Chairman. Miss Florence L. Johnson; 
secretary. Miss Frances Johnson; treasurer, Miss Helen 
E. Johnson. „ ._ 

Women's Patriotic League, Jamestown. November 15. 
1917. Chairman, Mrs. C. A. Pickard; secretary, Miss 
Helen Endress; treasurer, Miss Ruth Skinner. 

Busti, Busti, November 22, 1917. Chairman, Mrs. F. 
P. Simmons; secretary, Georgia L. Hasson; treasurer, 



Mr 



A. J. Ben 



2fi, 1917. 



Holv Trinity Church, Jamestown, Nove 
Chairman. Mrs. William Stamm; secretary, Miss Anna 
K. Peterson; treasurer. Mrs. Joel Turnell. 

First Swedish Mission church. Jamestown, December 

6 1917. Chairman. Mrs. John Lindl k; secretary. Ruby 

E. Hendrickson; treasurer, Florence O. Bernhardt 

Celoron, Celoron, December 13, 1917. Chairman. Miss 
Theresa Stevens; secretary, Miss Leah Squires; treas- 
urer. Mrs. Maude Gill. „„ „„„ _., 

Norden Club, Jamestown, December 20, 191 1. Chair- 
man, Mrs. E. L. Johnson; secretary, Mrs. Eric Carl- 
son; treasurer, Mrs. G. C. Freeburg. 

Ashville, Ashville, December 20, 1917. Chairman, 
Mrs. William Greene; secretary, Mrs. W. A. Bly; treas- 
urer, Mrs. Charles Davis. 

Gerrv, Gerry, December 20, 
Smith; secretary, Mrs. M. J. 

'women's Surgical Dressings, Jamestown. December 
20. 1917. Chairman. Mrs. C. Q. Ciatty; secretary, Mrs. 
Crawford Bargar; treasurer, Miss Addie Williams. 

First Lutheran Church. Jamestown, December 20. 
1917. Chairman, Mrs. C. L. Eckman; secretary, Mrs. 
David Lincoln; treasurer, Mrs. Hilda J. Eckman. 

Young I. a. lies' Missionary Society, Jamestown, Jan- 
uary 17. 1918. Chairman. Mrs. Felix V. Hanson, sec- 
retary, Miss Florence Johnson; treasurer, Miss Minnie 
J °Sons n of Veterans, Jamestown, February 16, 1918 
Chairman, Mrs. Nellie E. Stone; secretary, Mrs. Edith 
Cowan; treasurer, Mrs. Gertrude Emory. 

St. Luke's Church. Jamestown, February 27, 1918. 
Chairman. Mrs. Reginald N. Wilcox; secretary. Miss Ju- 
lia Bloom; treasurer, Miss Helen Endress. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY CHAPTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS 



36) 



T. W. C. A., Jamestown, February 27, 1918. Chair- 
man, Mrs. E. P. Merrill; secretary, Frances Norton; 
treasurer, Essel Hegburg. 

Lakewood Road. Jamestown, April 4, 1918. Chair- 
man, Mrs. 1') M. S.oli.M; secretary, .Mrs. Oliver Ellison; 
treasurer, Mrs. Floyd Wilson. 

Grace United Brethren Church. Jamestown, April 
4, 1918. Chairman, Mrs. N. J. Maclntyre; secretary, 
Miss Florence Laird; treasurer, Mrs. Vern Dewey. 

Union Auxiliary. South Stockton, May 2, 1918. Chair- 
man. G. L. Lauraiice; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. D. 
A. Snyde 

Ivory, : 
secretary, Mrs. 
Grout. 

Kiantone. Kiantone, July 17, 1918. Chairman, J. M. 
Hall; secretary, Abner Hagburg; treasurer, Mrs. G. C. 
Kidder. 

Niobe, Niobe, July 17, 1918. Chairman, Ivan Allen; 
secretary, Myron Ireland; treasurer, Frank Bates. 

Mayville, Mayville, July 17, 1918. Chairman, Newton 
Lincoln; secretary, .Mrs. Rata Cornell; treasurer, Mrs. 
Culley. 

Fluvanna, Fluvanna, July 17, 1918. Chairman, Mrs. 
Hetty Sherwin: secretary, Mrs. Chettie Hale; treasurer, 
Mrs. Alta Cederquist. 

New Century Art Club, Jamestown. July 17, 1918. 
Chairman, Mrs, Charles M. Dow; secretary, Mrs. Sid- 
ney Clarke; treasurer. Miss Bertha Skiff. 

Danish Congregational Church, Jamestown, Julv 20, 
1918. Chairman. Mrs. H. Martens; secretary, Mrs. Ruth 
Kofod; treasurer. Mrs. Leonard Chindgren. 

Zlon Mission Church, Jamestown, October 25, 1918. 
Chairman, Mrs. P. A. Johnson; secretary, Mrs. Hen- 
ning Olson; treasurer, Jennie Swanson. 

The Junior Red Cross of the Chautauqua County 
Chapter was organized in November, 1917, Miss Net- 
tie J. Armstrong being appointed chairman of the 
Chapter School Committee by the executive committee 
of the Chapter. The rural and village were organized 
by the district superintendents, interested Senior Red 
Cross members, and by chairman of the Junior Red 
Cross, Miss Nettie J. Armstrong. 

On April 10, 1919, Chautauqua County Chapter had a 
total membership of 20,078, of which number 5,464 were 
rural members, belonging to twenty-four rural auxili- 
aries. The other 14,614 were members of the thirty-one 
city auxiliaries or members at large. There were also 
S3 magazine members and three contributing members. 

The first membership campaign was conducted in May, 
1917, under the direction of William S. Bailey. A gen- 
eral canvass of the city was made by a group of well- 
known women, each of whom became responsible for 
calling at every home within one of the thirty-one mail 
delivery routes. The campaign resulted in securing ap- 
proximately 1900 members. 

The membership campaign for the year 1917-18 was 
placed under the direction of H. H. Roberts, in De- 
cember, 1917. Mr. Roberts created a membership cam- 
paign organization with fourteen district managers and 
secured a place for his campaign headquarters in the 
Samuels Hotel lobby through the generosity of George 
F. Hurlburt. On January 3, 1918, Mr. Roberts reported 
a total membership of approximately 6,000 as a result 
of the campaign. 

The Christmas Roll Call membership campaign of 
1918 was conducted under the leadership of Nathan M. 
Willson. The Samuels ex-bar was secured for Roll 
Call headquarters through the generosity of George F. 
Hurlburt, and a canvassing force was organized cover- 
ing every block in the city, utilizing the records and 
personnel of the Jamestown War Council. G. R. Broad- 
berry was in charge of the roll call throughout the 
auxiliaries. The roll call resulted in securing a total 
membership of 16,414 for Chautauqua County Chapter. 

The Chapter has five life members, as follows: Mrs. 
Frank W. Cadwell, Miss Bertha Preston, Miss Anna L. 
Crissey, Miss Mary Crissey, and one name unrecorded. 

The financial record, April 6, 1917-May 1, 1919, is as 



follows: Receipts— Membership fees, $28,870.00; con- 
tributions, $66,651.34; patriotic fund, 30,721.45; war 
funds, $98,653.35; total, $224,896.14. Disbursements- 
Production supplies, $79,403.36 ; Chapter expenses, $14,- 
507.22; paid to National Red Cross, $116,499.29; bal- 
ance on hand, $14,486.27; total, $224,896.14. 

The following record covers the output of supplies 
produced by Chautauqua County Chapter, its auxiliaries 
and branches, and shipped to the Atlantic Division be- 
tween April 6, 1917, and April 16, 1919: Hospital gar- 
ments, 16,555 J hospital linen, 18,501 ; refugee garments, 
8,536; knitted articles, 24,236; surgical dressings, 94,323; 
Christmas comfort kits, 1,234; total, 163,385. 

For the shipment of this large quantity of Red Cross 
supplies 251 shipping boxes were made by the boys of 
the Jamestown Grammar School under the supervision 
of the Director of the Vocational Department of the 
Jamestown High School. 

In accordance with instructions from the Atlantic 
Division, made-up supplies and raw materials on hand 
at the close of the war were later distributed to various 
institutions and organizations as follows : Jones Gen- 
eral Hospital, Jamestown; Fire Department; Parochial 
School ; Daughters of Isabella ; Jamestown Public 
Schools; Creche Day Nursery; Warner Home; Wo- 
men's Christian Association ; Hospital and Jamestown 
Visiting Nurse Association. 

In October, 1917, the local Chapter received from the 
Atlantic Division a request to provide five emergency 
cot outfits for use in base hospitals in the various 
cantonments. Compliance with the request was author- 
ized by the Chapter, October 15, 1917, the collection of 
the equipment being supervised by Miss Gertrude E. 
Clement, Mrs. H. W. Bloomquist, W. S. Bailey. The 
Chautauqua School of Nursing provided a room in its 
building for storing and assembling the equipment, the 
bedding and clothing were provided by the local work- 
rooms, and the cots themselves and equipment of utensils 
were purchased by the Chapter. Cloth for the fifteen 
blankets required was generously donated by the Acme 
Worsted Mills, the blankets being made in the Chapter 
workrooms. 

The complete equipment comprised the following: 20 
sheets, 5 rubber sheets, 5 hot-water bottles with covers, 
15 wool blankets, 10 pairs pajamas, 20 towels, 10 pillows, 
10 pillow cases, 10 hospital bed shirts, 10 wash cloths, 10 
pairs cotton socks, 5 bedpans, 5 urinals, 5 folding can- 
vas cots, toilet paper, 5 pairs slippers. The five emer- 
gency cots and complete equipment were shipped to the 
Atlantic Division by express November 27, 1917. 

To the thousands of Red Cross workers who by their 
heroic service on battlefield and battleship, in dugout, 
trench and hospital, in ministration to the wounded and 
dying, have won the honor and love of millions, too 
much praise cannot be given. But as all know, the 
ministrations of the Red Cross within the lines of 
battle and throughout the war stricken countries of 
Europe have not comprised all its activities. The 
gathering and distributing of food and clothing for 
millions of starving and shivering refugees and the 
preparation of tons of hospital supplies has gone on 
uninterruptedly throughout the years. 

But there is still another department of Red Cross 
work — that carried on under the title of Civilian 
Relief or Home Service, which as it shuns publicity is 
the least known of all. In fact nearly all of its activities 
are of a confidential nature, its underlying purpose to 
act the part of friendly adviser and helper to the fam- 
ilies of the men who left business or school and home 
and all that was dear to answer their country's call. 

Just what this has meant, only one who has seen the 



362 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



anxious faces and heard the stories of sordid, pathetic, 
and courageous human lives can realize. In many cases 
dependent wives and mothers had little, often almost no 
experience in the simplest of business affairs. With 
slight warning, little ability, and almost no opportunity 
to learn, they were compelled to act the part of head of 
the house. 

The first chairman of the Home Service Section of 
Chautauqua County Chapter was Mrs. Rachel Giles 
Pickard, who had been previously engaged in home 
relief work, as carried on by the Patriotic League, an 
organization which was financed by public subscription, 
for the purpose of aiding the families of men serving 
on the Mexican border. She began her work under the 
auspices of the Red Cross in April, 1917, and concluded 
it in March, 1918. She was deeply interested in these 
activities and gave herself whole-heartedly, even at 
considerable personal sacrifice, to the relief of distress, 
which even in those early days of the Section was 
brought frequently to her door. In March, 1918, Mrs. 
Pickard was succeeded by G. R. Broadberry, who con- 
sented to take charge of the work temporarily until a 
permanent chairman could be found. From September 
9 to February 14, 1919, the work was carried on by a 
force of eight people, all but one of whom were volun- 
teers, but in February the services of Miss Leora Field, 
a trained social worker, were secured. 

The cooperation of physicians, teachers, attorneys and 
many others enabled the Section to operate much more 
efficiently and to make the office the clearing house of 
all the auxiliaries of Chautauqua County Chapter, re- 
quiring correspondence with the numerous government 
bureaus in Washington and the Atlantic Division in 
New York. Although the amount of money the Home 
Service disbursed in loans and grants was small, $1,112.33, 
(of which $233.55 was repaid within a year) no deserv- 
ing request was refused. The great work of the Home 
Service was advisory and in performing the more diffi- 
cult task of fostering a spirit of self-reliance and thrift. 

A local emergency met in a characteristic manner 
was the influenza epidemic which began in Jamestown 
about October 7, 1918. On the 9th of October, Chairman 
Endress appointed a Red Cross committee which con- 
sisted of Colonel Endress as chairman, with Dr. Tane 
Greeley, Dr. Eliza F. Cottis, E. Snell Hall, W. S. Bailey, 
and Mrs. C. Q. Cratty as members. The committee met 
at once and reviewed the situation. The greatest need 
seemed to be in private homes where all the family 
were ill, or where the housewife was ill and there 
were little children or infants. There were practically 
no graduate nurses available, and only hospital facilities 
for pneumonia cases, the very severe influenza cases, and 
those who were in boarding or rooming houses and in 
the poorest tenements. The problem was to care for 
patients in their own homes. It was decided to engage 
Miss Marie Morgan, who already conducted a graduate 
nurse registry, to register both the cases needing help 
and all who were willing to render assistance, and then 
to make daily appeals through the local press as the 
situation demanded. The work was carried on in clo?e 
association with the Board of Health, the Visiting Nurse 
Association, the City Hospital, and the Thrift Kitchen, 
all of which agencies ultimately devoted their entire 
forces to influenza work for about six weeks and did 
much work over a period of several additional weeks. 

Food and supplies were provided for the first few 
days by Miss Morgan from supplies solicited by her. 
The need became so great that the Thrift Kitchen, 
organized under the Food Administration, took over the 
entire food problem, obtained the funds, prepared the 



food, and delivered anywhere in the city upon request. 
The Red Cross workrooms supplied the pneumonia 
jackets and influenza masks, and other agencies fur- 
nished the rest of the supplies needed. Some of the 
sick were so ill as to require one person constantly in 
the house. In most homes a helper did the necessary 
work, attending to the patient and the little children of 
the family, sent in an order to the Thrift Kitchen for 
the kind and quantity of food needed, and then went to 
another home. The doctors reported all cases of need 
of care or food or both to the Board of Health, where 
both the Board of Health and the Visiting Nurse Asso- 
ciation were working. From there the calls went to 
Miss Morgan and to the Thrift Kitchen. The Motor 
Corps under the direction of Miss Mary Bemus had 
cars at the City Hall practically all the time for im- 
mediate use, and no one can estimate the lives saved by 
this efficient teamwork. 

Besides the people who worked in the homes, as more 
and more of the graduate nurses became ill it was neces- 
sary to put a number of the girls who had had home 
nursing courses in the hospital to work. These girls 
volunteered, and worked ten to fifteen hours a day or 
night among the very sick patients, giving a very en- 
thusiastic and capable service which will always be a 
pleasant remembrance to their patients and those who 
worked with them. 

Miss Morgan furnished in all 92 nurses, of which 
14 were at the hospital, 74 in families, and four at the 
Swedish Orphanage. Fourteen of the nurses were grad- 
uate, 18 practical, and 60 were lay helpers. She also 
furnished 60 quarts of soup, 10 dozen eggs, bedding, 
towels, nightgowns, and shirts in the early days of the 
epidemic. 

During the year from March 18, 1918, to March 31, 
1919, three campaigns, for the purpose of obtaining 
refugee clothing for Europe, were conducted by the 
American Red Cross. The week of March 18-25, 1918, 
was set aside for the first of these campaigns. Clothing, 
bedding, and shoes to the amount of 5,162 pounds were 
contributed by Chautauqua County Chapter. This ma- 
terial was packed in 43 cases and shipped to the Belgian 
Relief Committee in New York on April 6. 

In September, 1918, came the second and even more 
urgent call for used clothing to supply the ten million 
destitute people in Belgium and Northern France. The 
minimum allotment for this Chapter was 8,000 pounds, 
and the time set aside for the campaign the week of 
September 23-30. During this period and the week 
following, 16,581 pounds of clothing, bedding, and shoes 
were received and packed. Of this amount, one large 
case was filled entirely with new articles, some of which 
were given by merchants and other individuals, and the 
remainder purchased with $44.82 donated for the pur- 
pose. Shipment was made in carload lot of 76 cases 
and barrels to the American Red Cross, Newark, N. J., 
the middle of October. 

During the last week of March, 1919, the American 
people were asked for a third time to donate used 
clothing for the destitute refugees of devastated coun- 
tries. This time no quotas were given, the need being 
unlimited and the field of relief widened to include 
Italy, Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Juga-Slavia, Serbia, 
Roumania, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, and Palestine. 
Clothing amounting to 11.500 pounds was received dur- 
ing the two weeks from March 24 to April 7. A third 
week was required to finish packing, and on April 15 a 
carload, consisting of 185 bags and 11 barrels, was 
shipped to the American Red Cross. Baltic Terminal, 
New York Dock Company, Brooklyn. In this lot there 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY CHAPTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS 



363 



were about 200 pounds of new goods, furnished, as be- 
fore, by merchants and others or purchased with money 
contributions, which this time amounted to $61.32. 

The organization and plan of work for the three cam- 
paigns were the same. The Executive Committee of 
the Chapter appointed as chairman Miss Gertrude E. 
Clement. In the third campaign Mrs. H. W. Bloomquist 
was made vice-chairman. One receiving station was 
established for the entire Chapter community, the store 
at 314 North Main street being secured each time for 
that purpose. Circular letters were sent to all auxiliaries 
of the Chapter, those outside the city being asked to 
organize and send in their contributions collectively. 
The Junior Red Cross was also organized, each school 
bringing in its donations as a unit. All other city con- 
tributions were made individually. Posters, photographs, 
and slides were received from New York headquarters 
for the third campaign. The most important means of 
publicity, however, was through the columns of the daily 
papers and this work was entirely in charge of W. S. 
Bailey. 

Summing up the three campaigns, a total of sixteen 
and one-half tons of clothing, bedding and shoes were 
shipped in one year from Chautauqua Chapter, James- 
town, N. Y., to the Atlantic Division of the American 
Red Cross. 

In response to the appeal of the Atlantic Division that 
Chautauqua County Chapter should provide 1,000 bath 
towels, 2,000 hand towels, 1,400 handkerchiefs and 100 
napkins, the Chapter auxiliaries, numerous societies and 
the general public responded during the first week of 
October, 1918, with 1,366 bath towels, 2,233 hand towels, 
1,897 handkerchiefs, 277 napkins and $32.82 in cash. 

The Christmas Parcels Campaign for the year 1919 
resulted in the packing, inspecting and mailing of 1,200 
packages to "the boys" overseas. A canteen service was 
organized in May, 1918, to serve soldiers on troop trains 
passing through the city, but Salamanca being the end 
of the railroad division was chosen, the Jamestown can- 
teen performing local service during the five war 
drives and in other ways. 

From the reorganization of the Chapter in April, 1917, 



until this time, the publicity work, including the public 
meetings held under the auspices of the Chapter, was 
under the direction of William S. Bailey. During this 
time both the Jamestown "Evening Journal" and the 
Jamestown "Morning Post" gave the publicity depart- 
ment of the Chapter the use of space in their news 
columns without limitation, and in addition each paper 
placed a large amount of their advertising space at the 
Chapter's disposal without remuneration. During this 
period a number of notable public meetings were held 
under the auspices of the Chapter, addressed by such 
well known speakers as Consul Wesley Frost, Rev. Dr. 
Alan McRossie, Colonel Williams of the Canadian Expe- 
ditionary Forces, Chaplain David Hughes of the British 
Army, Mrs. Marguerite Fairfax Clendenin, and Howard 
R. Heydon. In addition to these, the Chapter received 
the assistance of many ministers and laymen who have 
spoken upon its behalf. There have also been a num- 
ber of conferences held in the city of Jamestown. 

Officers, 1918-1919: Chairman, Col. William F. 
Endress; vice-chairman, J. Alden Osmer ; secretary, G. 
R. Broadberry, resigned Nov. 20, 1918 ; E. D. Bevitt, re- 
signed May 20, 1919; Major A. Bartholdi Peterson, 
elected May 20, 1919; treasurer, Brewer D. Phillips. 
Executive Committee : Chairman, Mrs. Frank E. Gif- 
ford; Miss Carrie E. Aiken, Miss Nettie J. Armstrong, 
Mrs. E. J. Ashwell, Mrs. Clayton E. Bailey, William S. 
Bailev, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett, R. Jay Barrows, Major 
Wm. M. Bemus, M. D., E. D. Bevitt, Mrs. H. W. 
Bloomquist, G. R. Broadberrv, Miss S. Flora Broadhead, 
Mrs. Glenn K. Brown, Mrs. R. E. Caskey, Miss Gertrude 
E. Clement, Mrs. George W. Cottis, M. D., Mrs. Emily 
Crane, Hon. Charles M. Dow, Mrs. C. L. Eckman, Col. 
William F. Endress, Mrs. Harry Fenton, Mrs. Fletcher 
Goodwill, E. Snell Hall, Rev. Felix V. Hanson, Mrs. 
Fred E. Hatch, Charles W. Herrick, Mrs. J. Ernest 
Johnson. Cyrus E. Jones, George L. Maltby, Hon. Frank 
H. Mott, Mrs. J. Alden Osmer, J. Alden Osmer, Brewer 
D. Phillips, Henry H. Roberts, Mrs. Harry P. Sheldon, 
Mrs. Ralph C. Sheldon, Samuel B. Shields, Mrs. Walter 
C. Sunderland, Mrs. Walter A. Taylor, Mrs. Cora 
Sheldon Tew, Nathan M. Willson. 



WOMEN'S CLUBS. 



In addition to the Women's organizations which have 
wrought so marvelously for right and progress in Chau- 
tauqua county — notably the Women's Christian Tem- 
perance Union, the Political Equality County Club, the 
Young Women's and Women's Christian Associations, 
the Church Societies, Woman's Relief Corps, the ladies 
orders of the fraternal bodies, and the Patriotic So- 
ciety of Daughters of the American Revolution — there 
remains another class of women's clubs, literary mainly, 
and mostly affiliated with the New York State Federa- 
tion of Clubs. While Jamestown is the club center of 
Chautauqua county, about twenty clubs being in success- 
ful existence there, the club spirit is strong all over 
the county, and women's clubs — literary, social and 
musical — are formed in many towns. 

The Mozart Club of Jamestown is the oldest woman's 
club in the county, as well as the largest, dating from 
1879, and as an incorporated body from 1894. It has 
high reputation as a musical organization, and will be 
more fully dealt with under music. 

The Chautauqua Woman's Club was organized in 
1888 with a membership composed of residents from 
nearly every State of the Union. 

The Shakespeare Club of Westfield, organized in 1883, 
became in 1885 the Monday Evening Club. Travel, his- 



tory, literature and the arts have had especial promin- 
ence in the life of this club, and its place in the cultured 
life of the village is secure. 

Jamestown also has its Fortnightly Club, organized in 
1895; its New Century Art Club, founded in 1897, 
with a limited membership pledged to "cultivate a bet- 
ter knowledge and appreciation of art." There is also 
in that city the First Shakespeare Club, which meets at 
the homes of its members; Chautauqua Literary and 
Scientific Circles; and a Browning Society which meets 
during the winter months at members' homes. 

Dunkirk has a Woman's Literary Club, organized in 
1895, and a Woman's Educational and Industrial Union, 
the'latter, however, a practical helpful organization not 
properly to be classed as a club within the usual mean- 
ing. The Dunkirk Music Club is a live organization of 
music lovers. 

The Tuesday Club of Mayville, organized in 1895, 
"with the object of attaining a higher, broader and 
truer culture," is the mother of Mayville's Free Library 
and now an incorporated body with a good library con- 
ducted under the name, The Tuesday Club Library of 
Mayville. The Critical Club of Mayville was organized 
by Miss Aimee Tourgee, its membership mostly teach- 
ers and literary young ladies. 



364 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The Minerva Club of Sherman, organized in 1896, 
for "mutual improvement," has proved a most useful 
body, with high aims which mean improvement in Sher- 
man's social and civic life. 

The Ripley Literary Club was founded in 1893, mainly 
through the influence of Mrs. Mary E. Wethy, who was 
its first president. The object of the club was to keep 
the women and girls beyond school age in touch with 
the events of the day, and also to develop the study 
of history, art and literature. The club started with a 
membership of thirty-five, with the active membership 
limited to forty, but as the associate membership is 
unlimited there are now sixty members. Every year 
a new program of work and study is arranged by a 
committee of four or five members, and by this method 



a great many in the village have received educational 
benefit. The club has presented pictures to the school, 
adopted a French orphan, prepared and sent out Christ- 
mas gifts to the needy, and taken full charge of the 
Memorial Day services in Ripley for a number of years. 
The club is affiliated with the Western New York 
Federation of Woman's Clubs, and two members of the 
club have held the office of treasurer of the Federation. 
Fredonia, a school center, has Art and Shakespeare 
Clubs ; Cherry Creek, a Woman's Club ; Sheridan, a 
Saturday Study Club ; Silver Creek, a Shakespeare and 
a Current Event Club; and all over the county are these 
centers of literary activity, all striving toward higher 
expression and better living. 



PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 



Fredonia Grange, No. 1, Patrons of Husbandry, was 
the first grange of the order ever organized, and to 
Chautauqua county belongs the honor not of giving 
binh to the Grange idea, but of giving to the idea form 
and being. The founder of the Order was Oliver Hud- 
son Kelley, known by Grangers throughout the United 
States as "Father Kelley." 

He was born in Boston, January 7, 1826, receiving his 
education in the public schools of that city. He left 
Boston when he was twenty-one years old, and for a 
time was a reporter on the "Chicago Tribune." For 
some time thereafter he was a telegrapher, later going 
to Minnesota, where he traded with the tndians. While 
living on his farm there, he operated the first reaping 
machine ever used in that State. In 1864 he was ap- 
pointed a clerk in the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington and when the close of the War between the 
States created conditions little understood at Washing- 
ton, Mr. Kelley was chosen by Isaac Newton, U. S. Com- 
missioner of Agriculture, in January, 1866, to travel 
through the Southern States and from actual contact 
with the people and through personal acquaintance with 
them gain a true knowledge of conditions and furnish 
the government with needed statistics. There was con- 
siderable danger attached to such a mission, but Mr. 
Kelley 's personality, his high character and his fraternal 
affiliations, enabled him to gain a close view of the needs 
of the people. While on this mission the "Grange" idea 
was born in his brain — that "idea" comprehending an 
organization of agriculturists, non-partisan, non-sec- 
tarian, an organization national in scope, "united by the 
strong and faithful tie of agriculture," a band of 
brethren among whom no dissension could arise. This 
idea conceived in 1866 was perfected after Mr. Kelley's 
return to Washington, and on December 4, 1867, the 
National Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized 
as a temporary head. A school of instruction was also 
instituted in the District of Columbia. The personal 
enthusiasm of Mr. Kelley carried conviction, and six 
men became imbued with the faith and courage of the 
founder. All men chosen for some particular trait, but 
all men of strong character. These seven men are 
entitled to be considered the founders of the Order: 
Oliver H. Kelley, William M. Ireland, Rev. John Trim- 
ble, Rev. A. B. Grosh, F. M. McDowell, J. R. Thompson, 
William Saunders, all residents of Washington, D. C, 
and all except F. M. McDowell, who was a pomologist 
of Wayne county, New York, being in government 
employ. A constant co-worker with these men was Mr. 
Kelley's niece, Miss Caroline A. Hall, who advocated 
and finally secured the admission of women to the 
Order upon terms of perfect equality. In its early years 



Miss Hall did an immense amount of clerical, publicity 
and detail work which contributed largely to its very 
existence. While Mr. Kelley must always be regarded 
as the founder of the Grange idea, Miss Hall's mother- 
ing in those early days enabled the infant to survive 
childhood. 

These founders of the Order for nearly two years 
labored with great energy and with a faith and zeal 
amounting almost to inspiration, until, with the assist- 
ance of friends who became interested, they completed 
a well-devised scheme of organization, based upon a 
ritual of four degrees for men and four for women, 
which is unsurpassed in the English language for or- 
iginality of thought, purity of sentiment, and beauty 
of diction. Having formed a constitution to govern 
the Order, these men met on December 4, 1867, and 
constituted themselves the National Grange of the Pa- 
trons of Husbandry, with William Saunders as master; 
J. R. Thompson, lecturer; William M. Ireland, treasurer, 
and O. H. Kelley, secretary. The remaining offices for 
obvious reasons were left vacant. The first Subordinate 
Grange was organized in Washington, D. C, January 
8, 1868, as a school of instruction, with William M. Ire- 
land as master. 

The little brown building in which the organization 
was effected was at that time the office of Mr. Saunders, 
and stood embowered with the trees in the gardens of 
the Agricultural Department on the corner of 4^ street 
and Missouri avenue. Later the late Colonel Aiken, of 
South Carolina, and other members of the Order, made 
vigorous efforts to have the government preserve this 
historic building, but thev were unsuccessful. 

In February, 1868, Mr. Bartlett, of Madison, Ohio, 
wrote: "In the organization of this Order we will be 
expected to initiate mighty reforms, and the world will 
be disappointed if we do not. Here may be inaugurated 
the idea of equality between the sexes by simply remov- 
ing the disabilities," and in this, as all else, they were 
fully a quarter of a century ahead of their time. Early 
in 1868 Mr. Kelley decided to give up all other business 
and devote his entire time to the establishment of the 
Order, and April 3rd he left Washington for Harris- 
burg, Pennsylvania, for that purpose. This measure 
was strongly opposed by his more conservative asso- 
ciates, but with supreme faith in the ultimate success 
of his plan, and little dreaming of the years of hard 
work before him, he left Washington with only two 
dollars and a half of Grange funds and a ticket for 
Harrisburg. Failing in his effort to establish a Grange 
there, but obtaining some financial aid, and granting a 
dispensation for a Grange, he came on to Penn Yan, 
New York, where another effort was made which also 




i: BUILDING, t'HAUTAUQU. 



PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY 



365 



failed. From there he went to Wayne, Steuben county, 
the home of F. M. McDowell, who was the representa- 
tive of New York among the founders, and ever a 
staunch supporter of the cause. Here he received a 
warm welcome and many cheering words which helped 
him to endure the dark hours of the struggle, for as 
he tersely expresses it, "the Order of Patrons of Hus- 
bandry ought to endure, for it was founded upon the 
solid rock of poverty, than which there can be nothing 
harder." 

A. S. Moss, of Fredonia, had become greatly interest- 
ed in the plan and succeeded in interesting many other 
Chautauqua people, so to him Mr. Kelley next appealed. 
He arrived in Fredonia on April 15 and the next day, 
April 16, 1868, having at last found broad and liberal 
minded men ready to back their faith with their money 
and their influence, he organized Fredonia Grange. 

The first State Grange, that of Minnesota, was or- 
ganized February 22, 1869, but the new Order grew 
slowly until 1872, when it had an existence in twenty-two 
States. 1873 and 1874 were years of wonderful growth, 
and in 1875, at the annual meeting held in Louisville, 
Kentucky, Secretary Kelley reported that the Order had 
issued in the United States alone 24,290 charters to sub- 
ordinate bodies. Iowa led all other States in 1873, with 
754 Granges. New York is now the banner State with 
(January I, 1920) 915 subordinate granges, and a total 
membership of 127,966, a net gain for the year 1919 of 
6,377 members. 

In 1875 the Order was stronger in the Southern States ; 
later, New England was the leading section, then the 
Middle States stronger than elsewhere, but now it is 
strong everywhere in the Union, and the dream of the 
founder has come true, and Granges with the "tie that 
binds" are scattered from Maine to California and from 
Washington to Texas, teaching the value of organiza- 
tion and fraternity. 

At the Pan-American Exposition the New York State 
Grange, assisted by the National Grange, established a 
"headquarters" which proved very successful. It was 
under the management of a Chautauqua county woman 
(Mrs. B. B. Lord), and was one of the most popular 
resting places on the grounds. More than 36,000 names 
were registered of those who accepted the courtesies 
of Grange hospitality, and that was only a small portion 
of those who came to the building and were in some 
way reminded that the Patrons of Husbandry were 
keeping "open house" for the "good of the order" and 
of mankind. 

Oliver H. Kelley, the founder, after serving the Na- 
tional Grange as secretary several years, about 1878 in- 
terested himself in building a town named Carabelle, in 
honor of his niece, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. He 
commenced there in a Sibley tent in the forest eighteen 
miles from a neighbor. Fifteen years later there was 
a town of about 1,000 inhabitants, with churches, 
schools, sawmills, hotels, daily mail, in fact most modern 
improvements. The tract contained several thousand 
acres of land and not a dollar debt on it. Later he 
removed to Washington, D. C, Kalorama Road, where 
he was called to "Cross the Bar," after eighty-seven 
years of tossing on life's changing seas. 

Under call of the National Grange Secretary, twenty 
masters of subordinate granges in the State of New 
York met in Syracuse, November 6, 1873, to form a 
State organization. A constitution and by-laws were 
adopted, and George Dexter Hinckley, second master 
of Fredonia Grange No. I, was chosen worthy master. 
The first regular session of the New York State Grange 
was held in Albany, March 18, 1874, continuing four 



days, 165 granges being represented by their masters. 
Walter C. Gifford and Sherman J. Lowell, Chautauqua 
county men, have also served as masters of the State 
Grange, and at the last meeting of the National Grange, 
Sherman J. Lowell was called to the high office of 
worthy master of the National Grange, an office he is 
now filling (1920). 

In the year 1875, seven years after the establishment 
of Fredonia Grange No. I, a meeting was held at Broc- 
ton, September 24. At that meeting Chautauqua County 
Pomona Grange was formed by the members present, 
representing the subordinate granges at Fredonia, Sher- 
man, Stockton, Ross Mills, Westfield, Sheridan and 
Portland. George D. Hinckley of Fredonia Grange and 
then worthy master of the New York State Grange, 
was elected chairman, and George E. Ryckman secre- 
tary. The fifth degree was conferred on the delegates 
present by Worthy Master Hinckley. The delegates 
then preceeded to the election of officers : J. E. Otta- 
way, worthy master; A. P. Phillips, worthy overseer; 
E. S. McCollough, worthy lecturer ; E. S. Crossgrove, 
worthy steward ; E. A. Ross, worthy assistant steward ; 
H. C. Van Schoonhoven, worthy chaplain ; C. W. Bur- 
ton, worthy treasurer; G. E. Ryckman, worthy secre- 
tary ; George E. Bates, worthy gatekeeper ; C. W. Bur- 
ton, Worthy Pomona ; D. Convis, Worthy Flora ; E. S. 
McCullough, Worthy Ceres ; Mrs. Charles Hall, worthy 
assistant steward. 

The Order has prospered in the county, and from the 
Journal of Proceedings of the New York State Grange 
held in Rochester, February 3, 4, 5, 6, 1920, it is gather- 
ed that Chautauqua county with 34 granges and 8,830 
members, is the banner county of the State. The gain in 
membership for the Grange year ending September 30, 
1919, was 242. Chautauqua county, the home of the 
first grange, got a start in the race for membership, 
which she now retains, although she has not always led. 

At the annual meeting of Pomona Grange held at 
Cherry Creek, January 15-16, 1891, Albert A. Van 
Vleck was elected secretary, and at each annual meeting 
since that time he has been reelected, his last election 
in 1920. 

At the annual meeting held in Ashville, January 14-15, 
1892, Mrs. Albert A. Van Vleck, wife of the secretary, 
was elected assistant secretary, and she too has been 
annually reelected until the present (1920). The sub- 
ordinate granges of the county here follow in the order 
of their establishment; the membership figures are for 
the grange year, ending September 30, 1919: 

Fredonia Grange, No 1, holds the enviable distinc- 
tion of being the first regularly chartered subordinate 
grange in the world. Since its organization by Oliver 
H. Kelley, April 16, 1868, the grange has had a won- 
derful growth, and at the last official report, Septem- 
ber 30, 1919, was still the banner grange of Chautau- 
qua county, having 735 members. Union Grange, 
Jamestown, the nearest competitor having 732. When 
O. H. Kelley, "the founder," paid Fredonia Grange a 
visit, April 2, 1869, he was met by a grange one hun- 
dred strong, and was tendered a banquet in a beauti- 
ful hall, and sent on his way rejoicing. The grange 
celebrated its twenty-fifth birthday, one of the fea- 
tures of the celebration being the presence of "Foun- 
der" Kelley, who had been brought from his Florida 
home through the efforts of Mrs. Bela B. Lord, a lead- 
ing member, State lecturer, and indefatigable work- 
er for the good of the order. 

The golden anniversary was also celebrated in a 
fitting manner, and the "mother grange" is now enjoy- 
ing middle-age prosperity, having passed her fifty- 
second birthday, with 735 members. As this is the 
"mother grange" a list of charter members enrolled at 
the second meeting held April 21, 1868, will be of inter- 
est: A. S. Moss, U. B. Dodge, T. S. Hubbard, Louis 
M.Kinstry, J. J. Parker, D. Fairbanks. M. S. Wood- 
ford, Willard McKinstry, H. Stiles, William H. Stevens, 



366 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



J Wellman, N. G. Butts, N. L. Payne, and Ira Porter. 
To this list there were added G. D. Hinckley, A. F. 
Taylor R W. Gardner, Erastus Bartholomew, Lewis 
T. "Parker and K. W. Forbes. 

At the second meeting, officers were elected: U. J!i. 
Dodge was elected the first master of Fredonia Grangre 
Xo 1 and up to his death, at the age of 86 years, on 
January 5, 1909, Mr. Dodge took an active part in the 
affairs of the grange. 

Portland Grange, No. 2. organized by Ira Porter, with 
30 charter members, Feb. 7, 1874; reorganized Feb. 
23. 1SS8, bv Walter C. Gifford; now has a membership 
of 2S7. 

Sherman Grange, Xo. 36. 327 members. 

Rip'.ev Grange, Xo. 65, 309 members. 

Westfleld Bra iil-., . N,,. mo. no m.-ml.ers. 

Clymer Grange, Xo. 169, organized 1874, with 15 char- 
ter members; now has membership of 350. 

Sheridan Grange. Xo. 235, organized Sept. 10, 1874: 
reorganized June 22, 1889; has 312 members. 

Si.,lman Grange. Xo. 241, organized Oct. 9, 1874; 
won Pomona Grange banner for the largest increase 
in membership in 1912; has 196 members. 

Union Grange (Jamestown). Xo. 244; organized Oct. 
10 1874, with 32 members; present membership, 732, 
three less than Fredonia. ■ ,„,_.., ,„-- 

Ross Grange, Xo. 305. organized March 11, 18 1 5, 
with 26 members; present membership. 95. 

Stockton Grange. Xo. 316, organized March 27, 1875; 
present membership, 275. . 

E I. rv Grange. Xo. 353; organized 1876. with 2o 
members; now 145 members. 

Sinclairville Grange, Xo. 401, organized April 20, 
1S76 with 25 members; now numbers 202 members. 

Gerry Grange, Xo. 412, has membership of 140. 

Dewlttville Grange. Xo. 480, organized Jan. 14, 1884, 
with 19 members, present membership. 179. 

Kennedv Grange. Xo. 496, organized with 30 mem- 
bers; now has 226. 

South Harmony Grange, Xo. 525; present member- 
ship, 115. 

Panama Rocks Grange, Xo. 526; present membership, 

Cherry Creek Grange, Xo. 527; organized August 18, 
1887, with 28 members; now has 265. 

Ellington Grange, Xo. 528. organized Sept. 9, 1887, 
with 18 members; now has 177. 

Chautauqua Grange, No. 571; present membership, 

Hanover Grange, No. 595, organized Sept. 14, 1889, 
■with 21 members; now has 386. 

Villenova Grange, Xo. 604; present membership. 147. 

Centralia Grange. Xo. 612; won Pomona Grange 
prize membership banner three years in succession, 
and thereby became its permanent owner. Present 
membership, 320. 

Cassadaga Grange, Xo. 659, organized March 4, 1890, 
with 51 members; now has 275. 

Charlotte Center Grange, Xo. 669, organized March 
29, 1895; present membership, 216. 

Harmony Grange, Xo. 694; present membership, 274. 

Lombard Grange. No. 714; 121 members 

Busti Grange, Xo. 909, organized Sept. 25, 1901, with 
15 members; now has 188. . 

South Riplev Grange, Xo. 1032. organized Feb. 10, 
1905, with 40 members; now has 76. 

Findlev Lake Grange, Xo. 1129. organized Feb. 21, 
190S, with 63 members; now has 276. The grange suf- 
fered the loss of books, regalia and grange furniture 

in 19i2 - 

Niobe Grange, No. 1215; present membership, lOi. 

Arkwright Center Grange, Xo. 1249, organized 1910; 
present membership, 188. 

Frewsburg Grange, No. 1264. the baby member of 
Chautauqua County Pomona Grange; has 194 mem- 

This completes a total of 34 granges, with a mem- 
bership of 8830. 

Chautauqua County Pomona Grange was organized 
in Brocton, in 1875, and carries the distinction of being 
the first "Pomona Grange" to elect a woman to the office 
of master — Mrs. Bela B. Lord, who was State lecturer 
of New York State Grange. Her husband, Bela B. 
Lord, of Sinclairville, also a leading member of the 
Order. The action of Pomona Grange opened the door 
for the recognition of other women, and made real 
that tenet of the Order which declares women are 
eligible to any office in the Grange. Women equally 
with men have been benefitted by the Grange, and per- 
haps the assertion is true that it has been even "more 



helpful." "Grange Day" has long been an annual feature 
of the Chautauqua Institution and has been a factor 
in the educational uplift of Grange members. Special 
privileges have been granted them by the officials of the 
Institution and their welcome to the grounds is hearty 
and real. 

At the Annual Grange Day in August, 1903, the 
Grange Temple at Chautauqua was dedicated with suit- 
able ceremonies. The Chautauqua management present- 
ed a site to Chautauqua County Pomona Grange for a 
building to serve as headquarters for the order for all 
time. A member of the Order, Cyrus E. Jones, of 
Union Grange, No. 244, Jamestown, erected the Temple 
as a memorial to his father, Rev. Emory Jones, an 
early Wesleyan Methodist minister of Chautauqua 
county. In presenting the Temple, Mr. Jones said that 
"he would rather the tillers of the soil should enjoy 
its blessings than any one else," and that the gift was 
also a "token of his appreciation of his boyhood friend 
and uncle, Thomas H. Gifford, whose work had been 
helpful to the Order." The Temple was accepted in 
the name of the Patrons of Husbandry by E. B. Norris, 
of Wayne county, New York, master of the New York 
State Grange. Vice-chancellor George E. Vincent wel- 
comed the Grange visitors to the grounds, Mrs. Bela B. 
Lord, State lecturer, responding. Aaron Jones of South 
Bend, Indiana, master of the National Grange, then 
dedicated the building, and later in the day delivered an 
address. The Temple is located on Simpson avenue. 

At a meeting of Pomona Grange held in Jamestown in 
July, 1877, the question of organizing a Patrons Fire 
Relief Association in Chautauqua county was intro- 
duced by George D. Hinckley, then master of New 
York State Grange. He offered for consideration the 
by-laws of a similar association formed in Seneca coun- 
ty, and later a committee of three, George E. Bates, G. 
W. Rugg and R. V. Love, to whom the matter was 
referred, reported in favor of adopting the by-laws of 
the Seneca County Association. The worthy master, 
W. H. Scott, then appointed one member from each 
grange as a director to perfect the organization of the 
Patrons Fire Relief Association in Chautauqua County. 
At a special meeting of Pomona Grange held in Sin- 
clairville August 24, 1877, officers of the Association 
were elected : A. A. Stevens of Sinclairville Grange, 
president ; Walter C. Gifford of Union Grange, James- 
town, secretary; G. E. Ryckman of Portland Grange, 
treasurer. The management of the Association is vested 
in a board of directors, one now being chosen from each 
grange with the exception of Union Grange which has 
two. The board of directors elects its own officers. 
There are about 7,500 farms in Chautauqua county and 
of these 6,178 or over 80% are insured by the Associa- 
tion, the forty-third annual report for the year 1919 
showing in force January 1, 1920, policies on property 
of Patrons aggregating $15,931,130. Expenses during 
the year 1919, exclusive of losses and rebates, did not 
exceed 38 cents per $1,000 of insurance. The Associa- 
tion is a member of the New York State Central Or- 
ganization of Cooperative Fire Insurance. Albert A. 
Van Vleck is president of the Patrons Fire Relief As- 
sociation in Chautauqua County ; Jared Hewes now and 
for thirty years secretary. President Van Vleck is also 
secretary of Chautauqua Pomona Grange, an office he 
has held twenty-nine years, 1891-1920. 

Although but little over fifty years of age the Order, 
Patrons of Husbandry, has become a solid national in- 
stitution. It has met a want of rural communities and 
has amply justified the hopes of its founders. It has 
successfully demonstrated the ability of the farmers to 
organize for mutual benefit and has proved otherwise 



PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY 



367 



a blessing, for the Grange spirit is one of love and help- 
fulness, and its value as an organized force for good 
cannot be over-estimated. So long as it shall be true 
to its mission, the moral and educational uplift of its 
members, and true to its spirit of fraternity, friendship 
and faith, so long will it flourish and scatter blessings 
along the pathway of its members. Small in its beginning 
and of little force, now strong and influential, the Order 
is becoming more and more the farmers' spokesman. In 
his address to the State Grange in its 47th annual ses- 
sion in Rochester, New York, February 3, 1920, Worthy 
Master Sherman J. Lowell in his peroration said : 

"As my parting word let me picture the Grange. It 

Is whatever you make it, not-hing more. It is your 
belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may 
become. It lives a changing life, a life of words and 
passions, of heart breaks and tired muscles. Some- 
times it is strong with pride, when men do honest 
work. Sometimes it is loud and garish and full of 
pride that blasts judgment. But always it is all you 
hope it to be or you have the courage to try for. It 
is your hopes and fears, struggle and panic. It is the 



day's work of the weakest and the dream of the most 
daring. It is the battle of yesterday and the mistake 
of to-morrow. It is the mystery of those who do with- 
out knowing why, the birth of ideas and the purpose 
of resolutions. It is no more than what you believe 
it to be and all you believe it to be it can be. It is 
what you make it, nothing more." 

The following are the officers of Chautauqua Pomona 
Grange now in office (1920) : Worthy master, John Cal- 
houn, Mayville ; overseer, Rollin L. Cass, Frewsburg; 
lecturer, Ernest Engdahl, Sinclairville ; steward, Clar- 
ence Albro, Busti ; chaplain, Mildred Kolpien, Ripley; 
treasurer, Leonard G. Erainard, Ellington; secretary. 
Albert A. Van Yleck, Jamestown ; gate keeper, Russell 
D. Woodward, Stockton; Flora, Mildred Rhoades, Ell- 
ington; Pomona, Nettie Crandall, Jamestown; Ceres, 
Minnie Albro, Busti ; lady assistant steward, Evona 
Beary, of Westfield. Executive Committee : Alfred H. 
Blaisdell of Cherry Creek, Elizabeth M. Geiger, of Dun- 
kirk. Tared Hewes, of Ashville. County deputy, Arthur 
L. Richardson, of Watts Flats. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY BANKS. 
By C. W. Herrick. 



In 1831 there were no banking facilities in James- 
town or elsewhere in Chautauqua county, and the near- 
est bank to the county was the branch of the United 
States Bank at Buffalo, and in all the southern tier of 
counties there was no bank west of the Hudson, al- 
though at Lockport in western New York there was a 
State bank. Jamestown was then a village of one 
thousand people, but was already looked upon as a com- 
mercial center for the counties of Chautauqua and 
Cattaraugus and for a portion of northwestern Penn- 
sylvania. Therefore the need of a bank was felt in 
Jamestown, and this, with that other known fact that 
bank stock yielded good returns, made the organization 
of the Chautauqua County Bank an easy task for Judge 
Elial T. Foote and Judge Richard P. Marvin, two most 
eminent men, who were prominent in organizing that 
first of all Chautauqua financial institutions. Their 
efforts were warmly seconded by other leading men of 
the county, and the stock, $100,000, was largely over- 
subscribed. At a meeting of the first board of directors 
held at the tavern in Jamestown kept by Jones & Son, 
Judge Elial T. Foote, the leading physician of the 
village a county judge for a quarter of a century, and 
a capable man of affairs, was elected president, his only 
salary a fee for signing bank bills. Oliver Lee was 
elected vice-president, and Arid Joy, cashier. Judge 
Foote served as president of the bank until June 5, 
1835, when he was succeeded by Major Samuel Bar- 
rett, a former vice-president, who continued the execu- 
tive head of the bank for thirty-seven years, until his 
death in 1872. The third president was Robert New- 
land, who assumed the duties of the office August 4, 
1872, holding until he resigned on account of ill-health 
in May. 1890. President Newland was connected with 
the bank fifty-seven years, coming in at the age of 
twenty-five and serving as bookkeeper, teller, cashier, 
vice-president, and president. Daniel Griswold suc- 
ceeded Mr. Newland as president, serving until 1899. 
Elliot C. Hall was president for a few months, he 
being succeeded in May, 1899, by Charles M. Dow, the 
present incumbent (August 1, 1920). The directors 
present at the first meeting, June 24, 1831, were: Lev- 
erett Barker, Oliver Lee, Thos. B. Campbell, Wm. 
Peacock, Daniel Sherman, James Hall, Elial T. Foote, 
Jedediah E. Budlong, Abner Hazeltine, and Richard 



P. Marvin. The first banking hours were 10-12 a. m. 
and 2-4 p. m., and directors' meetings were held every 
Thursday at 7 p. m. at Jones & Son's tavern, with 
finance committee meetings twice a week. 

The Chautauqua County Bank existed as a State in- 
stitution until in October, 1865, it was converted into the 
Chautauqua County National Bank, and remained a 
part of the national banking system until June 18, 1896, 
when it absorbed the business of the City National Bank, 
and continued operations under the name of the Chau- 
tauqua County Trust Company. In July, 1899, the 
capital was increased, and the business of the James- 
town National Bank acquired, and in 1905 the Chau- 
tauqua County Trust Company was merged into the 
present National Chautauqua County Bank organiza- 
tion. 

Since its organization in 1831, the bank has oc- 
cupied its present location at the corner of Main and 
Second streets, the temporary structure which first 
housed the bank having stood on the rear of the pres- 
ent lot fronting on Second street. Throughout its 
eighty-nine years of successful existence, the bank has 
maintained its identity as the "Chautauqua County 
Bank." It has now a capital of $500,000, and is ably 
officered by Charles M. Dow, president; Shelden B. 
Broadhead, Fletcher Goodwill and Howard Dow, vice- 
presidents; Arthur W. Swan, cashier; Walter A. Ed- 
son, trust officer; C. Lynn Rowley and Harry E. Wil- 
liams, assistant cashiers. 

First National Bank of Silver Creek— The second 
bank organized in the county was in 1838, when the 
Silver Creek Bank sprang into being with a capital stock 
of $100,000, Oliver Lee president, he having been the 
first vice-president of the Chautauqua County Bank at 
Jamestown. Mr. Lee was the principal stockholder of 
the bank, and its president until his death, July 28, 1846. 
He was succeeded by George W. Tew, a lawyer, twice 
county clerk, and cashier of the Silver Creek Bank, 
1841-46. Mr. Tew continued executive head until his 
death in 1875, the bank being discontinued soon there- 
after. 

After the Silver Creek Bank closed, Theodore Stewart 
and Carlos Ewell operated as private bankers under the 
name of the Silver Creek Banking Company, Mr. 
Stewart having come to Silver Creek a young man of 



368 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



twenty to work in the Silver Creek Bank. They con- 
tinued until the opening of the State Bank of Silver 
Creek, May 22, 1899. capital $25,000, R. I. Quale, presi- 
dent ; Theodore Stewart, cashier. Later Mr. Stewart 
became president. The bank reorganized as the First 
National Bank of Silver Creek in 1912, Theodore Stew- 
art continuing president until his retirement from the 
bank, July 16, 1916. Then he was succeeded by W. W. 
Chamberlain, who died in August, 1920, and succeeded 
by H. P. Burgard. The first cashier after reorganiza- 
tion was V. T. Stewart, succeeded by M. P. Wilson, he 
by W. M. Buckholtz, and he by the present cashier, L. 
G. Horton, who came to that office in November, 1919. 
The officers of the bank are: Henry P. Burgard, presi- 
dent; C. W. Grasho, vice-president; L. G. Horton, 
cashier; H. S. Pratt, assistant cashier. The bank is 
capitalized at $50,000. Surplus $50,000— has deposits of 
$675,280.08, and resources totaling $826,300.36. 

The National Bank of Westfield is the successor 
of the First National Bank of Westfield, which in turn 
succeeded the original Bank of Westfield. The Bank 
of Westfield opened its doors for business May 25, 
1848, in Squire Smith's little office building, next to the 
Methodist church on Main street, but soon moved to the 
second floor of what is now J. H. Kenney's Shoe Store. 
When the Brewer block was built in 1864 it moved 
across the street to a room in the northwest corner of 
the block on Main street and the Common. Since that 
date its business has been done continuously in the 
Brewer block. With the increased business of the bank 
it gradually pushed back, from the little corner room 
and a small vault, occupying successively two rooms, 
then three rooms and two vaults and finally the whole 
ground floor of what was formerly the bank building. 
In 1916 the bank acquired the Husted building next door 
east. It let a contract to combine the two buildings and 
thus secure new, adequate and modern quarters. On 
December 7, 1918, the bank moved to temporary quar- 
ters and exactly four months later returned to its re- 
modeled home. 

Officers— Frank W. Crandall, president; Alburn E. 
Skinner, G. Patterson Crandall, vice-presidents; Ed- 
ward D. Reagan, cashier; Frank P. Wolfe, assistant 
cashier. The bank is capitalized at $50,000; has de- 
posits, $1,226,821.98; resources, $1,399,671.98; surplus and 
profits, $71,700. 

The Jamestown Bank— Jamestown continued a one 
bank town until 1853, when the Jamestown Bank was 
organized, Alonzo Kent, president; J. E. Mayhew, 
cashier. That bank was succeeded by the First National 
Bank of Jamestown, incorporated April 5, 1864, with 
the same officers and Alonzo Kent, Orsell Cook, Reuben 
E. Fenton, Galusha A. Grow, and Sardius Steward, 
directors. Alonzo Kent resigned the presidency in July, 
1881, and was succeeded by Reuben E. Fenton, states- 
man and financier, who served until his death, August 
25, 1885. Mr. Kent was re-elected president January 
4, 1886, and served until his death, May 25, 1888, when 
Frank E. Gifford was elected president and is still 
holding. J. Edward Mayhew, the first cashier in 1853, 
continued in that position under all changes until his 
death in 1885. He was succeeded by Edward Morgan. 
The capital stock of the company is $153,300; the 
officers : Frank E. Gifford, president ; Harry P. Sheldon, 
vice-president; Almet N. Broadhead, vice-president; 
Frank E. Felt, cashier. The bank building is located 
on East Third street, Nos. 2-6; deposits, $1,917,422.19; 
total resources, $2,646,187.22. 

The Lake Shore Bank of Dunkirk was organized 
in 1854 by Truman R. Coleman, president, and Langley 
Fullagar, cashier, with a capital of $100,000. At the 



death of Mr. Coleman in 1884, William T. Coleman, his 
son, became president, and upon Mr. Fullagar's resigna- 
tion the same year, A. J. Lunt became cashier. In 1883 
the bank reorganized as the Lake Shore National Bank, 
and in 1891, on the death of William T. Coleman, M. 
L. Hinman became president, serving until 1896, when he 
resigned, A. H. Marsh then succeeding to the presi- 
dency. The capital stock of the bank is $105,000. Mr. 
Marsh was succeeded in the presidency of Alfred J. 
Lunt, who is still the executive head. Other officers 
(August 1, 1920) are: Clark Bloss, vice-president; Ed- 
ward Madigan, cashier; Thomas D. Lunt and Shirley 
T. Coleman, assistants to the cashier ; Robert E. Gal- 
braith, trust officer. Capital stock, $105,000; deposits, 
$2,099,057.35 ; resources, $2,588,102.00. The bank is lo- 
cated in its own building at the corner of Third street 
and Central avenue. 

The Fredonia Bank was organized in 1856 with a 
capital of $100,000, Rosell Greene, president; Orson 
Stiles, vice-president ; Stephen M. Clement, cashier ; 
directors — Rosell Greene, George W. Tew. Joel R. 
Parker, Edmund Day, Calvin Hutchinson, Philander 
Sprague, Chauncey Abbey, Orson Stiles, Stephen M. 
Clement, Henry C. Frisbee, Abner Clark, Charles Bur- 
ritt. In 1859 Orson Stiles was elected president to suc- 
ceed Rosell Greene, deceased. 

The Fredonia National Bank was organized with a 
capital of $50,000, Orson Stiles, president; Chauncey 
Abbey, vice-president ; Stephen M. Clement, cashier. 
In 1867 Mr. Clement resigned to accept the position of 
cashier of the Marine Bank of Buffalo, and was also 
elected president of the Fredonia National Bank. H. C. 
Clark was chosen vice-president, and as Mr. Clement 
elected to give his time to the Marine Bank largely. Mr. 
Clark was virtually president of the Fredonia National. 
In 1881 Mr. Clement disposed of his interests in the 
Fredonia National Bank, and was succeeded in the presi- 
dency by Chauncey Abbey, the vice-president's office 
being filled by Aaron O. Putnam. In 1861 the capital 
was increased to $100,000, and in 1894, at the death of 
Chauncey Abbey, he was succeeded in the presidency 
by Aaron O. Putnam, who held that office until his death 
in February, 1896. Mr. Putnam was succeeded by 
Ralph H. Hall, and in 1898 Oscar W. Johnson was suc- 
ceeded as vice-president by Henry W. Thompson, who 
in 1002 gave way to Dr. M. M. Fenner. The bank 
continued in business until 1905, when complications 
arose, and liquidation followed. 

The Second National Bank of Jamestown was 
organized with $100,000 capita! in 1865 ; Thomas D. 
Hammond, president; William H. Tew, vice-president; 
George W. Tew, Jr., cashier. President Hammond re- 
signed in 1869 and was succeeded by William H. Tew, 
George W. Tew, Jr., becoming vice-president, and Willis 
Tew cashier. There were several changes in official 
personnel, and in 1875 the name of the institution was 
changed to the City National Bank. William H. Tew 
resigned his presidency in 1879 and was succeeded by 
Martin L. Fenton, who held one year, his successor in 
1880 being George W. Tew, Willis Tew becoming vice- 
president, Charles H. Tew, cashier. In 1888 Herbert 
W. Tew succeeded Charles H. Tew as cashier, and 
in 1893 Willis Tew succeeded George W. Tew as presi- 
dent. On June 16, 1896, the City National Bank was 
absorbed by the Chautauqua County Trust Company. 

The Merchants National Bank of Dunkirk was 
founded in 1882 with a capital of $100,000, Langley 
Fullagar, president, John H. Lascelles, cashier. Presi- 
dent Fullagar was later compelled to resign through ill 
health, and was succeeded by Stephen M. Clement, 
cashier, and later president of the Marine Bank of 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY BANKS 



369 



Buffalo, and a one-time president of the Fredonia Na- 
tional Bank. In 1892 Mr. Lascelles resigned to become a 
cashier of the Marine Bank of Buffalo, of which he 
is now president. He was succeeded as cashier by Peter 
J. Mulholland, and he by Henry H. Droege. Stephen 
M. Clement was succeeded in the presidency by Charles 
D. Murray, who about 1905 gave way to Robert J. 
Gross. On January 1, 1919, Henry H. Droege, cashier, 
was advanced to the president's office, James M. Madigan 
becoming cashier. The bank is located in its own build- 
ing, corner of Main and Third streets, which was 
erected in 1906. Deposits, $3,470,425.41 ; resources, 
$4,474,757.53. On January 1st, 1920, the capital was in- 
creased to $250,000. The surplus was made $250,000, 
and the undivided profits $175,000. 

The Jamestown National Bank was organized in 
1888 with a capital of $100,000, Charles M. Dow, presi- 
dent; Charles H. Gifford, vice-president; M. M. Skiff, 
cashier. All the officials of the bank continued in office 
until its consolidation with the Chautauqua County 
Trust Company July 1, 1899, except Charles H. Gifford, 
who resigned to accept the presidency of the Farmers 
and Mechanics Bank. The bank had a successful ex- 
istence of eleven years, having a surplus of $100,000 at 
the time it was absorbed by the Chautauqua County- 
Trust Company. 

The State Bank of Sherman was organized in 1890 
with a capital of $25,000; E. Sperry, president; C. H. 
Corbett, vice-president; H. F. Young, cashier. Mr. 
Sperry was succeeded in the presidency by A. J. Dean 
in 1894, holding until January, 1900, when he resigned. 
J. L. Thayer was the next president, and the present 
officers are: I. O. Ottoway, president; L. D. Gale, 
vice-president; William H. Phear, Jr., cashier; Jennie 
D. Ottoway, assistant cashier. The total deposits 
amount to $601,351.72; resources, $673,918.01. 

The Cherry Creek National Bank had its beginning 
in 1890, when E. B. Crissey opened a private bank in the 
village of Cherry Creek, doing business as E. B. Crissey, 
Banker. Harlow J. Crissey was associated with this 
bank for some years as cashier. In 1914 the business 
was reorganized, and the Cherry Creek National Bank 
chartered with $25,000 capital. The officers are : Har- 
old E. Crissey, president; C. L. Edwards, vice-presi- 
dent; Nora B. Lake, cashier; Samuel N. Smith, assist- 
ant cashier. Total deposits of various kinds, $297,- 
173.89 ; total resources, $365,895.52. 

The Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Jamestown 
was organized and opened for business in February, 
1891, with a capital of $100,000, with the following 
officers: E. B. Crissey, president; Fred T. Powell, vice- 
president; Geo. S. Gifford, cashier; and W. R. Botsford, 
assistant cashier. The banking office was in the New 
Gifford building in Brooklyn Square. In 1892 Charles 
H. Gifford was elected president. May 1st, 1893, M. M. 
Skiff became cashier, and in 1894 W. R. Botsford suc- 
ceeded to that position. In 1897, Newton Crissey was 
elected president, E. B. Crissey, vice-president, and 
Harlow J. Crissey, cashier. In June, 1898, the bank 
removed to its present location at 215 Main street, con- 
tinuing under the active management of E. B. Crissey 
until his death in 1908. O. Nelson Rushworth was 
elected cashier in 1900, and succeeded to the presidency 
in 190S, a position he still holds (1920). Other officers 
are: Harold E. Crissey, vice-president; Albert E. Apple- 
yard, cashier; R. E. Miller, assistant cashier. 

The capital stock is $600,000, with surplus $200,000, 
and undivided profits nearly $100,000. Total resources, 
$5,466,073.05. _ . 

The State Bank of Mayville was organized in 
1891, succeeding Skinner, Minton & Company, private 
Chau— 24 



bankers. The capital stock was $25,000. C. C. Minton, 
president ; J. F. Hunt, vice-president ; C. R. Cipperly, 
cashier. The present officials (1920) are: F. W. 
Crandall, president; E. D. Reagan, vice-president; H. 
J. Lockwood, cashier; M. D. Fox, F. C. Whitney, as- 
sistant cashiers. 

The bank has deposits totaling $694,078.73 ; capital and 
surplus Sept. 1, 1920, $71,635.83; resources, $779,853-50- 

State Bank of Brocton — In 1885, Herman J. Dean 
and Ralph A. Hall organized the firm of Dean & Hall, 
under the banking laws of the State of New York, for 
the purpose of doing a banking business in the village 
of Brocton. This firm continued until 1892, when the 
State Bank of Brocton was organized with a capital of 
$30,000, and was granted a charter by the banking de- 
partment, the State Bank of Brocton taking over the as- 
sets of Dean & Hall. The first officers of the bank were: 
Ralph A. Hall, president; Herman J. Dean, vice-presi- 
dent; Lewis D. Sullivan, cashier; Brewer D. Phillips, 
assistant cashier. Mr. Phillips continued his connection 
with the bank until June, 1896, when he resigned to take 
the office of cashier of the Chautauqua County National 
Bank of Jamestown. 

In 1919 the State Bank of Brocton increased its 
capital to $45,000, and at this date have deposits of 
$519,414.43, with total resources of $640,746.25. Mr. 
Hall continued as president until August, 191 1, when 
he disposed of his stock to John R. Droney. The pres- 
ent officers are: John R. Droney, president; Lewis D. 
Sullivan, vice-president ; Walter N. Clark, cashier ; Har- 
old R. Sullivan, assistant cashier. 

The Union Trust Company of Jamestown was 
chartered January 12, 1894, with $100,000 capital; E. B. 
Crissey, president; Frank Merz, cashier. James S. Pat- 
terson succeeded Mr. Crissey in the presidency June 19, 
1896, and held the office until his death, April 8, 1899. 
The next president, Frank Merz, the former cashier, has 
been continuously in office since. 

The capital stock was increased to $300,000 by a stock 
dividend, from the earnings, October 24, 1914, of $200,- 
000. A general banking business is transacted, and it has 
paid substantial dividends from the start, and has also 
laid up a surplus of $320,000. The present officers are : 
President, Frank Merz; vice-presidents, Frederick P. 
Hall, Arthur K. Briggs; cashier, Harry L. Briggs ; 
treasurer, George R. Butts. The company is located in 
its own building at No. 211 North Main street. 

Lavern W. Lazell & Company— In 1897 the private 
banking firm, Lavern W. Lazell & Company, began 
business at Stockton, with a capital of $10,000. The 
first president, Mr. Lazell, held that office until his 
death in 1919, and no successor has since been elected. 
E. L. Dennison, the first vice-president, is still (1920) 
in office. C. E. Olson, the present cashier, has been 
connected with the firm since 191 1, and since the death 
of Mr. Lazell has been the managing head. The office 
of assistant cashier is held by Melvin J. Olson. The 
last bank statement showed deposits of $103,092.01 ; re- 
sources, $117,854.21. 

The First National Bank at Falconer was or- 
ganized in 1900; E. B. Crissey, president; J. P. Clark, 
vice-president; E. H. Sample, cashier. The capital is as 
at first, $25,000, and the bank is located in its own 
building. No. 1 East Main street. Falconer. The 1920 
officers are: M. W. Neate, president; A. D. Bush, C. 
A. Carlson, vice-presidents; E. H. Sample, cashier; E. 
E. Sample, H. M. Cleland, assistant cashiers. Deposits, 
$587,200.73; resources, $649,518.45. 

'The First National Bank of Ripley began business 
as a national bank in 1902, but Ripley had a private bank 
as early as 1891. This private banking business was re- 



370 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



organized in 1902 as the First National Bank of Ripley, 
capital $25,000. The first officers of the national bank 
were: Edward A. Skinner, president; J. A. Skinner, 
vice-president; J. W. Burrows, cashier. The present 
(1920) officers are: F. W. Crandall, president; E. D. 
Reagan, vice-president; J. W. Burrows, cashier; C. 
L. Barden and Mary E. Miller, assistant cashiers. The 
bank has deposits, demand and time, totaling $553.33543, 
with resources amounting to $651,021.94. In 1913 the 
Bank erected a fine building on the corner of Main and 
Lake streets, which is occupied solely by the Bank. 

The Bank of Jamestown was chartered May 1, 1903, 
under the State banking laws, with capital of $100,000, 
which has since been increased to $250,000. The first 
officers were: Fred A. Bentlev, president; Charles W. 
Herrick, Mason M. Skiff, Charles H. Gifford, vice- 
presidents ; Wright D. Broadhead, cashier ; William R. 
Botsford, assistant cashier. The original board of di- 
rectors were : Charles F. Abrahamson, Frank O. An- 
derson, Arthur A. Amidon, Fred A. Bentley, A. B. 
Carter. I. Delevan Curtiss, S. Morelle Cheney, Theodore 

A. Case, Milton H. Clark, Edward E. Duffee, Daniel 
Eisenberg, Martin L. Fenton, Charles H. Gifford, Hi- 
lance M. Gage, Tared Hewes, Peter H. Hoyt, Charles 
W. Herrick, William J. Maddox, Burt F. Merriam. S. 
Fred Nixon, Edgar P. Putnam, Mason M. Skiff, Albert 

B. Sheldon and Daniel A. Sullivan. The sixty-ninth 
quarterly report to the Superintendent of Banks made 
June 30, 1920, showed capital stock $250,000, surplus 
$350,000, total resources $4,321,064.69. and deposits 
$3,698,116.66. The first president, Fred A. Bentley, died 
in August, 1904, and was succeeded by Brewer D. Phil- 
lips, September, 1904. The present officers are : Brewer 
D. Phillips, president; Charles W. Herrick and William 
R. Botsford, vice-presidents; Lucian J. Warren, cashier; 
Archie G. Johnson and Burt H. Ruland, assistant cash- 
iers. The bank began business at No. 216 Main street, 
and there remained for sixteen years, removing then to 
the handsome modern bank building which they had 
caused to be erected at the corner of Main and Second 
streets. The new building was formally opened June 
23, 1919. 

The Citizens Trust Company of Fredonia was char- 
tered March 1, 1906, taking over at that time the busi- 
ness of the Citizens State Bank, organized August I, 
1004, by Horace M. Swetland. The first officers of the 
Citizens' Trust Company were : Harlow J. Crissey, pres- 
ident ; Fred W. Case, vice-president ; Ernest M. Corey, 
cashier. The present officers are : E. L. Colvin, presi- 
dent ; F. W. Case, E. N. Button, vice-presidents; H. L. 
Cumming, cashier ; H. A. Francis and R. P. Ross, as- 
sistants. The company does a general trust company and 
banking business, and the last statement made at the 
close of business, June 30, 1920, showed deposits of dif- 
ferent classes aggregating $1,324,171.36; resources, $1,- 
533.965-2I. 

1 he National Bank of Fredonia was organized as 
the Bank of Fredonia, January 2, 1906. In 1908 the 
bank was changed from a State to a National bank, 
under the name the National Bank of Fredonia, the 
original capital $50,000. The first officers were : Thomas 
Moran, president ; Richard Butcher and F. C. F. Sievert, 
vice-presidents ; Adam P. Chessman, cashier. On Janu- 
ary 1, 1920, the capital stock was increased to $100,000, 
and the same month Mr. Moran resigned the presi- 
dency, his health having become greatly impaired. He 
was succeeded by the former cashier, A. P. Chessman, 
who had been one of the organizers of the bank and 
connected with it ever since organization. Mr. Moran 
is the present chairman of the board of directors. The 
bank is a member of the Federal Reserve system, and 



transacts a general trust company business under the 
law authorizing Federal Reserve banks to do so in con- 
nection with a general banking business. The present 
officers are : A. P. Chessman, president ; F. C. F. Sievert 
and Albert F. French, vice-presidents ; George S. Nich- 
ols, cashier. Deposits June 30, 1920, $906,574.81 ; re- 
sources, $1,202,608.55. 

The American National Bank of Jamestown was 
organized early in 1910 as the Swedish-American Na- 
tional Bank, with $100,000 capital, and opened for busi- 
ness June 1 of that year at No. 100 Main street. The 
first officers were: W. D. Broadhead, president; J. D. 
Johnson, vice-president; Charles A. Okerlind, cashier; 
Harley F. Johnson, assistant cashier. Its first board of 
directors were: Alfred A. Anderson, Frank O. Ander- 
son, Dr. L. D. Bowman, L. M. Butman, Otto L. Bloom- 
quist, Wright D. Broadhead, Chas. L. Eckman, Chas. S. 
Grover, John D. Tohnson, Carl A. Lundquist, Warner F. 
Liedblad, Edward C. Nord, Chas. A. Okerlind, Emil 
F. Peterson, John Winnberg, Elof Rosencrantz, Wm. R. 
Reynolds, John Westrom. 

The bank is now (1920) located in its own building 
at 202-204 North Main street. The present officials 
are: President, Charles A. Okerlind, elected 1916; vice- 
president, Dr. Lester D. Bowman, elected 1914; cashi -r, 
H. F. Johnson, elected 1916; assistants, John A. Erick- 
son and Melin A. Okerlind. The present directors are: 
Alfred A. Anderson, Dr. Chas. E. Anderson, Andrew 
Benson, Dr. L. D. Bowman, Otto L. Bloomquist, Chas. 
L. Eckman, Adolf F. Johnson, Chas. A. Johnson, Carl 
A. Lundquist, Warner F. Liedblad, Edward C. Nord, 
Chas. A. Okerlind, Emil F. Peterson, C. A. Swanson, 
Curth A. Swanson, Hjalmar Swanson, John F. Westrom, 
and John Winnberg. 

In September, 1919, the Comptroller of the Currency 
approved the application made to change the corporate 
name from Swedish-American National Bank to Ameri- 
can National Bank, and for an increase of capital to 
$200,000, the present combined capital, surplus and un- 
divided profits being $326,510, with total resources of 
$2,780,700.91. Deposits, $2,205,809.59. 

The Clymer State Bank was chartered September 
30, 1910, with a capital of $25,000, and opened for busi- 
ness the following November 2nd. The first officers 
were : William Tenhousen, president ; Albert Neckers, 
Jr., vice-president ; H. F. Young, cashier. The present 
officers are: Albert Neckers, Jr., president; E. L. 
Caflisch, vice-president; H. F. Young, cashier, Ruth M. 
Neckers, C. S. Kooman, assistant cashiers. The bank 
has deposits of $391,574.36; resources, $440,555.59. 

The Silver Creek National Bank, "The White Bank 
on the Corner," opened its doors for business on Octo- 
ber 1, 1912, and has steadily grown in public esteem. 
The officers are : Jesse D. Denny, president ; Charles C. 
Horton, vice-president ; A. W. Guest, active vice-presi- 
dent ; A. J. Diefendorf, cashier; C. F. Grievish, assistant 
cashier. Deposits, December 31, 1919, were $870,307.00; 
total resources (same date), $1,139,932.00; capital, 
$50,000. The bank is located in its own building, with 
modern equipment. 

The First National Bank of Forestville dates 
from September 13, 1913, when with a capital of $25,000 
this next to the youngest national bank in the county 
was launched. The first officers were: J. C. Hutchin- 
son, president ; Albert G. Pierce, vice-president ; William 
E. Candee, cashier. After seven years of operation the 
1920 report shows deposits of different kinds, totaling 
$316,735.95, resources amounting to $422,071.27. The 
present officers are: W. H. Marvin, president; W. F. 
Miller, Charles A. Reynolds, vice-presidents; M. P. 
Wilson, cashier; Roscoe B. Martin, assistant cashier. 




Wb# .. O^AMSTAU Q.U A LAK£ 




)N THE ol'Tl.KT 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY BANKS 



37i 



The Sinclairville State Bank was organized Janu- 
ary 2, 1919, with $25,000 capital. The first officers are 
also the present ones : President, F. B. Putnam ; vice- 
presidents, J. H. Cummings, W. G. Prentice ; cashier, E. 
F. Irvin. The last statement (June 30, 1920) shows de- 
ports of $177,497.78; resources, $208,596.40. 

The Liberty National Bank, Jamestown, was or- 
ganized in June, 1919, with a capital of $200,000. The 
bank is located in the Wellman Building, corner of 
Third and Cherry streets, and is a member of the Fed- 
eral Reserve System of Banks. The bank began busi- 
ness July 1, 1919, and the first annual report made 
Jure 30, 1920, showed deposits of $779,147-57. total re- 
sources of $1,327,410.03. The officers are: Elmer E. 



Wellman, president; William R. Reynolds and Arthur 
B. Ottoway, vice-presidents ; James M. Dunbar, cashier ; 
Fred. V. Anderson, assistant cashier. 

The Dunkirk Trust Company of Dunkirk is the 
last member to be admitted to the banking fraternity 
of Chautauqua county and began business June 26, 1920, 
with $250,000 capital, and surplus of $125,000. The of- 
ficers of the institution which, as a member of the Fed- 
eral Reserve System is under both State and Federal 
control, are: Elton D. Warner, president; Thomas J. 
Cummings, vice-president ; W. T. McCaffrey, vice-presi- 
dent and treasurer; Robert R. Dew, secretary; Chester 
Cooley, assistant secretary-treasurer. 



STEAMBOATS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
By T. Henry Black. 



When a boy, living at Long Point, Lake Chautauqua, 
the writer became so interested in the steamers that he 
knew them intimately, and being somewhat of an artist 
he sketched in freehand drawings the then existing 
boats. He also conceived the idea of a brief description 
of each steamer, never thinking that later in life he 
would have the privilege of making his dreams come 
true. It was only when a representative of The Ameri- 
can Historical Society called at the studio for photos of 
some lake steamers to use in connection with a "History 
of Chautauqua County" that the devoting of a special 
chapter to the steamers was first considered. Fortunately 
a valuable collection of the old-time steamers had been 
preserved, which with those of more recent years have 
been drawn upon for illustrations. The history of means 
of transportation in use in any community is really a his- 
tory of the minds and methods of that community during 
any given period, and it is interesting to contrast the 
means used in transporting people and goods in each 
period with those of later years. On Chautauqua Lake 
the first mention of a boat to transport freight is of a 
hewn out log canoe, then came the horse-boat, next the 
sailing craft, and finally the steamboat. 

It is difficult to give any detailed account of the first 
steamers, or boats, as the historians of the lake have 
been content to chronicle the fact of their existence. Had 
the art of photography been then developed to anything 
like its present perfection, it would have been possible 
to give a reproduction of the old log canoe, the curious 
horse-boat, and the first steamer. However, much has 
been done in later days to preserve the story and 
appearance of these boats, and herein some of the more 
famous boats are reproduced. 

While Chautauqua Lake is the same to-day as when 
the Indian drove his birch canoe across its waters, to 
those whose lives have been spent along its shores it 
seems different with its hotels, parks, and trolleys, but 
its romance lingers, and its beauty appeals as well to the 
native son as to the tourist. At one time many of the 
boats bore Indian names — Hiawatha, Winona, Minne- 
haha, names conferred in tribute to the beautiful imagery 
employed by the Indians in selecting names, and particu- 
larly were they appropriate to the boats that plied the 
lake with the beautiful Indian name "Chautauqua." 

To give in detail the history of each steamer which 
has appeared on the lake since the "Chautauqua" was 
built in 1827, would be to largely overrun the limits 
allotted to this subject. Nevertheless it would be a matter 
of most interesting nature, and would vividly recall facts 
and incidents of lake traffic well worthy of preserva- 
tion, for the boats of the olden time made history. In 



those days the steamers furnished the only quick mode 
of transportation between Jamestown and Mayville, the 
railroad and the electric car being then far in the future, 
and the appearance of each new boat marked an epoch 
in county history. When competition between rival lines 
began, the desire for finer equipment and faster boats was 
generated, until a climax was reached about 1882, when 
Henry Harley. the oil operator, "Pipe Line Harley," took 
over the control and management of the Chautauqua 
Lake Navigation Company, which the following year 
became the Chautauqua Lake Transit Company. The 
opposing line was built and owned by the Burroughs 
Brothers, famous builders of Lake Chautauqua steamers, 
theirs the "People's Line." The "Cincinnati," "Buffalo,' 
"Alaska," and others were contemporary, and races were 
run between the steamers, which rivaled in excitement 
and interest those on the Mississippi river in the olden 
davs. . 

The first mention of any attempt to navigate Chautau- 
qua Lake with commercial intent was in 1806, when the 
big log canoe built by Robert Miles began to make lake 
historv. The Miles' Canoe was in service as a freight 
carrier until 1824, when the bursting of a dam caused 
the destruction of this first of all lake boats of a com- 
mercial character. Keel and Durham boats which made 
trips between Chautauqua county points and Pittsburgh 
were often seen on the lake during that period, but they 
were built for another purpose, and lake travel was but 
an incident. The famous "horse-boat" was next to 
appear on the lake as a freight carrier, and that boat, 
steered by Captain William Carpenter, was a wonderful 
sight, although not a financial success nor a speed mar- 
vel. It is worthv of note that this Captain William Car- 
penter, an Englishman, drove the first mail coach between 
Jamestown and Mayville, was steersman of the "horse- 
boat," and when the first steamboat was put on the lake 
he was also a steersman. 

The "horse-boat" was built in 1824 by Ehsha Allen, 
and was little more than a scow with a cabin on one side 
for passengers and stables for eight horses on the other. 
There were small paddle wheels on either side, and a 
large wheel in the center connected by gearing with the 
shaft of the paddle wheels. This center _ wheel was put 
in motion by four horses, and they furnished the entire 
power, each' team of four horses being kept at work one 
hour. The trip from Jamestown to Mayville consumed 
ten hours when everything went well, but it was not un- 
common for a round trip to consume a week. The boat 
gave way the second year to the schooner "Mink" and to 
scows with sails, which competed for the freight business 
between Mayville and Jamestown. 



372 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



In 1827 Alvah Plumb formed a company and built 
the first steamboat for Chautauqua Lake, a staunch boat, 
built of the best white oak timbers by a ship carpenter 
named Richards, from Buffalo. The steamboat was 
launched from the yards on the outlet in May, 1827, the 
event being duly celebrated. All the usual launching con- 
ventions were observed, even to the breaking of a bottle 
of currant wine on the boat's bow as the words "I name 
thee Chautauqua" were uttered. The boat was soon fin- 
ished and painted, a figure of a woman's head and bust 
placed on her bow, and machinery installed which was 
brought from Pittsburgh by Phineas Palmeter and an 
engineer named Starring. The last of June the "Chau- 
tauqua" made her trial, and the first trip to Mayville was 
made July 4, 1827, Captain John T. Willson in com- 
mand. Captain Willson was captain for oneyear, then 
was succeeded by Captain David S. Walbridge (later 
Congressman from the State of Michigan). After him 
came Captain Phineas Palmeter, who was succeeded by 
Captain George W. Kellogg, and he by Captain James 
Hill. In 1835 the "Robert Falconer," a larger and faster 
boat, was built and commanded by Captain Kellogg, was 
run in opposition to the "Chautauqua," which was under 
the command of Captain Hill. The "Robert Falconer" 
was later named the "William H. Seward," and still 
later the "Empire." 

In 1848 Captain George Stoneman (father of General 
Stoneman) launched "The Twins," a curious boat, being 
two large canoes fastened side by side a few feet apart 
and planked over. "The Twins," propelled by horse 
power, occasionally carried freight between Mayville and 
Jamestown, and in 1851 the "Hollam Vail" was built. 
She ran one season, and in the fall of 1852 burned at her 
dock. The "Water Witch," built about 1852 by M. P. 
Bemus and others, was a failure, and either sank or was 
burned at her dock. The "C. C. Dennis," a large boat 
with the best equipment of any boat on the lake for many 
years, was built in 1856 by Captain Gardner. She was 
run for several years, until the close of 1861, when the 
machinery was removed, and the hull of the boat taken 
to a spot on the outlet, where it was allowed to decay. 
Captain James Murray, when he first came to James- 
town, was connected with the operation of the "C. C. 
Dennis." He was afterward owner and captain of the 
second steamer to be named "Chautauqua," and was in 
command when her boiler exploded, with a sad loss of life. 

The "Chautauqua No. 2" was built in 1863 by the 
Howell brothers and Alfred Wilcox. She passed through 
various ownerships until in August, 1S71, she blew up, 
with the loss of eight lives, while taking on wood at 
Whitney's Landing, about six miles from Mayville. The 
"Post Boy," owned by Peter Colby, first appeared on the 
lake in 1867. She burned in 1869, her name having 
been changed to "A. R. Trew" after her purchase by 
Alfred Wilcox. 

Charles Brown and Ray Scofield built the "James- 
town" in 1869. Charles G. Maples bought Scofield's 
interest and commanded her in 1870. The "Jamestown" 
was rebuilt and enlarged and fitted with a screw pro- 
peller after her purchase by Captain T. H. Grandin. 
In the fall of 1875 she burned at her dock in Jamestown. 

The "P. J. Hanour," built for Beck & Griffith in 1874, 
was commanded by Fred W. Griffith, and burned in the 
fall of the same year. Captain Griffith then built the 
"M. A. Griffith," which he ran during the season of 1875. 
Her upper works were destroyed by fire at the same 
time the steamer "Jamestown" was destroyed, but she was 
rebuilt. 

The "May Martin," a stern-wheel steamer, was built 
in Jamestown in 1875 by Dr. W. B. Martin of Busti, and 
Frank Steele of Jamestown. She was built for excursion 



parties, and could then navigate the outlet as far up as 
the railroad station. Other boats of that period were 
the "A. R. Trew," "M. A. Griffith," and the "P. J. 
Hanour." The "J. M. Burdick," a small steam yacht, 
owned in Mayville, was chiefly used in the upper lake for 
pleasure parties. The "C. J. Hepburn," a steam yacht, 
was also owned in Mayville, and used as an excursion 
boat. 

The "Nettie Fox" was built in Jamestown in the 
spring of 1875 for C. J. Fox and Captain Robert Jones, 
by Isaac Hammutt, of Pittsburgh. She was the first 
stern-wheel steamer on the lake, and was run on strictly 
temperance principles, no liquor being sold or kept on 
board. She was one hundred and seventy feet in length, 
with main, boiler, hurricane, and promenade decks, and 
a ladies' cabin with staterooms. After being remodeled 
.t that time. 

In 1873 the "Colonel William Phillips" was built at 
Bemus Point, and owned by Captain William H. Whit- 
ney. She was a side-wheel boat, the only one on the lake 
in 1875, she was renamed "Jamestown." 

The "Josie Bell," built in 1875, a pleasure boat fifty- 
five feet in length, had the honor of carrying President 
Grant from Jamestown to Fair Point in August, 1875. 
The "Nereus" conveyed the President from Fair Point 
to Mayville. Other small boats of that period were the 
"Hettie Hooker," owned by Fox & Lytle; the "Oliver 
Hepburn;" and the "Lotus," all owned in Mayville. The 
"W. B. Shattuck" was built by A. Shattuck in 1870, the 
year of the great Courtney-Hanlan fiasco, when Court- 
ney's boats at Mayville were put out of commission the 
night preceding the race which was to have decided the 
rowing championship of the world. The recent death of 
Mr. Courtney (1920) recalls that deeply regretted event, 
which is yet a matter of argument in the sporting world. 
The race was to have been rowed on Lake Chautauqua, 
and was awarded to Hanlan, Courtney, without racing 
boats, being unable to appear. 

The "Fearless," "Derby," "Olivia," "Hettie Hooker," 
and "Allaquippa" were all boats of the period 1875-1880. 
Following, in 1880, was the "John F. Moulton," built by 
G. A. Wegeforth, and later remodeled and renamed the 
"New York." The "J. A. Burch," built by Eurroughs 
Brothers, was later named "Hiawatha," and renamed the 
"Chicago ;" she was finally destroyed by fire. Then came 
the "Alaska;" "Captain True;" "The Mystery;" the 
"Henry Hurley," built by Cornell & Wilcox, and later 
called "Columbia ;" the "Cincinnati," built by Burroughs 
Brothers in 1880-81; the "G. J. Cornell," built in 1882; 
the "R. N. Marvin," by Robert Cooper & Sons in i. q 8i ; 
the "City of Buffalo," built by Burroughs Brothers in 
1889; the "City of Cleveland," by the same builders in 
1801-92, she the last large steamer to be launched on the 
lake. The third steamer to bear the name "City of James- 
town" was built in 1910. 

A number of smaller steamers in the early days of 
navigation worthy of mention were the steamer "Nydia," 
owned by George Munroe, built in Jamestown in 1887; 
steamer "Dispatch," Johnson and Peterson, built in 1881 ; 
steamer "Goldie," owned by Major Stevens, built in 
Buffalo in 1884; steamer "Wooglin," built at Mayville, 
rebuilt in 1885; steamer "J. H. Lytle," owned by Horace 
Fox, built at Mayville in 1885; steamer "Mabel." owned 
by Henry Fry, built at Mayville in 1885, Captain Fred 
J. Vancise; steamer "Alert," owned by Ben Firman and 
George Munroe, built at Jamestown, in 1888. 

In 1879, A. M. Kent brought the steamer "Waukegan" 
from Pittsburgh for service on Lake Chautauqua. She 
was the first all steel boat on the lake, her speed twenty 
miles per hour. A fast boat, brought from the seacoast, 
was the "Greenhurst" (later the "Louise"), a boat de- 







WHARF AT MAVVILLE 







\\ I .MOCK OF c.'FLAL'TAL'QUA N< 




:hautauqua's largest steamer 





STEAMBOATS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE 



373 



signed by Herreschoff, of American cup defender fame. 
There were other boats brought to Lake Chautauqua, 
but nearly all that ply the lake were home built. The 
fleet now owned and operated during the open season by 
the Lake Chautauqua Navigation Company consists of 
six steamers : The "New York," carrying capacity 850 ; 
"Buffalo," 800; "Cincinnati," 750; "Cleveland," 500; 
"Chadakoin," 75 ; "Mayville," 75. 

August 14, 1871, the most terrible calamity that ever 
visited this section occurred at Whitney's Landing, in 
the bay of the same name, on the western shore of Lake 
Chautauqua. The steamer "Chautauqua," which left 
Jamestown at four p. m. with about thirty passengers 
and crew on board, increased by half a dozen at Bemus 
Point, had come to the dock to take on wood, and while 
lying there the boiler exploded, tearing the boat to pieces 
and filling the air with flying timbers and human bodies. 
The sound of the explosion was heard miles away, and 
assistance was quickly forthcoming. The explosion 
occurred at 6.20, the steamer having been lying at the 
dock for about ten minutes, the engine room apparently 
deserted, with the steam gauge rising. Suddenly, with- 
out warning, came a terrific report, the whole bow of 
the boat going into the air in pieces. The stern was rent 
in fragments, and for twenty rods around the water 
and land was covered with broken timbers, with here and 
there a mangled bleeding form. Every part of the boiler 
was blown out of the boat. Four persons were instantly 
killed and four more did not survive the night. The dead 
were: Mrs. J. C. Cochrane; Mrs. Perry Aiken; Mrs. 
Jerusha Hopkins and her two daughters, Misses Julia 
and Eunice; Iduca Eells, a child of four years; Mrs. 
Samuel Bartholomew ; and Henry Cook, colored. The 
badly injured were: John Bemus, Alvin Plumb, Dan. P. 
Eells, W. S. Cameron, James M. Murray, captain of the 
"Chautauqua ;" Fred Johnson, pilot ; Joseph Brown, 
Caleb Norton, Cornelius Shaw, Mrs. Elizabeth Leach. 
The marvel was that any escaped. 

The answer to the call for help was immediate, doctors 
and supplies being hurried to the spot as soon as the 
news of the tragedy spread. Houses nearby were opened, 
and the farmers were at once on the spot with such sup- 
plies as they could furnish. The houses of A. H. Whit- 
ney, Alonzo Whitney and Norman Newbury sheltered the 
dead and the dying, and all night long these families min- 
istered to the injured. 

The cause of the explosion was found to be careless- 
ness on the part of those in charge of the engine and 
boiler. This sad happening cast a gloom over the lake 
section and was long the subject of much speculation as 
to the party or parties responsible for the great loss of 
life and for the destruction of the steamer. An excellent 
photo of the boat taken after the explosion appear in this 
work. 

Probably the most interesting steamer on the lake from 
a romantic point of view was the old steamer "James- 
town," commanded by Captain "Ted" Grandin, who made 
history for himself and his boat. He was an imposing 
figure when fully dressed, and, occasionally wearing a 
big stovepipe hat, he stood with one foot on the rail 
issuing his commands in no gentle voice or language, but 
it was remarkable how well he was obeyed. Those were 
days of keen competition, and when two steamers made 
a landing at about the same time, rival agents and crews 
frequently had fistic encounters over passengers await- 
ing their coming. Racing was frequently indulged in, 
but the "Jamestown" was a slow moving boat and could 
not compete in speed contests, but she was popular never- 
theless, and always carried the crowd. The moonlight 
excursions on the "Jamestown" were very popular, the 
many quiet, secluded corners lending themselves will- 
ingly, it would seem, to the couples who, after dancing 



on the upper decks, would seek their shelter, as lovers 
will. In fact the boat carried an atmosphere of pleasure, 
and when that dreaded marine foe — fire — swept her from 
the lake, the many who had trod her deck on pleasure 
bent sincerely mourned as though for a friend. 

The two fastest boats of the period were the "Hia- 
watha" and the "Cincinnati," owned by rival companies. 
The captains of these boats never declined a race against 
each other, although the "Cincinnati" was a shade the 
faster boat. The rules of the lake decreed that when two 
steamers were approaching the same landing, the one first 
at the whistling buoy had the right of way, but in the 
heat of a race this little rule was sometimes overlooked, 
and dire were the results. On one occasion the "Hia- 
watha" and the "Cincinnati" reached a whistling buoy 
simultaneously, and both made for the landing, the "Hia- 
watha" on the inside first reaching the dock. So great 
was her speed, however, that the lines thrown out to 
check her speed parted, and she swept along, taking a 
few spiles from the dock with her. The "Cincinnati," 
checking her speed sooner, quickly made the dock, and 
carried off all but a few of the waiting passengers which 
the beaten "Hiawatha" backed in and took on board. 

The "Josie Bell" one day attempted to save time by 
cutting across Busti Bay, but miscalculating, ran aground 
on the shoals, her passengers having to be taken off in 
small boats to a steamer sent to their assistance. 

The "Louise" on one occasion was racing with one of 
the large steamers in the narrow outlet, and, coming too 
close, the suction from the larger boat drew her against 
the gunwale and a serious accident was only averted by 
those on the "Louise" scrambling quickly on board the 
large steamer. The laws were adequate but were not 
always observed, the rival captains taking long chances, 
and if successful were the "heroes" of the moment. 

Captain Ted Grandin was the most picturesque of the 
old-time captains, and the best known. Among the own- 
ers, Henry Harley was conspicuous. He was a man of 
great energy, and whatever he touched he vitalized and 
endowed with new life. Thus when he obtained control 
of a lake line of steamers a new era was ushered in. He 
built a handsome summer residence on the shores of the 
bay at Long Point, the writer's father being for nine 
years superintendent of the Harley estate. Those were 
happy years for the lad, who had nothing to do but amuse 
himself and aid in amusing others with boat, rod, or 
line. Long Point in those days was the favorite picnic 
grounds, and nearly all excursions or picnics came there 
for the day. Volumes could be written concerning the 
methods Mr. Harley used to popularize the lake and his 
lake boats. One season he brought the Madrigal Boys, a 
choir of thirty voices, from New York, and had them 
give daily concerts on the lake boats. The boys camped 
at Long Point, and in their natty sailor suits proved a 
strong attraction, while their sweet singing won all 
hearts. On the lawn of the Harley mansion a great 
flag pole was erected, from the top of which an American 
flag floated from sunrise until sunset. It was the custom 
for every steamer of the Harley line to salute the flag 
when passing the house, and woe be to the pilot who 
"forgot." 

But the old days have gone, and steamboating on Chau- 
tauqua Lake is now a modern business, the gayhearted 
crowds which thronged the boats now being divided into 
smaller parties traveling to lake points by private con- 
veyance, auto or yacht, by trolley or steam car, the glory 
of the steamers having in a measure departed. But the 
beauties of the outlet and the lake remain, and of all who 
visit the resorts of the old lake there are none who carry 
away such pleasant recollections as those who made the 
circuit of the lake from the Jamestown docks on one of 
the excursion steamers. 



374 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA. 
By Benjamin S. Dean. 



The following discussion relating to the politics of 
Chautauqua county for more than a century, is the work 
rather of the late Hon. Obed Edson than of myself. 
Shortly before his death he placed in my hands a manu- 
script heretofore unpublished, and which brought the 
political history of the county down to and including 
the sensational campaign of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, 
authorizing me to make such use of it as I might deem 
proper. Beyond a few incidental corrections, I have 
made no changes in the story which Mr. Edson has left 
us, merely bringing the narrative down to date, and I am 
sure a discriminating public will find greater pleasure in 
what Mr. Edson has prepared for them, than in any- 
thing I could have produced. Mr. Edson was essentially 
an historian; he has given us an interesting grouping 
of the characters who have been the moving spirits in 
the political life of the county, with just enough of its 
geography and development to afford a background for 
their activities, and with this I leave it to the more 
gifted pen of Hon. Obed Edson. B. S. D. 

Chautauqua is the western county of the State of 
New York, and one of the largest. It is bounded 
north by Lake Erie, east by Cattaraugus county, south 
and west by Pennsylvania. Its northern part lies with- 
in the basin of the Great Lakes, its southern and largest 
part within the Valley of the Mississippi. These parts 
are separated by a range of grass covered hills. Their 
highest summits are elevated more than 2,000 feet 
above the ocean, and more than 1,400 feet above Lake 

Tlie county remained, until the first year of the last 
century, an unbroken wilderness without an inhabitant. 
The Holland Land Company had then recently acquired 
the ownership of all its lands, to which the title of the 
Indians had been extinguished by the treaty of Big 
Tree in 1797. Col. James McMahan, the first person to 
acquire a title and settle upon the land that he had 
purchased in 1802, built his log house where the old 
road cut by the French in 1753 from Lake Erie to 
Chautauqua Lake was crossed by an ancient Indian 
trail that led into the West. The place where he set- 
tled was originally known as the Cross Roads, and is 
now within the present village of Westfield. 

The county was rapidly settled, at first by emigrants 
from Pennsylvania. Until the year 1805, its territory 
was a part of the town of Batavia, County of Genesee. 
During the early years of settlement it was practically 
cut off from communication with the remainder of New 
York by a great wilderness. Supplies for the settlers 
were brought up in small boats from Pittsburgh, then 
a town of 2,000 inhabitants. Buffalo at that time was 
but a settlement in the woods, known as New Amster- 
dam, containing but sixteen dwelling houses, some of 
them of logs, scattered principally along its main street. 
John Crowe's tavern at the corner of Main and Ex- 
change streets was then the only house of entertainment. 

April 5, 1805, the new town of Chautauqua was 
created, which included all of the present county of 
Chautauqua, except the Tenth range of townships. It 
derives its name from its famous lake, which is elevated 
1,300 feet above the ocean, and lies wholly within its 
borders. The lake derives its name from the Seneca 
word Ga-dah-quah, which originally meant "the place 
or lake where the fish was taken out," and referred to 
an incident related by the Indians that happened before 
Bicunlles' de Celoron's expedition over, it, to the Val- 



ley of the Mississippi in 1749. The word was rendered 
in French as "1 cha-da-Koin." This expedition of 
Celoron, and the burial of leaden plates by him, were 
the first overt acts that led to the French and Indian 
War. 

When Chautauqua became organized as a town, John 
McMahan, the brother of James, was chosen its first 
supervisor. At the first general election held there, in 
April, 1807, Alexander Hamilton, the leader of the 
Federalists, having been killed in 1804, in a duel by 
Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans 
were practically without opposition. In the State of 
New York there were three Republican factions — the 
Clintonians, who supported Daniel D. Tompkins for 
governor; the adherents of the Livingstones' families, 
who supported Morgan Lewis ; and the Burrites. The 
latter and the Federalists divided their vote between 
these two Republican candidates. In the town of Chau- 
tauqua the election was held the first day at the house 
of William Bemus, at Bemus Point, on Chautauqua 
Lake. The election officers then walked through the 
woods to the Cross Roads and held the election there, 
at the tavern of the widow Perry. The forenoon of the 
third day it was held at Hezekiah Baker's, at Can- 
adawa, now Fredonia. In the afternoon it was held at 
the house of Orsamus Holmes', in Sheridan. In all, 
69 votes were polled, of which Tompkins received 41 
votes, and Lewis 28. The relative strength of the Re- 
publicans and Federalists in the town at this time can- 
not be determined by reason of the nature of the elec- 
tion. There is little doubt, however, that it was strong- 
ly Republican, and continued so during the Frontier 
Period. 

In 1808, Genesee was divided into four counties — 
Genesee, Niagara, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua, giv- 
ing Chautauqua its present boundaries. At the same 
time, Chautauqua was divided into two towns ; the 
eastern was named Pomfret, and the western Chautau- 
que. In February, 181 1, it was fully organized as a 
separate county, and its Frontier Period closed. The 
settlers who came when the county was in a forest 
condition were frontiersmen, accustomed to roughing 
it in the wilderness, and were often more skilled in the 
use of the ax and the rifle than the implements for 
cultivating the soil. In after years the settlers who 
came before 181 1 were regarded with a pioneer respect 
not awarded to those who came later. 

The year previous to the organization of the county, 
the Holland Land Company had built a land office at 
Mayville, and put it in charge of William Peacock, who 
during the Pioneer Period was the leading citizen. 

The county was organized with Zattu dishing as 
county judge — a distinguished pioneer, the grand- 
father of Lieut. William B. Cushing, the hero of many 
daring exploits in the Civil War. Mathew Prendergast 
was chosen associate judge. He had been an officer 
in Abraham Cuyler's regiment of loyalists in the Rev- 
olution. His father, William Prendergast, ten years 
before that war had been tried and convicted of high 
treason for leading a band of anti-renters in Putnam 
county against the King's soldiers, in which some of the 
soldiers were killed. Having been pardoned by the 
King, he became a loyalist. He and his sons, notwith- 
standing his revolutionary record, were prominent and 
respected citizens of Chautauqua county, and were 
among the first to be honored with important public 
positions. 



POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA 



375 



The first session of the Court of Common Pleas was 
held June 25, 181 1, in Scott's Tavern in Mayville. 
Ansalem Potter, Jacob Houghton and Dennis Bracket 
were the first lawyers. The first meeting of the Board 
of Supervisors, then consisting of two members, was 
held there in October of the same year. 

June 18, 1812, war with England was declared. It is 
believed that the first event of the war resulting in 
bloodshed, was a conflict between part of the crew of 
the "Lady Provost," and some of the inhabitants of 
the county assembled at the mouth of the Canadaway 
creek near Dunkirk. Less than three weeks after the 
declaration of war, although the county then contained 
less than 3,000 inhabitants, it had a full company con- 
sisting of 113 ablebodied men on the march to the scene 
of conflict, under Capt. Jehial Moore. This company 
was among the few New York militia that crossed the 
Niagara, and supported the regulars in storming the 
Heights of Queenstown. Three of their number were 
killed in the battle, and five wounded. Soldiers from 
Chautauqua county also served in the battles of Lundy's 
Lane, and in other engagements. 

Party feeling ran high during the war. The first 
political gathering convened in the county was a Re- 
publican meeting held December 23, 1812, at John Scott's 
tavern in Mayville. Mathew Prendergast, although he 
had been a loyalist during the Revolution, and was in 
the military service of King George the Third, was its 
chairman. Resolutions were there adopted sustaining 
the war, March 17, 1813. A meeting was held in 
Pomfret by the Federalists who opposed the war, at- 
tended by delegates representing counties of Western 
New York, that composed the Assembly district. Thom- 
as Martin was the president. Jacob Houghton of Pom- 
fret was nominated for the Assembly. He was the 
first candidate put in nomination by a political conven- 
tion held in the county. Jonas Williams, the leading 
lawyer of Buffalo, was nominated by the Republicans 
and elected. Daniel D. Tompkins, the Republican can- 
didate for governor, received 57 majority in the county 
over Stephen Van Rensselaer, the Federal candidate, in 
a vote of 553. 

The last real effort of the Federalists in Chautauqua 
county was made in the election of 1816, when Daniel 
D. Tompkins was elected governor over Rufus King, 
the Federal candidate. In Chautauqua county, Tomp- 
kins received a majority of 42. At this election Jediah 
Prendergast, son of William Prendergast and brother 
of Mathew Prendergast, was elected to the Assembly 
by the Republicans. He was the first inhabitant of the 
county that was chosen to the Legislature. His brother, 
James Prendergast, the founder of the city of James- 
town, had been beaten the year before as the candidate 
of the Federalists for the Assembly. 

Governor Tompkins being now elected vice-president, 
resigned his office of governor, and DeWitt Clinton was 
elected to fill the vacancy. Clinton was popular in the 
western part of the State because of his friendship to 
the projected canal. In the election in 1817, he received 
in Chautauqua county 605 votes ; only seven votes were 
polled against him. At this election. Dr. Jediah Pren- 
dergast, whose term was to close in the Assembly, was 
elected State Senator by the Republicans, for the 
western senatorial district, then composed of fifteen 
counties. He was the first person chosen to that body 
from Chautauqua county. His brother, John J. Pren- 
dergast, of Herkimer, at the same time represented an 
eastern district in the State Senate. 

Long years of financial depression followed the war 
of 1812. Yet stimulated by the prospect of the build- 
ing of the Erie canal, the population of the county 
rapidly increased. 



In 1820, the Federals suffered the fate destined to a 
party not in sympathy with the manes, and that dis- 
trusted the virtue and intelligence of the people. That 
year the Federalists practically ceased to exist as a 
party. The Republicans thereupon divided into two 
wings — Clintonians, whose candidate for governor was 
DeWitt Clinton; and Bucktails, whose candidate was 
Daniel D. Tompkins. His official term as vice-presi- 
dent had now come toward its close. Clinton was 
elected governor. In Chautauqua county, he received 
744 votes, and Tompkins 455. In 1821 the Bucktails 
wing of the Republican party had complete control of 
the State, and may be said to have then become the 
Democratic party. Clinton having decided to be a 
candidate for governor, Joseph C. Yates was put in 
nomination in opposition. In Chautauqua county, Clin- 
ton received 1689 votes; only ten votes were polled 
against him. The county having been organized into 
one Assembly district, James Mullett, Jr., a talented 
and eloquent lawyer, who had no keener an advocate in 
his own county, and no superior in Western New 
York, was elected to the Assembly, and David Eason, 
also from Chautauqua, Senator. Dr. Elial T. Foote was 
appointed the first judge of the county to succeed Zattu 
Cushing, who had now served ten years. 

The presidential election for the year 1824 was now 
approaching. The Republicans were without opposition. 
In Chautauqua county, the electoral bill which gave 
to the people the power of choosing presidential elec- 
tors was popular, and meetings were held there in its 
support. Those of the Republicans who were opposed 
to the congressional caucus system now took upon them- 
selves the name "People's Party," and DeWitt Clinton 
was nominated by them for governor, and was elected 
over Samuel Young in the fall of 1824. At this elec- 
tion, Daniel G. Garnsey, of Dunkirk, was elected to 
Congress, and was the first citizen of Chautauqua 
county chosen to that office. 

As neither of the candidates for president received 
a majority of the electoral college, the election was 
made by the House of Representatives, resulting in the 
choice of John Quincy Adams. 

During the early period in the history of the county, 
as we have seen, it gave a small Republican majority. 
Later, when the Federal party had become extinct and 
the people were divided between the Clintonians and 
Bucktails, or Tammany wing of the Democratic party, 
the Bucktails were in a decided majority, except when 
DeWitt Clinton himself was a candidate. He was 
very popular, and always carried the county, generally 
by a large majority. 

In 1826, Clinton was elected governor, and carried 
Chautauqua county by a majority of 227. The same 
year, John Birdsall was appointed circuit judge of the 
Eighth Judicial District of the State. He became a 
resident of Chautauqua county, and represented it in 
the Senate and Assembly. He afterwards went to 
Texas, and was there appointed Chief Justice of that 
republic by Sam Housten, and later its attorney-gen- 
eral. 

In 1826, an event occurred of comparatively small 
public importance, but which greatly excited the people 
of Western New York, and finally changed its political 
complexion. No lodge of Free Masons existed in that 
part of the State, until the last war with England, 
and at its close but one: Western Star Lodge at Buffalo. 
In 1816, Forrest Lodge was established at Fredonia, in 
Chautauqua county. A little later, Mount Moriah Lodge 
was established at Jamestown, Summit Lodge at May- 
ville, Sylvan Lodge at Sinclairville, and Hanover Lodge 
at Forestville. In September of that year, William 
Morgan, a Royal Arch Mason, a printer by trade, re- 



3/6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



siding at Batavia, threatened to publish a book that 
would reveal the secrets of Free Masonry. He was 
feloniously abducted by some criminal and misguided 
men. said to have been Masons, and it is believed was 
never afterwards seen. A committee appointed by the 
Legislature reported that Morgan was murdered, and 
that was the general belief, although no positive evi- 
dence was obtained that such was the fact. Intense 
indignation followed the perpetration of this offence, 
which was generally believed to have been committed 
by persons connected with the Masonic fraternity. In 
consequence of this belief, excitement against Free 
Masons ran very high, and was manifested in various 
-ways. An edition of Morgan's book was published in 
Westfield, Chautauqua county; also a book claiming 
to reveal the secrets of the order entitled "Light in 
Masonry" by Rev. David Barnard, who became a resi- 
dent of Chautauqua county. Masons resented as false 
the charges so implicating their order. Feeling was so 
bitter, however, that the Masonic lodges of the county 
ceased work, and eventually surrendered their charters. 
The question entered into the social and religious rela- 
tions of life, divided families and churches. In some 
instances, ministers and others, members of religious 
societies, who were Masons, were compelled to absolve 
their connections with their church. Striking instances 
of this spirit existing in the county could be given did 
space allow. 

It would be unjust however, to say that all who 
were intolerant and bitter in their denunciations, were 
insincere. A nefarious crime had been committed, and 
many leading and upright citizens were actuated by a 
sincere and just desire to bring its perpetrators to jus- 
tice. The movement, however, fell quickly into the 
hands of the politicians. Favored by the disintegration 
of the old Federal party and the chaotic condition of 
politics at the time, the people were easily led away 
from the laudable purpose of bringing to justice crim- 
inal offenders, to a political attack on the institution 
of Free Masonry and all of its members. 

Early in October in the same year, a putrid body was 
found on the shore of Lake Ontario, and assumed to 
have been the body of Morgan. The remains were 
buried with great parade at Batavia. A multitude of 
people marched in the funeral procession; a funeral 
discourse was pronounced, and the opportunity improv- 
ed with great effect to excite public sentiment against 
Masons. The body was afterwards disinterred and 
proved to have been the body of Timothy Monroe, who 
had been drowned in the Niagara river. Anti-Masonic 
politicians, however, were not baffled by this damaging 
discoverv. A leading one pronounced the body to be 
"a good enough Morgan until after the election," which 
soon ensued. However, at this election, which oc- 
curred in the fall of 1826, the county went Democratic, 
and gave a majority of 227 for DeWitt Clinton, a 
Democrat and a Mason, for governor, over William B. 
Rochester, the Adams candidate, who was also a Mason. 
In October, 1827, a convention of Anti-Masons was 
held in Mayville. Abiran Orton was chairman. A well 
written address by a committee appointed for that 
purpose against secret societies was published in the 
Fredonia "Gazette." As able an address upon the other 
side, evidently from the pen of Thomas A. Osborne, 
was also published in the same paper. At the election 
held in 1827, Nathaniel Fenton and Nathan Mixer, 
esteemed citizens of the county, Anti-Masonic candi- 
dates for the Assembly, received respectively 2,192 and 
2.332 votes. James Mullett and Thomas A. Osborne, 
the candidates of the Bucktail or Jackson party, two of 
t : .:- most distinguished and prominent citizens, received 



but 1,232 and 1,101 votes. The Adams or Administra- 
tion party had no candidate. Nearly two-thirds of the 
votes of the county, it will be seen, were given to a 
party that had not been in existence a year. 

In the State of New York the National Republicans, 
chiefly recruited from the Old Federal, the Adams and 
Clintonian parties, in a convention held at Utica in 
1832, adopted the Anti-Masonic State and National 
ticket. The union between these parties was finally 
consummated, and the Whig party organized. Jackson 
was elected President. In Chautauqua county the Na- 
tional Republicans and Anti-Masons received a majority 
of 1,716 over Jackson, and elected Abner Hazeltine, of 
Jamestown, member of Congress, and Orris Crosby 
presidential elector. He was the first chosen from 
Chautauqua county. 

The National Republican party now acquired the name 
of Whig. The Anti-Masons disbanded and amalga- 
mated with the National Republicans under the name 
of Whig. The collapse of the Anti-Masonic party and 
the existence of a saner public sentiment twenty years 
later, permitted the revival of Free Masonry in the 
county. Old lodges began to renew their charters, and 
new ones to be established. At the election of 1834, 
William L. Marcy was elected governor by the Demo- 
crats over William H. Seward, who had received in 
Chautauqua county a majority of 1,591. 

By the State census of 1825, the population of the 
county was 20.639. By the census of 1835 it had in- 
creased to 44,869, having more than doubled in ten 
years, which was chiefly due to the completion of the 
Erie canal. 

At the presidential election in 1836. resulting in the 
election of Martin Van Buren. the Whigs obtained 775 
majority in Chautauqua. Richard P. Marvin of James- 
town, Whig, was elected to Congress. William H. Sew- 
ard was elected governor in 1838, over William L. 
Marcy. Seward, in his early life, by reason of his 
large interest in lands in Chautauqua, his close and 
familiar relations and fair treatment of the early set- 
tlers, was popular, and received a majority of 1,909, 
in the county. 

The presidential campaign of 1840 was the most 
memorable that had occurred in the history of the coun- 
ty. Gen. William Henry Harrison was the candidate 
of the Whigs, Martin Van Buren of the Democrats, 
and James G. Birney of the Abolitionists. The cam- 
paign was sometimes called "the log cabin and hard 
cider campaign," in allusion to and complementary of 
Gen. Harrison, whose life had been spent mostly among 
the pioneers and in the surroundings of the West. 
Large and enthusiastic meetings were held throughout 
the county. New and novel features were introduced 
in the campaign by the Whigs. All classes of people 
participated. Wives and daughters gave countenance 
to and attended these meetings. The Whigs gained a 
complete triumph in the State and Nation, and carried 
Chautauqua county by a majority of 2.640, much more 
than two-thirds of the whole vote polled. James G. 
Birney received 23 votes in the county. This was the 
first expression of an anti-slavery sentiment at an elec- 
tion there, resulting later in the organization of the 
Republican party. The county had not always been a 
land of liberty. In the year 1817, eight slaves and 
their masters were residing in the county. 

The presidential election in 1844 was nearly as stir- 
ring and as memorable as that in 1840. The Whigs 
nominated their great leader and orator, Henry Clay, 
and the Democrats James K. Polk. Large mass meet- 
ings were held in the county. The campaign was con- 
ducted in many respects like that in 1840. Barbecues 



POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA 



377 



were held and campaign songs were sung. To show 
how the political enthusiasm of the people was stirred 
in the campaigns of 1840 and 1844, we copy the follow- 
ing song, that was sung by the Sinclairville Clay Club 
when it went down to the great Whig barbecue in Fre- 
donia in 1844, by which it will be seen that the political 
song writers of those days were in no respect behind 
the modern campaign poet, in stirring the popular heart, 
or in finding the jolly side of human nature. The 
tariff was the overriding question of the day, as by the 
song appears: 

TUNE— "ROSIN THE BOW." 



Te jolly 



Whigs of Sinclairville 
And all ye sick Democrats too, 
ome out from among the Polk party, 
And go to the Whig barbecue. 



October 
And t 
They " 



15th is coming 
Polkats begin to look blue; 
that the coons will be gaining. 
At the feast of the great barbecue. 



We therefore will give you a warning, 
To abandon that Polk and his crew. 

For hundreds of thousands are going 
To vote for our Harry the true. 

Then let us be up and a-doing, 

And hurrah for the Whig barbecue! 

That Polk! We know we can beat him 
With Harry, the honest and true. 

Good men from the locos are flying, 
Which makes them look kinder askew, 

They see us all go for protection, 
And Harry, the honest and true. 

Then let us go down to Fredonia, 

And sing this song on the way, 
And when we get out to Laona 

We'll give them a hurrah for Clay. 

We'll give them the hurrahs so hearty, 
For Fillmore and Wilkin will say. 

And "three times three" for the party 
That goes for protection and Clay. 

The songs and banquets of the Whigs availed them 
not, for Tames K. Polk was elected President, but Clay 
carried the county by a majority of 2,185. The slavery 
vote increased to 314. At this election, Abner Lewis, 
a Whig, of Chautauqua, was elected to Congress. 

In 1846, the Code of Procedure went into effect, and 
marked the close of an era in the history of the Chau- 
tauqua county bar. For four years after the organiza- 
tion of the county, its courts had been held at John 
Scott's log tavern at Mayville, and afterwards in the 
old brick court house there. Among the early lawyers 
of the county were Ansalem Potter; James Brackett, 
killed in the War of 1812 at Buffalo; James H. Price, 
James Mullett, Dudley Marvin, Sheldon Smith, Abner 
Hazeltine, David Mann, Richard P. Marvin and Madi- 
son Burnell. The old Court of Common Pleas had 
been the court most familiar to the people. Court 
week to the old settler was a week of recreation, and 
the court a school of instruction. There they obtained 
their ideas of the law, and learned the principles of 
our government. This old court ceased to exist in 
1847. When it expired it was composed of Thomas B. 
Campbell, first judge; John M. Edson, Caleb O. 
Daughaday, Niram Sackett and Franklin H. Wait, 
judges. 

At the election in 1846, Dudley Marvin was elected 
to Congress, and Madison Burnell to the Assembly. 
They were able lawyers and popular speakers, and 
both distinguished in the history of the county. That 
year, Richard P. Marvin, Justice of the Supreme Court, 
and George W. Patterson, twice Speaker of the As- 



sembly, having been elected, served as delegates to the 
State convention to form a new constitution for the 
State. Both were citizens of the county. Now a dif- 
ference of opinion began to divide the members of both 
political parties. Those of the Whig party, who favor- 
ed free soil in the States soon to be admitted, were 
in the vulgar phrase of the time called "Woolies," and 
those in the Democratic party "Barnburners ;" while the 
conservative members of the Whig party were known 
as "Silver Greys," and in the Democratic party as 
"Hunkers." 

At the election in 1848, Chautauqua county gave 
4,207 votes for Taylor, 1,911 votes for Cass, Democrat, 
and 1,648 for Van Buren, Free Soil. George W. Pat- 
terson was elected lieutenant-governor, and Elijah Ris- 
ley of Chautauqua, member of Congress. In 1850 
James Mullett was elected for a second time Justice of 
the Supreme Court. 

In 1850 the population of the county had increased 
to 50.144. At that time a much greater portion of the 
population were inhabitants of the country parts of the 
county. The town of Pomfret, which then included 
Fredonia and the present city of Dunkirk, had but 
4.483 inhabitants. The town of Ellicott, which included 
the city of Jamestown, had but 3,523. This increase was 
chiefly due to the prospect of an immediate comple- 
tion of the New York & Erie railroad from New York 
City to Dunkirk, on Lake Erie. 

At the general election in 1852, Franklin Pierce was 
elected President; 10,524 votes were cast in Chautau- 
qua county, of which Winfield Scott received 5,612, 
Pierce, 3,703, and John P. Hale, Abolitionist, 1,209. Reu- 
ben E. Fenton, then a Democrat, but thirty-three years 
of age, was elected for the first time to Congress over 
George A. S. Crooker, Whig, by 56 majority. The 
slavery question was rapidly dividing both parties. Mr. 
Fenton had succeeded in holding the vote of his party, 
and also the abolition vote. Walter L. Sessions was 
for the first time elected to the Assembly, and now Fen- 
ton and Sessions commenced to take a leading part in 
the party to which they both belonged. The Democrats 
temporarily united under the respective names of 
"Hard" and "Soft." These names indicated their dif- 
ferent sentiments upon the slavery question. 

In 1854, the "Know Nothing" party, which had for its 
motto "America for the Americans," sprang into life 
and assisted in disintegrating the Whig party. Not 
many years before, the Anti-Masonic party had as sud- 
denly sprang into being and helped to create that party. 
The Know-Nothing or American, like the Anti-Masonic 
party, after a short perod of existence disappeared as 
suddenly as it came into existence, and the Republican 
party arose from its ashes. 

Among the causes for the growth of the Republican 
party in the county, was the passage of the Fugitive 
Slave law. Secret combinations were formed by some 
citizens of the North opposed to slavery, to assist slaves 
to escape from their masters in the South, to Canada, 
by means of what was called the "Underground Rail- 
road." Jamestown for several years was one of the 
underground railroad stopping places, or stations. 
There a colony of about one hundred colored people 
lived, some born free, and some were fugitive slaves. 
They and some of the white citizens of Jamestown as- 
sisted fugitives from slavery on their way to gain their 
freedom. In one instance, a runaway slave was taken 
from the county under the Fugitive Slave law and car- 
ried back into captivity. The Kansas-Nebraska bill 
was also offensive to many citizens of the North, and 
caused much excitement in Chautauqua county. Large 
meetings in opposition were held, ably addressed by 



3/8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



leading and influential citizens, among them Madison 
Burnell, Richard P. Marvin, Orsell Cook and George 
W. Patterson. 

The Republican party was soon organized, and rapid- 
ly divided the Whig party, some of its members join- 
ed the Know-Nothings, later called the American party. 
Madison Burnell in 1854 was the logical candidate of 
the Whigs for Congress. At a convention of that 
party held in Forestville in October of that year, he 
received a majority of its delegates. Conscious that a 
political revolution was impending, he declined the 
nomination, and George W. Patterson was nominated 
by the Whigs in his place. At the Democratic (Soft) 
convention, held in the Congressional district, Reuben 
E. Fenton was nominated by acclamation ; he however, 
aware of the unsettled state of the public mind, de- 
clined, as Burnell had done before in the Whig conven- 
tion. Thereupon Hon. William Pitt Angel, of Cat- 
taraugus county, was nominated by the Democrats in 
his stead. On the Wednesday preceding the election, 
at a secret and irregular meeting of some of the Ameri- 
cans held at Dunkirk, the unsolicited nomination was 
conferred upon Francis S. Edwards, an able and well 
known lawyer of Dunkirk. During the few days that 
remained of the canvass, great doubt and uncertainty 
existed as to the result, for the Americans were an un- 
certain quantity. Each of the old parties preferred the 
success of their old enemy, to that of their new foe. 
Lieutenant Governor Patterson and Hon. William Pitt 
Angel, the respective candidates of the old parties, re- 
paired on the Sunday before election to the residence 
of Wra. Fenton in Frewsburgh, and withdrew their 
names as candidates, in favor of Reuben E. Fenton as 
the People's candidate for Congress. Now the rank 
and file of both of the old parties found to their 
astonishment, but a few days before election, that they 
were without candidates, and instead, Edwards and 
Fenton, neither of whom had obtained their nomina- 
tion through a regular delegated convention represent- 
ing a party, were the only candidates before the people. 
A few days later ended the campaign, with the re- 
markable result that Edwards was elected by the ex- 
traordinary majority of 1,328 in Chautauqua county, and 
634 in Cattaraugus county. None were more surprised 
at the result than were Edwards and Fenton themselves, 
unless it was the people who accomplished it. 

At the town meetings held in the following March, 
twenty-two of the twenty- five supervisors elected in the 
county were Americans, and nearly all of the lesser 
town officers also, and in the fall election of 1855, Sam- 
uel A. Whalon of Mayville, the candidate of the 
Americans for Canal Commissioner, was elected, and 
Richard P. Marvin was again elected Justice of the 
Supreme Court. 

In 1856, that the strength of the Americans was 
waning began to appear. At the presidential election 
of that year, 7,030 votes were cast for Fremont, 2,017 
for Fillmore, and 1,847 for Buchanan. Reuben E. Fen- 
ton, who had now become a Republican, was elected to 
Congress over Francis S. Edwards, American, and 
Caleb J. Allen, Democrat. In the election of 1858, Fen- 
ton was again elected to Congress. 

Up to the year 1859, the name of the county had been 
spelled Chautauqur, that year the spelling was changed 
by the Board of Supervisors to Chautauqua. 

The important presidential election of i860 was now 
approaching. The campaign was pushed in the county 
with vigor by all parties. Great mass meetings were 
held in the principal places, addressed by famous speak- 
ers from abroad belonging to all political parties. 
Among those from within the county were : Madison 



Burnell, Reuben E. Fenton, Austin Smith, John F. 
Smith and George Barker. In Chautauqua county, Lin- 
coln received 8,481 votes ; the Union presidential candi- 
dates, 3,670. James Parker, editor of the Jamestown 
"Democrat," a Republican, was chosen elector. Reuben 
E. Fenton was again elected to Congress. 

And now came the Civil War, the story of which 
is told on other pages of this work. 

Lincoln, when on his way to assume the duties of 
President, on the 10th of February, 1861, passed over 
the Lake Shore railroad through the Northern towns 
of Chautauqua county, made a short stop just east of 
the center of Lion street, in Dunkirk, and in a brief, 
simple and impressive speech to the citizens assembled, 
pledged himself and the people there, to support the 
flag of the nation in its great peril. It was a strange 
fatality, that while the black clouds of war were pass- 
ing away, and his promise nearly fulfilled, a funeral 
car with his corpse passed over the same spot in the 
village of Dunkirk, there to receive a sorrowful tribute 
from the same people, to whom four years before, he 
had made the promise. Thus did the shadows of war 
come to the county, and thus did they pass away. So 
it was that Lincoln made his entrance and his exit 
there. 

"All the world's a stage, 
And all the men and women merely players. 
They have their exits, and their entrances. 
And one man in his time plays many parts." 

The Republican and Democratic parties preserved 
their respective organizations in the county during the 
Civil War. In 1862, James S. Wadsworth, Republican, 
received in Chautauqua 4,777 majority over Horatio 
Seymour, the successful candidate for Governor. Reu- 
ben E. Fenton was then again elected to Congress. The 
election in 1864 was of unusual interest. Lincoln polled 
8,700 votes in Chautauqua county, and George B. Mc- 
Clellan 3,952. This election was of especial importance 
in Chautauqua. Reuben E. Fenton, a native of the 
county, was the Republican candidate for Governor, 
against Horatio Seymour, and was elected. At this 
election, Walter L. Sessions was for the first time 
elected to the State Senate. 

The Republican majority had now become so great 
in Chautauqua county and in the Congressional dis- 
trict, and in nearly all of the towns of the county, that 
it was seldom that a member of the opposing party was 
elected to office. Consequently public attention nat- 
urally turned to the contests affecting the Republicans, 
and which divided them into two wings. This in- 
testinal struggle lasted many years, and may be called 
"The Fenton, Allen and Sessions Feud," from the names 
of the leading persons taking a part in it. It was of 
such local political importance as to be entitled to par- 
ticular mention here. 

From the time of the union between Free Soil Dem- 
ocrats, and Anti-Slavery Whigs, forming the Republi- 
can party, there was not an entirely cordial feeling ex- 
isting between its two wings. Reuben E. Fenton had 
been often chosen to high and important offices, and 
had become the most influential member of the Re- 
publican party in the county. He had led many Demo- 
crats into the Republican fold. He was a skilful tac- 
tician and a shrewd politician, and had brought in 
political methods that were new to his county and 
Congressional district. Although he had at this time 
ostensibly withdrawn from practical politics, his hand 
was felt in the many conventions that were held there 
afterwards. 

Walter L. Sessions and his brother Loren represented 



POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA 



379 



the old Whig element of the party. Both had sagacity 
and force of character. The younger, Loren, had a 
ready skill and a keen knowledge of human nature. 
The Sessions brothers always acted in concert. 

Among the friends of Governor Fenton was Col. 
Augustus F. Allen, a Democrat before the war, an 
upright energetic citizen who had been many times 
supervisor of his town, which included the city of 
Jamestown, and had been twice chairman of the board. 

The strained relations that had long existed between 
Governor Fenton and the Sessions brothers had now 
grown into a struggle for the control of the party in 
this congressional and senatorial district. So when 
Walter Sessions sought a reelection to the State Senate 
for a second term, he found strong opposition inspired, 
as he claimed, by Governor Fenton, and now began 
a memorable political contest between the two factions 
which long continued and developed keen practical 
politicians whose influence was not confined to the limits 
of the congressional district, but was felt in State con- 
ventions. 

The Democrats in the district were largely in the 
minority. In Chautauqua, they were unable to poll half 
the number of votes that the Republican party could 
command, and the Republican feud therefore could exist 
without the danger of its resulting in Democratic suc- 
cess. At the Republican senatorial convention held in 
1867, Walter L. Sessions was nominated for Senator 
by a majority of two delegates over Col. Augustus F. 
Allen, the opposing candidate, who claimed the result 
to have been unfair, and he was consequently given an 
independent nomination for Senator. 

The Democrats now saw their opportunity, and 
nominated their best man, Col. Lorenzo Morris, an able 
lawyer and an old-time Democrat, and he was elected 
by two hundred majority over each of the two Re- 
publican candidates. A long remembered triumph for 
the Democrats. Later, Col. Allen succeeded better. 
He and George Barker of Fredonia were elected dele- 
gates to the State Constitutional Convention. Mr. 
Barker was also elected Justice of the Supreme Court. 

The defeat of Walter L. Sessions would have dis- 
couraged a less determined and skillful politician. 
Neither he nor his brother Loren thought for a mo- 
ment of giving up the contest. The congressional cam- 
paign of 1868 was now approaching, and Walter L. 
Sessions was preparing to be the candidate. Sharp 
preliminary contests took place in the several assembly 
districts for delegates to the Congressional Convention 
which was held in August, 1868, at Dunkirk. The 
twenty delegates from Chautauqua and Cattaraugus 
representing the districts, were equally divided between 
Allen and Sessions. Besides the delegates present, more 
influential citizens attended it than on any occasion 
before. One hundred and fifty ballots were taken 
without result. The Allen wing now cast its vote for 
Porter Sheldon, who on the one hundred second in- 
formal ballot received the most votes. On the third 
day, the Sessions wing cast their ballots for Norman 
Allen, a well known lawyer and leading citizen of 
Cattaraugus county, a delegate who had been warmly 
supporting the candidacy of Augustus F. Allen. The 
Allen wing now cast their vote for Norman M. Allen, 
and he had all of the votes. He, however, preemptorily 
declined the nomination, and Porter Sheldon was nom- 
inated by a clear majority of the votes, and at the 
election that followed was elected. This was presi- 
dential year, and Grant carried Chautauqua county over 
Seymour by nearly 5.000 majority. 

The incidents of the Congressional Convention re- 
mained long in the memory of old-time politicians, and 
was typical of others that followed. 



The convention held in 1869 at Little Valley in Chau- 
tauqua county, was the most turbulent ever held in the 
senatorial district. This convention soon became di- 
vided into two antagonistic bodies. Their proceedings 
were conducted in great confusion, in the same hall, at 
the same time, each with a different chairman. The 
only orderly and proper act of these conventions was 
when they took themselves off by adjournment. No 
nomination was made by either. The Sessions fac- 
tion at a later date nominated A. D. Scott for Senator, 
and he was elected in the election that followed. 

These irregular proceedings were not to be charged 
to the presence of disorderly persons, for the conven- 
tion was made up of what were ordinarily peaceable 
and lawabiding citizens. Its disorders were partly due 
to the fact that there was then no law regulating pri- 
maries, and that the rules governing conventions were 
inadequate for the purposes for which they were de- 
signed. 

As soon as the campaign of 1870 commenced, it was 
evident that this local dissension was to continue. The 
seats of the delegates to the Republican Congressional 
Convention were contested, and the State Convention 
was called upon to settle some of the differences, which 
were decided favorably to the Sessions wing, and re- 
sulted in the nomination of Walter L. Sessions to Con- 
gress, and he was elected over Charles D. Murray, 
Democrat, by a greatly reduced majority. 

In 1871, the senatorial contest waged in the Republi- 
can party was as bitter as before. The senatorial con- 
vention held in Dunkirk, after repeated adjournments, 
on the fourth adjourned day, and on the 260th ballot, 
nominated Norman M. Allen, of the Fenton wing, over 
A. D. Scott, of the Sessions wing, senator, and at the 
ensuing election he was elected. The withdrawal of 
many of the Fenton and Allen Republicans, including 
Reuben E. Fenton and Augustus F. Allen in support of 
Horace Greeley for President in the year 1872, made the 
way clear for the nomination of Walter L. Sessions 
for Congress, and he was again elected over Charles 
D. Murray by a still greatly reduced vote. 

At the general election held in 1874. Republicans who 
had voted for Greeley in 1872 generally returned to their 
party, but Walter L. Sessions was able to dominate the 
Congressional Convention, and was nominated for Con- 
gress. The Democrats nominated a ticket composed of 
Democrats and Republicans. A strenuous campaign 
followed, pushed with vigor by the leaders. It was the 
most memorable of its character ever waged in the 
Congressional district. Augustus F. Allen was elected 
to Congress upon the ticket supported by the Dem- 
ocrats, over Sessions, by a large majority. Obed 
Edson, Democrat, was elected in the Second Assem- 
bly District of Chautauqua county. In the First Dis- 
trict Theodore S. Moss, Democrat, was defeated by 
only seventeen majority. The victory^ was celebrated 
at a public meeting held in Jamestown. Samuel J. 
Tilden, Democrat, at this election was elected governor. 

The strain and exposure that Col. Allen suffered dur- 
ing the campaign, caused his sickness, and soon after, 
before he could enter upon his official term, his death. 
At the succeeding election Nelson I. Norton, Repub- 
lican, from Cattarauqus county, was elected to fill the 
vacancy. Walter L. Sessions' disastrous defeat closed 
for a while his political career, and Governor Fenton 
thereafter ceased to take an active part in the politics 
of the county. He died August 25, 1885, at the age of 
sixty-six years. He was the most distinguished citi- 
zen of the county. For ten years he was a member of 
Congress, four years Governor of the Empire State, and 
for six years its United States Senator — the only Gov- 
ernor and Senator that at that time had been elected 



3 8o 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



from Western New York. In 1868, in the National 
Convention of his party, he stood second in the final 
ballot for vice-president— facts, that concisely tell the 
story of his active and prominent career. He was a 
polished and easy speaker, but not a strong one. Nor 
was he a distinguished writer. He had, however, pe- 
culiar talents of his own. He was a man of action, of 
diligence, of strong common sense, self-reliance and 
self-control. He was distinguished as an organizer 
and tactician. His secretiveness was large, and he kept 
his own counsel in an eminent degree, never losing 
sight of his own interest. He courted the favor of his 
fellow-citizens. To secure it, he assiduously cultivated 
all the arts of manner and speech. He was gracious 
and courteous alike to friend and foe. He was affable 
and polite in a remarkable degree, and was regarded 
as being the most polished member of the House of 
Representatives in his time. Refinement and elegance 
of manner have never been regarded as the products of 
an humble birth, but as virtues that exclusively belong 
to the aristocratic and well born, yet Mr. Fenton, born 
in the backwoods of Chautauqua county, in a log cabin, 
reared in the society of rough lumbermen and rafts- 
men, had graces of speech and polish of manner, that 
a courtier might envy. And yet Mr. Fenton was not 
an aristocrat. His early associations and his natural 
instincts were strongly democratic. 

In 1876 Hayes received 4,380 majority over Tilden 
in Chautauqua county, and George W. Patterson, of 
Westfield. Republican, was elected to Congress. Al- 
though the political career of Walter L. Sessions had 
apparently come to an end, his brother Loren was 
still a power in the congressional district, and was in 
1877 elected from that district to the State Senate 
upon the Republican ticket. In 1880, Garfield was elect- 
ed President, with a majority of 4,950 votes over Han- 
cock, in Chautauqua county. During Loren B. Ses- 
sions' last term in the State Senate, to which he had 
been elected in 1879, the celebrated contest occurred in 
Congress between the friends of Senator Conkling and 
the friends of President Garfield, resulting in the 
resignation of Senators Conkling and Thomas Piatt, 
and occasioning a strong effort on the part of their 
friends in the Legislature of the State of New York to 
have them returned to the Senate. Sessions was a sup- 
porter of Garfield, and took a leading, and most effec- 
tive part in preventing their return. There were more ad- 
herents to Senators Conkling and Piatt in the Legisla- 
ture than were opposed to them.- Through Sessions' 
nerve and audacity, an adjournment of the Legislature 
was effected, and sufficient time gained for the mem- 
bers to hear from their many Garfield constituents, and 
to cause a majority of them to vote against the re- 
turn of these Senators. Had they been reelected, they 
would have probably, continued to be the dominant 
power in the Republican party. The defeat of the 
Senators and the division of the party in the State in 
consequence of it, had much to do with the election of 
Cleveland over Folger as Governor, and later con- 
tributed to his election as President. 

During Loren Sessions' term as Senator, charges of 
briberv were brought against him, but a committee of 
the Legislature exonerated him. The charges, how- 
ever, proved disastrous to his political fortunes, and he 
was unable to command a renomination to the Senate 
of the State. For twenty-three years after, however, 
he was elected Supervisor of his town of Harmony, 
in Chautauqua county, and for seventeen years its 
chairman. He was a superior, impartial and popular 
presiding officer, watchful of the public interest. He 
had a striking personality, strong common sense, was 



genial, witty, and a born fighter. He was a unique and 
original character, and it will be long before his dupli- 
cate will appear in the politics of Chautauqua county. 
His name still inspires memories of the lively times and 
spicy happenings in the old stormy political days that 
followed the Civil War. For more than twenty years 
he and his brother Walter controlled the politics of 
Chautauqua county, and as we have seen, were formid- 
able competitors of Governor Fenton for the honors of 
their party in their congressional district. 

The year 1880 began a new period in the history of 
politics of the county. Reuben E. Fenton had retired 
from political life, Walter and Loren Sessions had 
ceased to be a power in their party, and the bitter feud 
between its wings had come to an end. The old lead- 
ers of both parties were now giving place to younger 
men, many of whom had passed the prime of life, but 
still occupied the stage, their parts unfinished, so that 
their story cannot now be fully told. 

Never since the existence of the Democratic party 
under that name, a period of nearly ninety years, has 
the county been carried by that party at a presidential 
or gubernatorial election, except in the year 1882. That 
year, Folger, the Republican candidate for governor, re- 
ceived but 4,803 votes ; Cleveland, the Democratic can- 
didate, received 6,217, a majority of 1,414, and was 
elected governor. Francis B. Brewer, of Westfield, 
and John S. Lambert, the Republican candidates for 
Congress and county judge, respectively, were elected. 
Charles H. Corbett, Democrat, was elected to the As- 
sembly from the western assembly district of the county. 

At the presidential election in 1884, Blaine received in 
Chautauqua county 10,670 votes, Cleveland 5,861, Butler 
of the Greenback or People's party, 540, and St. John 
of the Temperance party, 540. Walter L. Sessions was 
at this election again elected to Congress. Ten years 
before, he had suffered an overwhelming defeat, which 
would have destroyed all expectation of future recogni- 
tion by the people, of a weaker, and less able man. His 
political life had been a stormy one from its beginning. 
This was the last time that he sought, or held a political 
office. 

In 1888, Harrison was elected President. He received 
12,008 votes in Chautauqua county; Cleveland polled 
6,178; and 893 Prohibition votes were cast. In 1889, 
John S. Lambert, of Fredonia, was elected Justice of 
the Supreme Court, and Warren B. Hooker member of 
Congress. In 1890, the Democrats succeeded in elect- 
ing Almon A. Van Dusen county judge. 

In 1891, dissensions existed in both of the leading 
parties in the county. Grover Cleveland had admirers 
among the Democrats, while others were followers of 
David B. Hill. The partisans of each were active and 
energetic to promote the candidacy of their favorite. 
Commodore P. Vedder, the Republican candidate for 
Senator, was not popular with all of his party. Dr. 
James T. Edwards, president of the Chamberlin In- 
stitute at Randolph, Cattaraugus county, although he 
was a Republican, was nominated at the Democratic 
Senatorial Convention. He received the support of 
many Republicans, and was elected. Arthur C. Wade, 
of Jamestown, a lawyer who stood in the front rank 
in his profession in his county and in Western New 
York, was nominated by the Republicans for the office 
of Comptroller. As the State was that year Demo- 
cratic, he failed of an election. 

In 1892, Grover Cleveland was elected President. 
John Bidwell, of California, the candidate of the Pro- 
hibitionist or Temperance party, was a native of Chau- 
tauqua county. In 1841, when a youth, he crossed the 
plains to California, then a part of Mexico, and but 



POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA 



little known. He became thereafter identified with 
its history. He was a member of the first Constitutional 
Convention of California, and a delegate to the famous 
National Democratic Convention held in Charleston in 
i860, a member of Congress, and once an unsuccessful 
candidate for Governor of California. At this election 
he received in Chautauqua county 11 12 votes, the high- 
est number of votes ever polled by that party in the 
county. Cleveland received 6397 votes, and Harrison 
11,504. Warren B. Hooker was elected to Congress, 
and subsequently chosen chairman of Rivers and Har- 
bors. 

In 1893, the Republicans nominated for delegates to 
the State Convention called to form a new constitution, 
the following residents of Chautauqua : Benjamin S. 
Dean and Louis McKinstry. The Independent Repub- 
licans and Democratic candidates as such delegates 
were: Hubert E. V. Potter, Obed Edson and Silas W. 
Mason. The Republican candidates were elected. In 
1894 Warren B. Hooker was again elected to Con- 
gress. 

At the presidential election that followed in 1896, 
McKinley received 8167 majority in Chautauqua county, 
over Bryan. John Woodard, of Chautauqua county, was 
elected Justice of the Supreme Court, over James A. 
Allen, Democrat, of Buffalo, a lawyer, and former resi- 
dent of Chautauqua county. Warren B. Hooker was 
elected to Congress, and Jerome B. Fisher county judge. 
Mr. Fisher, reelected to that office, was afterwards ap- 
pointed reporter of the Supreme Court. 

In 1898, Theodore Roosevelt received in the county 
6,716 majority for Governor over Augustus Van Wyck. 
Warren B. Hooker was again elected to Congress. 

The Assembly of the State of New York was organ- 
ized in 1899 by the election of Samuel Fred Nixon as 
its speaker. He was the first member chosen to that 
position, by that body, from the county of Chautauqua, 
and was often afterwards chosen as speaker. Warren 
B. Hooker having resigned his office of member of Con- 
gress, to which he had been elected for five consecu- 
tive terms, was now elected Justice of the Supreme 
Court. Chautauqua county, from time to time, had be- 
come represented in this court by seven distinguished 
members of the legal profession, as follows : James 
Mullett, Richard P. Marvin, Benjamin F. Green, George 
Barker, John S. Lambert, John Woodard and Warren 
B. Hooker, — a record that the city of Buffalo scarcely 
exceeds. Fredonia seemed the home of the judiciary 
in Chautauqua county, for all of these judges, with 
the exception of Judge Marvin, have had their residence 
in that village. 

At the presidential election held in 1900, McKinley 
received 8660 more votes than Bryan in Chautauqua 
county. In the election of 1902, Frank H. Mott, of 
Jamestown, the Democratic candidate for Secretary of 
State, carried his strong Republican city of James- 
town by a majority of 300. The State being Republi- 
can at the time, he failed of election. In the presi- 
dential election of 1904, Roosevelt received 10,597 
more votes in the county, than Parker, and in the pres- 
idential election of 190S, Taft received 9683 more votes 
than Bryan. 

And now the most important political campaign and 
election that had occurred in half a century was ap- 
proaching. The Republican National Convention was 
held in Chicago, in June, 1912, and William H. Taft was 
nominated for President, at which Frank Anderson, of 
Jamestown, represented Chautauqua county as the dele- 
gate. The Democratic National Convention was held 
in the later days of June and first days of July, 1912, 
and Woodrow Wilson was made the candidate for 



President, at which Walter H. Edson, of Falconer, rep- 
resented Chautauqua county. The Progressive party's 
national convention, was held in Chicago, August 5, 
6 and 7, 1912, and Theodore Roosevelt was made the 
candidate for President, at which H. E. V. Porter, of 
Jamestown, represented the county of Chautauqua. 

At the general election that followed, on the 5th of 
November, 1912, Taft, the Republican candidate for 
President, received 7996 votes in Chautauqua county; 
Wilson, the Democratic candidate, received 493-2; 
Roosevelt, the Progressive candidate, received 6574; 
Debs the Socialistic candidate, 1353; and Chafin, the 
Prohibition candidate, 946. Charles M. Hamilton, of 
Chautauqua county, Republican, was elected to Con- 
gress. Ernest Cawcroft, of Jamestown, the Progres- 
sive candidate for State Treasurer, failed of election, 
as the State was carried by the Democrats, but received 
more votes than his party in the county. All of the 
candidates upon the Republican ticket for county of- 
fices were elected, with the exception of the candidate 
for member of Assembly in the first district. George 
W. Jude, of Jamestown, the Progressive candidate for 
that office, was elected, and was the only Assemblyman 
elected in the State, of that party, outside of the city 
of New York. 

In the year following the Progressive movement, 
Chautauqua county was still disturbed. George W. 
Jude was renominated to the Assembly in the first dis- 
trict, and received the support of the Democrats and 
Progressives, with an aggregate of 3537 votes, and was 
defeated by A. Morelle Cheney, who secured 3612 votes 
upon the Republican ticket. John Leo Sullivan, of 
Dunkirk, was nominated by the Republicans, and had 
5017 votes, to 3553 votes for E. S. Moss. William S. 
Stearns, the Republican nominee for district attorney, 
received 8620 votes, as against 8349 votes for his Dem- 
ocratic-Prohibition-Progressive opponent. 

Charles M. Hamilton was re-elected to Congress in 
1914, the vote in Chautauqua county being 9804, to 2963 
for Manton M. Wyvell, of Allegany county. By this 
time the effects of the Progressive movement had prac- 
tically disappeared, A. Morelle Cheney, the Republican 
candidate for member of Assembly having 4753 votes, 
while his Democratic opponent, Carl O. Hultgren, had 
1728, with 1500 votes divided about equally between the 
Socialists and the Socialist Labor parties. In the sec- 
ond district, John Leo Sullivan was chosen by 4024 
votes to 2815 for David H. Stanton, his Democratic 
opponent. In this year Charles M. Dow, president of 
the Chautauqua County Historical Society, and a res- 
ident of Jamestown, and Herman J. Westwood, of Fre- 
donia, were chosen as delegates to the Constitutional 
Convention which convened in Albany in 1915. Thomas 
Heffernan, of Dunkirk was Mr. Dow's opponent, and 
received 3477 votes, Mr. Dow having 8760 in Chautau- 
qua county. 

In 1915, Leon L. Fancher of Jamestown was elected 
by the Republican party to the Assembly from the first 
Chautauqua district, defeating William F. Stitt, Demo- 
crat, and Frank G. Curtis, Prohibitionist and Pro- 
gressive, the latter receiving 3361 votes, to 5324 for 
Mr. Fancher, and 1006 for Mr. Stitt. In the second dis- 
trict, Joseph A. McGinnies of Ripley became the can- 
didate of the Republican party, securing 6475 votes, 
against 2103 for his Democratic opponent, David T. 
Smith. 

The presidential election of 1916 showed Chautauqua 
county back in its leading position among the Republi- 
can counties of the State, giving Hughes 14,280, to 
7146 for Wilson, with 435 American. 863 Prohibition 
and 922 Socialist votes. Charles M. Hamilton was re- 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



elected to Congress, and Leon L. Fancher and Joseph 
McGinnies to the Assembly, and William S. Stearns 
district attorney. 

In 1917, Senator George Spring having died, J. Sam- 
uel Fowler of Jamestown was elected to fill the va- 
cancy. John S. Lambert of Fredonia was elected to 
the Supreme Court for the third time, and Hermes L. 
Ames of Ellicott was elected to the Assembly to suc- 
ceed Mr. Fancher, and Joseph A. McGinnies was re- 
elected from the second district. 

In the following year both members of Assembly 
were re-elected. Arthur B. Ottoway, who had been 
county judge for the previous seven years, was re- 
elected, and J. Samuel Fowler was elected to the full 
term in the Senate. Charles M. Hamilton having re- 
fused to be candidate for re-election to Congress, Dan- 
iel A. Reed of Dunkirk was elected Representative in 
Congress, his opponents being Frank H. Mott of James- 
town, and Gust C. Peterson, of the same city. The 
vote in Chautauqua county was 17,271 for Reed, 4490 
for Mott, and 1125 for Peterson. 

In 1919, Ames and McGinnies were re-elected to the 
Assembly, and McGinnies was seriously considered as 
a candidate for the office of speaker, an ambition which 
he still cherishes, after his successive elections in 
1919 and 1920. In the latter year, Mr. Ames was a can- 
didate for the Assembly, but a fatal accident befell him 
just before the primary, and Judson S. Wright of Elli- 
cott was nominated and elected to succeed him. The 
result of the general election of 1920, in which Chau- 
tauqua county contributed something over 22,000 to the 
plurality for the Republican ticket in the State of New 
York, is rather too recent to constitute history. Daniel 
A. Reed was re-elected to Congress, and J. Samuel 
Fowler was defeated in the primary for renomination, 
and was succeeded by DeHart H. Ames of Cattaraugus 
county in the Senate. 

Thus closes more than one hundred years of Chau- 
tauqua county politics. 

Although Chautauqua was one of the counties last 



settled in the State, and lies in its extreme western 
part, it is now, perhaps, the most important of those 
that have not a large city within its limits. Its towns 
that border on Lake Erie are interested in fruit raising 
and have become one of the most important grape 
regions in the United States. The remainder of the 
county is devoted to dairying. In that industry it is 
among the foremost counties. The farmers' Grange had 
its origin there. The first subordinate grange was es- 
tablished at Fredonia. Dunkirk is among the leading 
cities in the manufacture of railroad locomotives. For 
a half a century the saw mills and manufactories of 
Jamestown, then in the heart of a great forest of 
Weymouth pines, manufactured the lumber that was 
rafted down the river, to supply the growing cities and 
towns along the Allegheny, Ohio, and even the Missis- 
sippi river, and it and its neighboring village of Fal- 
coner are still important manufacturing points. After 
the New York and Erie railroad had been completed 
in 1851, Chautauqua became one of the chief railroad 
counties in the State. In 1902, there were 250 miles 
of steam, and 24 miles of electric roads built in the 
county. Since then, many more miles have been con- 
structed. 

Besides economic and civic, Chautauqua has physical 
features, that mark it, chief among which is the lake 
which gives it its name, and lies exclusively within its 
borders. The lake extends for eighteen miles through 
the heart of the county, is bordered by green and gently 
sloping hills, girdled by railroad and trolley lines, 
navigated by steam and electric boats, bearing thousands 
of passengers during the summer months. It is the 
highest of the navigated lakes bordering on, or within 
the State, and the only one that lies within the Valley 
of the Mississippi. Its upper extremity is only some 
half a dozen miles from the basin of the Great Lakes, 
the waters of which enter the ocean upon the cold 
and bleak shore of Labracjor, 4,000 miles from where 
the waters of Chautauqua Lake finally mingle with the 
tepid waves of the Gulf of Mexico. 



MUNICIPAL ACTIVITIES. 
By Mayor Samuel A. Carlson, Jamestown, New York. 



Rufus Choates said, "The final end of government 
is not to exert restrictions, but to do good." "To do 
good must indeed be the end of all government, to 
advance society, to perfect citizenship, to exemplify the 
ideals of human service, and to promote the greatest 
good to the greatest number." This has been the mu- 
nicipal democracy programme carried out in a large 
measure by the Jamestown municipality. 

This city furnishes to its inhabitants, through munici- 
pal channels, light, water, market, hospital and sanitary 
service, paving and sewer construction, at rates con- 
siderably less than those charged by private corpora- 
tions for similar service in other cities. There has 
been developed a civic spirit which places emphasis upon 
the value received in public service, and which has re- 
jected the short-sighted policy of turning every public 
utility over to private ownership for fear that public 
owi ership might involve a public debt. 

For years private interests have conducted a propa- 
ganda by which the public mind in most cities has been 
tau-ht to believe that anything undertaken by the mu- 
nicipality for the public good would mean a tax burden 
upon the citizens. Few persons seem to realize that 
every time a street car fare is paid or an electric bill 
is paid to a private corporation, it means just that 



much paid in taxes into private channels instead of 
into public channels. In the end, the whole community 
pays not only the indebtedness of the private corpora- 
tions, but dividends on stock which is often inflated. 
If the average citizen dwelling in the city in which public 
service utilities are privately owned will undertake to 
compute the amount of his contribution for service re- 
ceived, he will find that his burdens are far greater 
than the tax outlays in cities where the opposite policy 
is pursued. 

When as a public official I first proposed to munici- 
palize the lighting system in Jamestown twenty-five 
years ago, there went up a great hue and cry from cor- 
poration sources about "tax burdens," "waste of public 
money," "socialistic experiments," etc., but the city has 
proved the unsoundness of these predictions. 

The city now has a municipal electric plant valued at 
a half million dollars with an indebtedness against the 
plant of less than $60,000. The assets of the plant have 
been created entirely from the profits realized from the 
commercial sales of electric current to citizens. Not a 
single dollar has been levied in taxes to pay for the 
plant or its operation. The income from this source 
has paid all operating expenses, all interest on bonds, all 
repairs and replacements, and all necessary extensions 



MUNICIPAL ACTIVITIES 



383 



to the plant from time to time, besides leaving a sur- 
plus (after deducting five per cent, for depreciation) 
with which annual payments on bonds have been made. 
The city has been able to do this after having made 
rates far below those paid by consumers of current in 
cities supplied by privately owned plants. Our prevail- 
ing rate is 4 1 /* cents per k. w. hour, notwithstanding 
the excessive price paid for coal from which its power 
for current is produced. Not only has the city been 
able to return to its citizens the increased values of a 
municipal utility nearly paid for, but it has saved to 
the people nearly two million dollars as a result of low 
rates for electric current. The average home owner 
is able to light and do the laundry work in his home 
at a cost of $1.50 per month. 

The city has succeeded in rendering this service in the 
face of keen competition from the Jamestown Street 
Railway Company, which under its franchise is author- 
ized to carry on the business of commercial lighting. If 
this mistaken policy of duplicate service had not been 
sanctioned by the city, there would have been much 
greater revenue and gain to the people than is now the 
case. The municipal plant has forced the private com- 
pany to sell within the city limits at the same price 
charged by the city, although outside of the city, where 
there is no municipal competition, the private company 
charges 12 cents per k. w. The municipality has con- 
tinued its low rates, while private corporations have 
continually demanded increases. Various disinterested 
experts have made repeated examinations into the 
affairs of the municipal lighting operations, and in 
every instance the reports have reflected credit upon 
the city's management. 

Jamestown has a water plant valued at one and a 
half million dollars, with a bonded debt of $450,000. 
The difference between assets and debts represents 
gains to the community obtained without taxation and 
entirely from revenues derived from water rentals, 
which were reduced 60 per cent, after the acquisition 
of the plant from the private company. The city also 
owns and operates a public market, which is valued at 
$35,000, and was wholly paid for from the revenues 
derived in rentals from stalls used by market dealers. 
The public market has had the effect of stabilizing 
prices. Jamestown also maintains a public hospital 
valued at $200,000, against which there is an indebted- 
ness of only $80,000. 

All the paving operations in the city are conducted 
directly by the municipality, with the result that the 
profits which formerly went into the pockets of con- 
tractors now remain in the pockets of the abutting 
property owners, whose assessments for paving and 
sewer improvements have been reduced by this method 
more than 33 per cent. All the garbage within the 
city is wrapped by each householder in paper bundles 
after having been drained in the kitchen sink, and is 
taken by means of a collecting wagon owned by the 
city to a piggery located in the outlying district. 

The taxpayers of the city of Jamestown by a large 
majority vote decided at an election held August 21, 
1920, to establish a municipal milk plant and sanitary 
distribution system in the city of Jamestown, and a 
proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $150,000 
was authorized, and the creation of a commission to be 
appointed by the mayor, consisting of four members, 
to carry out the scheme of municipalization of the milk 
supply. This proposition was submitted to the tax- 
payers a year ago, and was defeated by an overwhelm- 
ing vote. The favorable decision at the recent elec- 
tion showed a complete reversal of public sentiment and 
a pronounced vote in its favor. The plan contemplates 



the erection of a central station to which all milk from 
the producer will be bought and tested in a scientific 
manner, each can from each producer being sub- 
jected to an individual test so as to safeguard 
against bacteria and impure milk. The producer 
will be paid on the basis of the quality of milk 
supplied ; those having the lowest bacteria count 
and highest percentage of butter-fat will receive the 
highest price for milk. The milk will be clarified and 
all milk, except Grade "A" raw milk, which comes 
from tuberculine tested cows, will be pasteurized, and 
all milk will be placed in bottles under the improved 
method of bottling, under which the milk is free from 
the touch of human hands or any contamination. The 
milk will be delivered at an early hour to each house- 
holder. The city will be divided into thirty districts, 
one delivery man for each district ; these will take the 
place of the seventy milk peddlers who are now sup- 
plying the city with milk, and who are crossing each 
other's tracks continually and thereby entailing a du- 
plicate expense and waste of effort, which is now borne 
by the community. The municipal system will elim- 
inate the added cost of the present middleman's profit. 

The price of milk at the present time in the city of 
Jamestown is 15 cents per quart for Grade "B" milk. 
Under municipal operation, it is believed that the milk 
can be sold at a considerable lower price, and that 
the consumer will get an improved quality of milk with 
a full cream content, which is not now the case, and 
that the farmer will receive a higher price for his 
product than he now receives. The 40,000 people of the 
city of Jamestown pay out annually, under prevailing 
prices, more than one million dollars for milk. This 
is 60 per cent, more than the entire municipal tax 
budget for all city purposes. 

But the innovation by which it is proposed to elim- 
inate the element of exploitation of the milk supply in 
the city of Jamestown and make the supply a matter of 
public service, is favored more as a health measure, 
because under the present system a germ-laden bottle 
of milk delivered to the back door of a home often 
means a crape on the front door. 

By-products which are often of considerable amount 
in a central plant, will be utilized by the city for the 
manufacture of cheese, butter and buttermilk. 

The proposition to municipalize the milk supply is not 
a socialistic measure, but a common-sense business- 
like method by which the citizens unite in the employ- 
ment of the agency of the city government to do in an 
economical and sanitary manner that which a superflu- 
ous number of peddlers are unable to do under competi- 
tive conditions for private gain. The foremost sani- 
tarians and health authorities of America have endorsed 
the Jamestown plan of handling the milk supply as the 
only solution of the milk problem. 

The secret of Jamestown's success in its many munici- 
pal activities lies in the fact that the various public 
utilities are under the control of Boards of Commis- 
sioners composed of public-spirited men, trained in 
business affairs or expert in mechanical lines, reappoint- 
ed continuously by the Mayor, who is himself a mem- 
ber of each Board of Commissioners, and who has been 
reelected Mayor for seven successive two-year terms. 
This continuity of service gives the people the benefit 
of extended experience in public affairs, which is just 
as imperative in the management of a city as it is in the 
management of a large business corporation. In select- 
ing men to administer the different utilities, the Mayor 
has followed the principle of proportional representa- 
tion by giving to each leading group of citizens a rep- 
resentative on each of the Water, Light, Hospital, 



3»4 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Health and Improvement Boards, with the result that 
the labor, business and professional elements, have equal 
voice in controlling the important administrative 
branches of the municipality. 

Viscount Bryce in "The American Commonwealth" 
pointed out that the frequent changes in the personnel 
of municipal administration produced inefficiency and 
undemocratic results in many of our American cities. 
To be governed properly, a city must have experienced 
men. Such men cannot be had unless there is adequate 
compensation and a tenure of office long enough to 
permit proper training in dealing with the business 
and human problems which enter into public service. 

This has been the plan which has made Jamestown 
one of the best-governed cities on the American con- 
tinent, with a total per capita annual expense of less 
than $17 for all purposes, including schools. The city 



administration has aimed not so much at a low tax rate 
— because a low tax rate often means neglect of public 
health and a laxity in needed improvements — but to se- 
cure for its citizenship the greatest value in public ser- 
vice and in elevating the civic life of the community. 

The combined receipts from the Water and Light De- 
partments and the Public Market and Hospital last 
year were $295,009.05. The combined expenditures, in- 
cluding interest on bonds, were $206,415.76, leaving a 
net total annual gain to the municipality of $88,593.29, 
and this, it must be remembered, is in addition to the 
gain to the citizens in reduced rates for public service. 

Jamestown has long since passed the experimental 
stage in public ownership, and it is prepared to enter 
upon an extension along other lines in the field of mu- 
nicipal activities as soon as the charter and consti- 
tutional restraints and limitations can be removed. 



DENTAL SURGERY AND DENTISTS. 
Ey William E. Goucher, D.D.S. 



The history of dentistry is one of the most important 
sections in the annals of modern civilization. No other 
profession possesses a paragraph so rich in progression, 
so rapid in rise or so sure of prophecy as the science 
of dental surgery. The following of its practice har- 
vests such apparent and wonderful material results that 
the gratefulness of the relieved sufferer cannot but add 
prodigious strength and activity to the inspiration of 
the man who is always trying to find a better way. 

To say that dentistry is truly an American inven- 
tion, should be corrected by writing that modern dent- 
istry is truly American, for abundance of data is easily 
at hand that proves that the care or ornamentation of 
the teeth was practiced by the inhabitants of the races 
so remote that their history is little more than a chron- 
ologization of partly lost or forgotten legends. 

The Egyptians were undoubtedly the most skilled of 
any of the early civilizations in the art of healing, for 
Herodotus, the great historian, wrote, 300 B. C, "The 
art of medicine is so practised in Egypt that there is 
found an individual healer for each individual disor- 
der," and laid great emphasis on a peculiar disease 
that affected the teeth, gums and jaws, and named a 
number of remedies used at that time, said to prevent 
or relieve this malady, many of which, such as myrrh, 
are still in use. This is probably the first and most 
accurate record we have of the early existence of 
pyorrhoea and the uses of prophylactics. 

Some of the Persian writers of about the same time 
d scribe the use of gold in the mouths of certain digni- 
taries. Whether this was used as a means to arrest 
dental cares or for pure ornamentation the authors 
gave no opinions. While it is now a recognized fact 
that no gold fillings have been found in the teeth of 
the Egyptian mummies, it cannot be doubted that the 
Egyptians knew how to apply artificial teeth. That 
the Romans were quite adept in the making of false 
teeth is a certainty, for a number of the early Roman 
writers refer to them. Martial, one of the first of the 
great Roman poets, speaks clearly of artificial dentures. 
That they were made by persons not belonging to the 
medical profession is very probable, as neither Pliny, 
Celsus or any other Roman writer on medicine makes 
any allusion to the art of dentistry. In fact I have not 
been able to find any word in Latin that is synonymous 
with dentistry. And thus down through all the ages, 
writers are constantly referring to either the ugliness 
or beauty of the teeth. Even Solomon in his beautiful 



song to his beloved, likened her teeth to "a flock of 
sheep that are even shorn which came up from the 
washing." 

It is probable that not until the Eighteenth Century 
we find individuals who had dedicated themselves ex- 
clusively to the cure of dental maladies or to repairing 
the losses of the oral cavity. That no more progression 
was made for the next hundred years or so is not to 
be wondered at, for there were no schools or recognized 
preceptors. It was to the honor of America that she 
gave to the world the first school that taught the science 
of dental surgery. From this school came the men 
who have made modern dentistry. And at this time I 
wish to mention the great invention, or rather the per- 
fection of artificial teeth, by Dr. Samuel S. White, who 
in 1844 was able to so combine platinum and porcelain 
by a process of baking which furnished the world with 
an artificial tooth that was practically indestructible, 
and so natural in appearance that it was almost in- 
discernible. About this same time came the discovery 
of the greatest boon to the human race. — anaesthesia, 
for it was Horace Wells, a dentist, who practiced his 
profession in Hartford, Connecticut, where he first 
opened an office in 1838, that discovered anaesthesia. 
His sign bore the words, "Horace Wells. Dentist, will 
faithfully perform all operations on the teeth." These 
carefully selected words finely portray the man who 
never promised more than he could fulfill and faith- 
fully discharge. No other heritage has been bequeathed 
by man to his descendants that has borne more fruit in 
mitigating the agonies of suffering humanity than that 
left by this modest man. But, like many others who 
had preceded him and followed him, who did things 
for the sake of their doing, he reaped no financial gain. 
And it was not until the year he died, at the age of 
thirty-three, that he was honored by the acknowledg- 
ment of his discovery by the Medical Society of Paris, 
who in 1S48 voted that "To Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist 
of Hartford, Connecticut, is due all the honor of hav- 
ing first discovered anaesthesia. 

But, like all other trades and professions, all the 
men who followed the dental profession were not of the 
stamp of Horace Wells. For the first dentist that we 
have any record of in Chautauqua county appeared in 
Jamestown about the year 1835, when there came to 
Jamestown a travelling gentleman who instantly let 
it be known he came here to remove or fix broken 
teeth, or to replace the same with artificial substitutes. 



DENTAL SURGERY AND DENTISTS 



385 



And, according to Mrs. Katherine Griffiths Cheney, .who 
was then a girl about ten years of age, the community 
was not much better by his coming. He disappeared 
about as mysteriously as he had appeared. We have 
several stories about the appearance of a number of 
these travelling dentists, but they seemed to be men of 
about the same worth. And so to begin the history 
of the profession in Chautauqua county we will have 
to begin with those men who were recognized prac- 
titioners. 

On August 23, 1864, there gathered in Jamestown 
those who seemed to have been the leading men of the 
profession in the county, together with some dentists 
practicing in the neighboring towns across the line in 
Pennsylvania. No records of this meeting remain oth- 
er than the names of the men present, and their agree- 
ment upon certain fees. Those present from Chautau- 
qua county were : Drs. J. Danforth, C. B. Price, J. R. 
Rawson, E. H. Danforth and James Harrison, of 
Jamestown ; Drs. C. A. Thompson, J. C. GifFord, of 
Westfield; Dr. Byron Rathbun, of Dunkirk; Dr. F. M. 
Briggs, of Delanti; Dr. Anson A. Stone, of Sinclair- 
ville; and Drs. A. J. Wright and V. A. Lord, of Fre- 
donia. There are no records to show that these men in- 
tended to form a society at this time, but it seems quite 
obvious that they did, for they elected Dr. James Har- 
rison, of Jamestown, as president. It was but natural 
that Dr. Harrison was chosen to lead these men to a 
better understanding of each other. He was the first 
man to open an office in Jamestown and give his entire 
time and attention to the practice of dentistry. 

Dr. James Harrison came of a family whose genea- 
logical record extends back many generations. He 
was of English and Welsh descent ; of strong religious 
inclinations, being a member of the Methodist church. 
In politics he was a real old Thomas Jefferson Demo- 
crat. He was one of a large family of children, and 
having given evidence of great mechanical ingenuity he 
was apprenticed to a near relative to learn the trade of 
watchmaker. His active ingenious mind, however, 
could not content itself with this occupation, for we 
soon find him busy about the silver forge, and it was 
not long until he was looked upon as the most skilled 
silver and goldsmith in his vicinity. Very early in life 
he married Rebecca Brown at Weedsport, New York, 
and soon moved to Jamestown, where he intended to 
follow his trade. It was not long after he had opened 
his jewelry shop in Jamestown that he turned his at- 
tention to dentistry as a vocation. His inventive spirit 
was constantly urging him to the trial of various modes 
of improvement and experiment, and it was not long 
before he was looked upon as one of the leading dent- 
ists in Western New York. That he possessed a large 
and lucrative practice is very evident, for at the time 
of his death he was one of Jamestown's largest land 
owners. To James and Rebecca Harrison were born 
sixteen children. His daughter Ellen became the wife 
of his pupil, and afterwards his partner, Dr. John B. 
Rawson. Dr. James Harrison was born in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, in 1801, and died in Jamestown, 1873. 

Two others of these men have left an indelible trace 
in the progress of dentistry in Chautauqua county. 
They are Drs. Byron Rathbun and Anson A. Stone. 

Dr. Byron Rathbun was the son of a Baptist clergy- 
man. He spent his boyhood days in North East, 
Pennsylvania. After completing his common school 
education in that town he went to Fredonia and became 
a student under Dr. C. A. Thompson, who was one of 
the earliest, if not the first dentist to establish himself 
in Westfield. With this preceptor Dr. Rathbun fol- 
lowed his profession for a number of years. In about 
Chau — 25 



i860 he left Westfield and settled in Louisiana, where 
he was engaged in the practice of dentistry until just 
before the Civil War. Being a staunch Republican and 
a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, he realized that 
Louisiana was no place for him. Upon his return 
North he opened an office in Dunkirk. He was a very 
superior operator, and such was his enthusiasm in his 
profession that he kept abreast with all modes of im- 
proved methods. Byron Rathbun was of the old type 
of Christian gentleman. He was for many years ves- 
tryman and treasurer of St. John's Episcopal Church in 
Dunkirk. He united very early in life with the Ma- 
sonic order, and freely contributed his time, energies 
and talents to advancing the principles and interests of 
this fraternity. That he held many of the highest of- 
fices of the local lodge is proof of the love and esteem 
in which he was held by his Masonic brothers. He died 
in October, 1902. 

Dr. Anson Augustus Stone was born in Mansfield, 
Cattaraugus county, New York, February 13, 1841. 
Having graduated from the Springville Institute, he 
began the study of dentistry with Dr. Alonza Vangh 
of that place, and after completing his course he came 
to Westfield and became associated with Dr. C. A. 
Thompson, after which he moved to Delanti (now 
named Stockton) and there began a practice of his own. 
His stay in Delanti was not of long duration, for he 
soon went to Sinclairville, where he married Sarah 
E. Furman. Here he resided until 1886, when he 
moved to Dunkirk and practiced his profession until 
the time of his death, April 13, 1904. Dr. Stone was a 
man of a most lovable disposition. In dentistry he 
exhibited great interest and was held in high esteem by 
his professional associates. 

At this time it seems most proper to make mention of 
Dr. Edson West, the oldest dentist in the county in 
number of years of public service. Dr. West began the 
practice of dentistry in 1873, when he became associ- 
ated with Dr. A. A. Stone, of Sinclairville. He re- 
mained with Dr. Stone for a year and a half, after 
which he went to New York and took a course in the 
New York School of Dental Surgery. Upon complet- 
tion of this course in 1877 he came to Jamestown, and 
was associated with Dr. J. H. Thurston. This part- 
nership lasted for two and a half years, when he bought 
out Dr. Thurston. He is still practicing in the same 
location he began his professional career more than 
forty-six years ago. Dr. West is one of the few re- 
maining of the old school who knew and understood the 
art of filling teeth with gold foil. With the passing 
of the few remaining of these men will go a knowledge 
that the younger generation of dentists has not ac- 
quired, — the restoration and saving of the teeth by gold 
foil. 

To Dr. C. L. Titus, of Portland, New York, belongs 
the distinction of being the first man to register under 
the law with the county clerk, July 22, 1879. Just prior 
to this a law was passed by the State requiring all the 
dentists to register who could be recognized as legal 
practitioners. Thirty-four men in the county took ad- 
vantage of this law. Up to the present time there have 
been one hundred and forty-nine men registered as 
dentists. 

While as individuals the dentists of this county have 
generally been progressive and ranked high ■ in the 
adoption of the latest methods and the employment of 
the most modern apparatus, there seems to have been a 
lack of unity of effort. There was no dental society or 
association for an interchange of ideas or bringing to- 
gether of a closer social relation until 1895, when the 
dentists of Jamestown met in the office of Dr. A. W. 



386 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Weible, and the writer, to form a dental society. That 
these men recognized the worth and high ideals of Dr. 
Edson West at that time is quite apparent, for they 
elected him their president. The time for organizing 
a dental society was not quite at hand, however, for 
after one of two feeble attempts to meet again, the 
organization passed into a state of coma and it was not 
until 1917 that the present organization, the Jamestown 
Dental Society, was formed. That it was to be a suc- 
cess was assured at the first meeting. The men began 
to talk about and tell what they were doing; there 
were no more professional secrets ; every man seemed 
to be imbued with but the one idea,— to help his pro- 
fessional brother and instill in the minds of one another 
the higher ideals due a profession so worthy as the 
practice of dental surgery. 

Dr. Frank A. Monroe was elected the society's first 
president. The wisdom of this first choice instantly 
began to assert itself. Dr. Monroe's genial disposition, 
unassuming ways and invincible courage, gave him the 
elements of character that made him the friend of 
every man. The influence of this society soon spread 
beyond its members, and it is impossible to embrace 
the names of all those who have done earnest work 
and been active in thought and energy in aiding its 
progress. As to the worth of this organization, had 
it accomplished no more than the establishment of the 
Dental Clinic in the public schools of Jamestown, it 
might trulv be said these men have, in this act alone, 
received sufficient harvest to pay them well for their 
effort. The idea of a free dental clinic in the public 
schools was not looked upon with much favor by the 
school board. There had been no money allotted for 
any such purpose, and although the different members 



of the society volunteered to give a certain portion of 
their time to this work gratuitously there remained to be 
furnished material, instruments and equipment. This 
problem was soon solved, and it is to the credit of Cy- 
rus E. Jones, Esq., who gave the money which pur- 
chased the equipment assuring Jamestown of its first 
Public School Free Dental Clinic. This subsequently 
was installed as a memorial to his son Emory, who 
died in his senior year in the high school, 1914. 

During the school year of 1919-1920, according to the 
yearly report of Dr. Frederick W. Nisson, who was the 
school dentist at that time, there were 865 patients at- 
tended by him; the number of teeth extracted was 539; 
the total of operations performed — all of more or less 
consequence, such as fillings, treatments, et cetera — 
numbered 3.088. Had it not been for the careful ex- 
amination by the school dentist, it is quite likely that 
but a small percentage of these defective teeth would 
have been called to the attention of a dentist until it 
was too late to have them taken care of in the most 
beneficial manner for their preservation. 

We have seen the trade progress to a profession, the 
profession divided into various branches of specialized 
art. The terrible dread of the dental chair has given 
way to modern dentistry, and the time is not very 
distant when the public will be looking for preventive 
dentistry instead of depending upon the skill of the doc- 
tor to repair defective teeth, sometimes so far gone 
that the only alternative is to replace them by artificial 
dentures. And when the little folks of today, who have 
had their teeth properly attended to early in life, grow 
to manhood and womanhood, the stories of dental tor- 
ture will seem but myths. 



PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES. 



Westfield Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, was organized in Westfield, February 
21, 1898. The charter members were: Mrs. George W. 
Patterson, Mrs. Catherine Patterson Crandall, Mrs. 
Frances Patterson Faust, Miss Elizabeth Johnston, Miss 
Hannah D. Johnston, Mrs. Helen Sutton Moore, Mrs. 
Martha Hendy Swezey, Mrs. Sarah E. Fosdick, Miss 
Sara R. Munson, Miss Lydia N. Patchen, Mrs. Estelle 
Wood Rood, Mrs. Mary E. Whitney, Mrs. Mary Carl 
Minton, Mrs. Anna Dickson Sackett, Mrs. Clara Dick- 
son Nicholls, Mrs. Rachel York Paddock, Miss Har- 
riet Hall. 

Mrs. George W. Patterson was appointed regent of 
the Chapter which was named in honor of the Patter- 
son family by a unanimous vote. Mrs. Patterson serv- 
ed her first term under appointment by the State 
Regent, then was elected by vote of the Chapter each 
year until her death, her service extending over a pe- 
riod of eleven years. A memorial tablet to her mem- 
ory was placed by the Chapter in the vestibule of Pat- 
terson Public Library, which was unveiled July 5, 1912. 
The other officers of the Chapter during its first year 
were : Mrs. Whitney, vice-regent ; Mrs. Swezey, sec- 
retary ; Mrs. Faust, register ; Miss Patchen, treasurer. 

The Chapter has been active along the patriotic lines 
which inspired its being, and has done a great deal 
toward the preservation of historic sites and land marks 
— and in fostering a spirit of remembrance and loyal 
devotion. It has marked the graves of Revolutionary 
soldiers with the stone which the government furnishes, 
t'^eir records showing among the graves so decorated 
that of Luther Barney at Bemis Point. He was born 
in Connecticut in 1758, came to Ellery, Chautauqua 



county, in 1830, and died in 1845. His daughter, Mrs. 
Ruth Barney Maples, was a member of Patterson Chap- 
ter, D. A. R., the only "real daughter" belonging to 
the Chapter. Patterson Chapter has also decorated 
graves in Westfield Cemetery, East Ripley Cemetery. 
Union Cemetery, and in Volusia. 

Benjamin Prescott Chapter was organized in Fre- 
donia, January 2, 1809, and named in honor of Col. 
Benjamin Prescott, who fought at Bunker Hill. The 
first regent was Miss Martha Jane Prescott, a great- 
granddaughter of Col. Prescott, and a granddaughter, 
Miss Elizabeth Prescott Haywood, was also among the 
early members. Four "real" daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution have been members of Prescott Chap- 
ter — Mrs. Charlotte (Root) Godfrey and Mrs. Harriet 
(Root) Young, daughters of Ebenezer Root, of Massa- 
chusetts, a Revolutionary soldier; Mrs. Virtue E. 
Cole, born in Sinclairville. Chautauqua county, daugh- 
ter of Samuel Sinclair; Mrs. Elizabeth (Hood) Perkins, 
daughter of William Hood, died in 1856, aged 90, and 
is buried in the old cemetery at Fredonia. 

Jamestown Chapter was organized in October, 1900, 
with Miss Stella Florine Broadhead, regent. One of 
the early members, a "real" daughter of the American 
Revolution, Mrs. Maria Cheney Hall, died January 17, 
1903, aged 97 years. She was a daughter of Ebenezer 
Cheney, a Revolutionary soldier, who enlisted at the 
age of seventeen and served as a private. The Chapter, 
through its committee on Revolutionary Burials, has 
compiled a valuable list of soldiers and their burial 
places in Chautauqua, this list, with those from other 
Chapters, appearing in the work. 

Major Benjamin Bosworth Chapter was organized in 



PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES 



387 



Silver Creek, May 12, 1910, and now has a membership 
of 106, of whom forty-six are charter members. The 
Chapter is active along the special lines to which it 
is devoted, and each year accomplishes a considerable 
amount of worthy work of a patriotic nature. To en- 
courage the study of our national life and achievement, 
two money prizes are given to students of United 
States History, and an annual event is the entertain- 
ment of the members of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic on Decoration Day. The Chapter also assists in 
decorating all soldiers' graves in the village, and at- 
tends the Memorial Day service held by the veterans. 
By request of the Post, the regent of the Chapter, Mrs. 
Nellie E. Stewart, took in the Memorial Day services 
of 1920, by giving a reading. 

During the World War, 1917-18, the Chapter pur- 
chased a Liberty bond which was later donated to Red 
Cross work; subscribed to the Lilliloi fund, maintained 
a French orphan one year, and assisted in every pos- 
sible way the work of the Red Cross. The ladies of 
the Chapter are now taking up Americanization work 
in different phases. 

Ellicott Chapter, of Falconer, was organized by Mrs. 
Myrtle Blood Reed, June 14, 1916, the youngest of the 
Chautauqua county chapters, but one of the most vig- 
orous and useful. The Chapter was organized with 
thirty-six members, Mrs. Myrtle Blood Reed, the first 
regent. From its beginning, Ellicott Chapter has car- 
ried on an active campaign of patriotic work, and has 
accomplished a great deal in the way of creating a spirit 
of loyalty and cooperation which has not been without 
practical results. During the war with Germany the 
Chapter organized a Red Cross branch, sewed, knit 
and saved, bought bonds, stamps, and took upon itself 
the support of a French orphan, and has since planted 
trees, appropriately marked, as memorials to the soldier 
dead. Since the war, Americanization work has been 
vigorously prosecuted, the amount of work the ladies 
of this small Chapter have accomplished along educa- 
tional and helpful lines among the foreign residents of 
Falconer being truly remarkable. 

Mrs. Reed served as regent for two terms, then re- 
tired in favor of Mrs. Delia Hooker Johnson, who 
served two years, and in 1920 was succeeded by Mrs. 
E. P. Jollie. Other officers of the Chapter are : Mrs. 
H. N. Crosby, vice-regent ; recording secretary, Miss 
Cora Harris ; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Frederick 
DeBell; treasurer, Miss Gertrude E. Mosher ; historian, 
Mrs. Kate E. Davis ; register, Mrs. Ethel E. Sample. 

Sons of the Revolution — A Chapter of the Sons of 
the Revolution was organized in Jamestown, Lewis 
Hall the first regent. He was succeeded by Rev. Al- 
bert Smalley, with Dr. William M. Bemus vice-regent. 
The Chapter meets at the call of its officers; Frank H. 
Mott, regent (1919). 

Revolutionary Soldiers — Among the pioneer settlers 
of Chautauqua county were many men whose un- 
daunted courage and willing spirit of selfsacrifice for 
their country had been demonstrated as soldiers in the 
American Revolution. They came into the almost un- 
broken wilderness of Western New York, sturdy of 
heart and courageous, to give their best in the develop- 
ment of new homes and the advancement of civic life 
in the community. Many of them were conspicuous in 
their activity in the growing affairs of the little set- 
tlements, and that same spirit of loyalty and unselfish- 
ness that won American independence was shown in all 
the ventures and problems of the pioneer life. In 
many of the little rural cemeteries as well as in the 
larger villages of the county are the graves of these 
pioneer settlers who were valiant soldiers of the 



American Revolution. In some instances where fami- 
lies purchased acres from the Holland Company per- 
haps, and cleared them for farms, a small corner was 
set aside for a "grave yard" as it was called, and 
today some of these places are kept up and in good 
condition, in others the weeds and undergrowth have 
had full sway until the headstones have fallen and 
become imbedded in the tangle and consequently hard 
to decipher. In one instance, while on a searching tour 
for these graves, we interviewed an old man plowing 
in the fields nearby. "Yes," he said, "it is a pity these 
graveyards are not better kent. A man purchased that 
farm," pointing with his thumb in the direction we were 
bound for, "he used the stones for potato bins in his cel- 
lar and began plowing up the graves; the neighbors 
got after him and he had to stop." We went to this 
place and found what once had been a pretty iron fence, 
a gravel walk and hedge; the hedge had grown to an 
enormous height, the vines and weeds had long had 
full sway, and the grave of the Revolutionary soldier 
was not to be found. 

Chautauqua county has five chapters of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution, namely: Major Benja- 
min Bosworth Chapter, of Silver Creek; Ellicott Chap- 
ter, of Falconer; Jamestown Chapter, of Jamestown; 
Patterson Chapter, of Westfield; and Benjamin Pres- 
cott Chapter, of Fredonia. These Chapters have located 
all graves of Revolutionary soldiers as far as it has 
been possible to do so, and United States Government 
markers have been placed at a number of the graves. 
Doubtless there are many other soldiers of whom no 
record has been kept, who are sleeping their last sleep 
in unknown places and we have no way of finding out 
definitely where these graves are located.* The fol- 
lowing graves are noted by name and location: 

Busti — John Frank, Lawrence Frank, Reuben Lan- 
don, Frank Settlement or Hatch. John Jones, Hazel- 
tine. Levi Pier, Elias Jenner farm. John B. Smiley, 
Palmiter. Barnibus Wellman, Wellman. Stephen Wil- 
cox. Wilcox. Phineas Palmiter, Wilcox, (supposed). 

Charlotte— Amos Atkins, Elias Carter, Elisha Carter, 

Carpenter, Caleb Clark, Joseph Dix. Jacob 

Gleason, Robert W. Seaver, Samuel Sinclair, Sinclair- 

Clymer — Capt. John Campbell, Gardiner Cleveland 
Dan Williams, Dan Wing. 

Chautauqua — Samuel Davis, Adonijah Fenton, Rich- 
ard Whitn.-y, M.i^imlia. Elijah Look, Levi Stedman 
Samuel Waterbury, Pleasantville. Seelv Scofield, Sam- 
uel Young, Dewittville. Mathew Prendergast. 

Ellery— Jacob Annis, William Scofield, Lewis. Jon- 
athan Babcock, Lemual Bacon, Luther Barney, Wil- 
liam Bemus, Benjamin Parker, Bemus Point. John 
Pickard, Red Bird. 

Ellicott — Rev. Paul Davis, Falconer. Jacob Fenton, 
Jeremiah Griffith, Joseph Loucks. William Martin John 
Rhodes. William Smiley. Fluvanna. 

Ellington — Abijah Hitchcock, Ellington. Stephen 
Mather, Clear Creek. 

French Creek — William Adams, French Creek. 

Gerry— Benja. Mathews, Gerry Hill. 

Harmony and North Harmony — Samuel Benedict, 
David Hollister, John Stow. Ashville. Simon Loomis 
Jonas Randall, Blockville. William Mattison, Connolly 
Farm. Nathaniel Mather, Niobe. Phineas Chamberliii 
Town Line. 

Hanover — John Darling, John T. Johnson, Glenwood, 
Silver Creek. Jesse Clothier, Shibnah Spink. Dotv. 
Asa Gage, Smith Mills. Solomon Rathbun, Rathbun 
Cemetery. Silas Nash. Nashville Cemetery. William 
Kirkland, Ball Town. John Terry, Robert Love, Reu- 
ben Barnes, Isaac Van Camp, Christopher McManus, 
Pioneer Cemetery, Forestville. (Susanna Munn Terry, 
wife of John Terry, is recorded as having been an 
army nurse). 



•The last Revolutionary pensioner in the county, 
William Mattison, Sr., died in the town of Harmony 
aged ninety-nine and was buried on the farm bought 
from the Holland Land Company. He was blind dur- 
ing the last twenty-six years of his life and closely 
confined to the farm near Stow upon which he died. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Jamestown — Andrew Crawford, Joseph Dix, Cyrus 
Fish, Daniel Hazeltine. Isaac Staples, Eliphlet Stew- 
ard. Benjamin DeLaMater, Lake View. William Wash- 
burn, Old Cemetery. 

Kiantone — Ebenezer Cheney, Asa Moore, Kiantone. 
Jasper Marsh, Aaron Martin, William Stearns, Still- 

Mina — David Madden. 

Poland — Phineas Allen, Col. Nathaniel Fenton, Ellas 
Tracey, Joshua Woodward, Allen. Seth Baker, Levant. 
Jonathan Bill. John Tucker, Dry Brook. Cyrus Ham- 
lin. John Woodward, Kennedy. 

Pomfret — -(in or near Fredonla) — Thomas Abel, Hez- 
ekiah Harker, John Brigham, Seth Cole, Simon Crosby, 
Il««rl Fitch, Veniah Fox, Luther Gates, Nathaniel 
Hempstead, William Hood, King Moore, Jonathan 
Phelps. Jeremiah Rood, Joseph Rood. Elijah Risley, 
William Seymour. Reuben Thompson, Elisha Webster, 
Augustus Burnham. 

Portland — Daniel Barnes, John Coney, Capt. James 
Dunn. Joseph «»(.•>, James Goldsmith, Zimri Hill, Wil- 
loughbv Lowell, John Light, Jeremiah Potter, Joseph 
Phelps Peters. Samuel Parker, Samuel Shattuck, Sam- 
uel Tucker, Reuben Taylor. 

Ripley — Arthur Bell, Robert Dickson, Jonathan 
Nielu. Is. Oliver Stetson, Benjamin Bennett. 

Sheridan — Rev. John Spencer, Ephraim Herrlck, 
Samuel Cransten, Moses Allen, Nathan Thompson, 
Stephen Bush, .lames While. Otis Ensign. 

Sherman — Benjamin Seldens. William Turner. 

Stockton — Abraham Batcheller, Daniel Deming, Elder 
Ebenezer Smith, Asa Turner, Stockton Cemetery. Eli- 
jah Look. Denton Corners. Thomas Curtis, Curtis. 

Westfield — Corp. Lent Bradley. Fiske Durand, Sam- 
uel Penfleld, Reuben Wright, David Rumsey, Col. Bird. 
Westfield. William Couch. Samuel Anderson, David 
House, Peletiah Rice, Union Cemetery. Amos Wells, 
Velutia. 

Location of graves unknown — Peter Barnhart, Ben- 
jamin Covel. Thomas Mathews; John Owen, (possibly 
at Warren, Pa.); Joel Reynolds, (said to be buried in 
Poland); Charles Wood. 

Mrs. Lucy Norton Shankland. 

The Grand Army of the Republic— On October 27, 
1869, a post of the Grand Army of the Republic was or- 
ganized in Jamestown with the following officers : 
Commander, Maj. W. S. Cameron; senior vice-com- 
mander, Lt. Col. D. B. Allen; junior vice-commander, 
W. H. Proudfit; adjutant, Capt. M. P. Bailey; surgeon, 
Dr. A. Waterhouse; chaplain, Robert H. Smith; ser- 
geant-major, A. P. Shearman; quartermaster sergeant, 
Horace Aplin. The Post was No. 107, and had sixteen 
charter members. It was mustered by Adjutant Beck- 
with, of Elmira. and held its first regular meeting in the 
old Masonic Hall. This organization is in no sense 
political, but is designed to keep alive old army associa- 
tions and to care for the interests and comforts of old 
soldiers, their widows and orphans. The post nourished, 
and within three years had a membership of about 150, 
when it began to decline, the members began to lose 
interest, and in 1872 the post gave up its charter. 

In the summer of 1882 a post was organized at 
Kennedy, and in August, James M. Brown Post No. 285 
was organized at Jamestown, and named in honor of 
Col. James M. Brown, who was killed while leading his 
command at the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia. It was 
organized with a charter list of 55, prospered, and at one 
time had a membership of over 400, but death has de- 
pleted its ranks until at the present time it has less than 
100 members. . 

Other posts in the countv are : H. C. Sturdevant, No. 
282, at Kennedy; Sheldon, 295, at Sherman; Bullock, 
304, at Cherry Creek; E. F. Carpenter, 308, at May- 
ville; J. C. Drake, 317, at Sinclairville ; William Sackett, 
324, at Westfield; Philander Cook, 389, at Panama; 
Wiiliatn O. Stevens, 393, at Dunkirk; E. D. Holt, 403, 
at Fredonia; John F. Smith, 429, at Stockton; Gurdon 
L. Pierce, 439, at Forestville ; R. M. Starring, 523, at 
Silver Creek; Cyrus Adams, 589, at Frewsburg— mak- 
ing fourteen posts organized in the county. Several 
have disbanded or given up their charters within the 



past few years, and others have been reduced by death 
until there are now but a few posts that hold regular 
meetings, but on Memorial Day they meet and march 
to the cemeteries to decorate the graves of their de- 
ceased comrades and hold memorial services in the 
cemeteries or in some church or hall. Many of the 
villages of the county have beautiful monuments erected 
to the memory of their soldier dead. 

The city of Jamestown purchased the residence of the 
late Governor R. E. Fenton, in the center of the city, 
comprising nearly three acres of land, with the fine 
residence of the governor, and also the residence of his 
daughter, Mrs. Albert Gilbert, situated on the north 
side of the lot at a price of $35,000. The house will 
be used as a memorial, and also as a meeting place for 
all ex-soldier organizations and sons and daughters of 
such. 

It is also intended to erect a suitable monument 
on the grounds some time in the near future. It is 
now known as Memorial Park, and is kept up by the 
city and where may be found many people in the sum- 
mer days and evenings. Band concerts are given 
there and many organizations meet for social pleasures. 

The Gilbert residence is now used for a meeting 
place of James M. Brown Post, No. 285, of Jamestown, 
and as a community house for Ira Lou Spring Post of 
the American Legion of the World War. 

[By Lathrop L. Hanchett, Past Commander of Jamea 
M. Brown Post, No. 285, of Jamestown, and Past Junior 
Vice Commander of the Department of New York.] 

Sons of Veterans— James Hall Camp No. in. Di- 
vision of New York, Sons of Veterans, U. S. A., has a 
total membership of seventy-five. Its meetings are held 
the second and fourth Monday evening of each month 
at Camp Headquarters, Jamestown, New York. Its 
official staff for the year 1920 consists of the following: 
Commander, Howard G. Brindley ; senior vice-com- 
mander, James F. Miller; junior vice-commander, Glen 
M. Burt ; Camp council, Floyd E. Whitney, C. T. 
Barker, Frank A. Wilcox ; patriotic instructor, Lynn R. 
Van Vlack; chaplain, Alva A. Smith; secretary, Fred 
W. Foote ; treasurer, William S. Rathbun ; guide, 
Glenn R. King; inside guard, vacant; outside guard, 
Harold S. Stone. 

The Camp was organized November 17, 1910, with 87 
charter members. Its institution was perfected by 
Division Staff Officer L. M. Alexander, of Buffalo. It 
was the third camp organized in Jamestown, Camp No. 
8 and Post No. 29 having disbanded in previous years. 
It was named in honor of Captain James Hall, of Com- 
pany B, 72d Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, 
formerly a resident of Jamestown, who rendered gal- 
lant service in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65, and 
lost his life in the battle of Malvern Hill, Va., his body 
having never been recovered. The first officers of the 
Camp were: Commander, Donald S. Brown; senior 
vice-commander, James P. Stafford; junior vice-com- 
mander, Charles E. Maclease ; camp council, Merlin A. 
Bliss, C. Vern Willard, James S. McNeight; patriotic 
instructor, Frank S. Treadway ; chaplain, Rev. Horace 
G. Ogden ; secretary, Edward R. Bootey ; treasurer, 
Richard D. Pickard ; color bearer, Clinton B. Falconer; 
guide, Clair E. Kent; inside guard, William D. Putnam; 
outside guard, L. Walter Emory. 

The order has for its principles and objects the in- 
culcation of patriotism, the perpetuation of the memory 
of the valiant services rendered by the soldiers, sailors, 
and marines of the Civil War, and the rendering of as- 
sistance to needy and worthy veterans and their fam- 
ilies. 

The appropriate observance of Memorial Day is 





)LONEL W. D. STEV 



LIEUT. -COT,. EI.IAI. K ( 'A 1 : ! 'ICXTi: I : 




HOLT POST, No. 403, G. A. R., FREDOXIA, X. Y. 



PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES 



389 



one of the chief aims and events in the curriculum 
of the Sons of Veterans. Each member counts it a 
sacred privilege and duty "To keep green in the minds 
of all the memories of those both living and dead, who 
sacrificed so much, that the life of the Nation might 
be preserved." 

Those who have attained the rank of past commander 
of the present Camp in order of their service, are as 
follows: Donald S. Brown, 1910; Frank S. Treadway, 
191 1 ; Arthur M. Stone, 1912; Clyde L. Emery, 1913; 
Ara V. Stone, 1914; J. Arthur Button, 1915; Marvin L. 
Clapp, 1916; Thomas W. Little, 1917 ; Shirley S. Tay- 
lor, 1918; Herald S. Stone, 1919. 

The Camp has several times been distinguished by 
election or appointment from its membership of officers 
to the New York Division roster. Among such divi- 
sion officials have been : Frank S. Treadway, member 
of division council ; Marvin L. Clapp, division counsel- 
lor (two terms) : division patriotic instructor (one 
term) ; William D. Putnam, division press correspon- 
dent. Marvin L. Clapp. 

The Woman's Relief Corps — As an auxiliary to the 
Grand Army of the Republic, the Woman's Relief Corps 
has been of great aid and assistance and with them 
has "striven to honorably perpetuate the memory of 
their heroic deeds." 

There are four corps now (1920) in Chautauqua coun- 
ty, the number now smaller than formerly, the Corps 
like the Posts gradually decreasing as the old veterans 
and their consorts succumb to the years. The Corps 
in the county, all of which bear the same name as the 
Post to which they are auxiliary, are : Sheldon Corps, 
No. 17, at Sherman ; Kate M. Page, president, the 
meetings being held at the home of the president on 
the second Friday of each month in the afternoon ; 
James M. Brown Corps, No. 73, whose full history fol- 
lows ; James A. Hall Corps, No. 108, at Brocton, Lena 
Bullock, president, the meeting place, G. A. R. Hall, 
on first and third Friday afternoons. 

E. F. Carpenter Corps, No. 150, at Mayville, Rose 
Parker, president. The meeting place Godard Hall, the 
first Wednesday evening of each month. 

Sheldon Corps was organized April 28, 1894 ; James 
M. Brown Corps, March 1, 1886; James A. Hall Corps, 
March 10, 1888; E. F. Carpenter Corps, February 3, 
1897. As the oldest Corps in the county the history of 
James M. Brown Post is of special interest and is here 
given from the pen of one of the charter members of 
the Corps and its now president, Mrs. Lona D. Brown: 

James M. Brown Woman's Relief Corps No. 73, Aux- 
iliary to James M. Brown Post No. 285, Grand Army 
of the Republic, was instituted March 1, 1886. It was 
organized at the request of Post Brown, and largely 
through the efforts of Otis Conway, the son of a veter- 
an, and was the first corps organized in Chautauqua 
county. Mrs. Susan E. Travers of Waterloo, N. Y.. 
the Department or State Secretary, was the instituting 
and installing officer. The organization took place in 
G. A. R. Hall, then on the southwest corner of Mast 
Third and Pine streets. The twenty-eight original 
members whose names appear on the charter are as 
follows:— Mrs. Almira Peckham. Miss Grace Townley. 
Miss Louise Bradshaw, Mrs. Lestina Bradshaw, Mrs. 
Levina Hedman, Mrs. Lona D. Brown, Miss M. Annie 
Jones. Mrs. Addie M. Brockway, Mrs. Sarah B. Yale, 
Mrs. Myra 10. Piekard. Mrs. Jennie M. Townley, Mrs. 
Alcie Brown, Mrs. Katherine H. Baker. Mrs. Annls 
Bolton. Mrs. Helen T. Warr. Mrs. Sylvia Willard, Miss 
Ida Willard, Mrs. Jennie Conway, Mrs. Lovina Fal- 
coner, Mrs. (Vlina Rappole, Mrs. Charlotte Town, Mrs. 
Nellie Jones, Mrs. Jane E. Cheney, Mrs. Mary E. 
Jones, Mrs. Annie PeLing, Miss Nora E. Rappole, Miss 
Lottie Jones, Mrs. Electa Sherman. Only five of these 
women are now alive, and members of Corps No. 73. 

The object and purpose of the Woman's Relief Corps 
Is to especially assist the members of the Grand Army 
of the Republic and to perpetuate the memory of their 



heroic deeds; to assist veterans that need help and 
protection; to lend aid to their widows and orphans 
and to army nurses; to maintain true allegiance to 
the United States of America; to inculcate lessons of 
patriotism and love of country in the communities 
in which they live; to encourage the spread of univer- 
sal liberty and equal rights to all. Recently the Corps 
has broadened its scope by the addition of American- 
ization and Child Welfare Work and lending assis- 
tance to veterans of all wars. How well Corps No. 
73 has fulfilled its mission may be seen by the fol- 
lowing brief account of its activities. 

On Memorial Day 1886. the Corps, soon after instal- 
lation, by invitation from Post Brown, met in the 
Deluge Hose building, to make wreaths and bouquets 
for soldiers' graves. They have had charge and per- 
formed this work every year since, meeting in the 
same building until 1919, when on account of the bad 
condition of the building, the Firemen offered the use 
of the Hose rooms in the city building. Several of the 
widows of men who lost their lives during the Civil 
War came each year to help in this work. Mrs. Ann 
Van.l iburg, whose first husband was Capt. Dennis 
Willard. came every year and made the wreath for 
the old flag, also the wreaths for the unknown dead, 
and later for the tomb of Gov. Fenton. This work 
she performed until Memorial Day. 1918, when failing 
health prevented. For years, members and their 
friends and citizens contributed potted plants and 
loose flowers for wreaths and decorating the veter- 
ans' graves. In 1900 the city began buying potted 
plants for this purpose, one for each soldier's grave. 

In 1890 the Corps began serving lunches following 
the Memorial exercises at the cemetery, to all Civil 
War Veterans, and have continued to do so each year 
since. For a number of years they also served lunch 
to the Fenton Guards; then to Company E, Spanish 
War Veterans, and Sons of Veterans. Later, when 
Company E became World War Veterans, having so 
large a number they could not be accommodated in the 
hall, and the other organizations had auxiliaries of 
their own, the Corps decided to serve only Civil War 
Veterans as formerly. 

Jamestown Chapter. Daughters of the American 
Revolution, have for several years sent the Corps a 
check for ten dollars to help meet the Memorial Day 
expenses. This and contributions from individuals, 
amounting to from one to five dollars, have been used 
toward the lunch. Corps members themselves have al- 
ways contributed cakes, salad, etc. The Corps never 
paid rent for a place of meeting — a fact of which they 
are very proud. Post Brown has always furnished 
their Auxiliary with a hall, the Corps in turn doing 
many things to help the Post. 

Commencing Memorial Day. 1887, the Corps gave 
each vear to Post Brown from fifteen to twenty-flve 
dollars toward defraying the expenses of the day. In 
1900 such expenses were assumed by the city. Also 



toward the pagoda 
Lake View cemetery 
This pagoda has long 
ow gone. In January, 



he Corps gave twenty-fiv 
which the Post had erected n 
for their use on Memorial Day. 
since served its purpose and is 

1SS7. the Post entertained Gen. Lucius Fairehild. af- 
terwards commander-in-chief of the G. A. R., in the 
old Firemen's Hall. Towards an entertainment fund 
for this occasion, the Corps gave ten dollars. The 
Corps have also made the Post several gifts of twenty- 
five dollars for other purposes. In 1888 the Post held 
a Fair in the old Firemen's Hall. East Third Street. 
The Corps and its friends had charge of the various 
booths, and as a result the sum of 5623.08 was turned 
over to the Post. In 1892 a wigwam for presidential 
campaign purposes was erected on Main street, above 
Third street. After election the Post held a seven day 
Fair in the Wigwam; again the Corps had charge 
of the booths and turned over to the Post the sum of 
$267.84. The Corps also gave $100 to the old Mem- 
orial Hall fund, which was afterwards returned, the 
proiect having failed. The Corps immediately return- 
ed this amount to Post Brown to help defray the ex- 
penses of fitting up their new hall over 9 East Third 
street. Both Post and Corps took possession of this 
hall in 1892. Since then the Post has purchased two 
new carpets, the Corps each time sending them $25 
towards the carpet. Years ago. when various organi- 
zations furnished rooms in the W. C. A. Hospital, the 
Post decided to furnish such a room. The Corps help- 
ed by making sheets, pillow slips, etc. The value 
placed upon these furnishings by the Woman's Chris- 
tian Association was $160 for both organizations. 

At the great reunion of the 9th N. Y. Cavalry and 
at the reunion of the 100th N. Y. Regiment, the Corps 
served the dinner. At the reunion of the 49th N. Y. 
Regiment in 1901, the Corps served dinner to 350 



390 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



persons. At the fiftieth anniversary of the 112th N. T. 
Regiment and the 7th Company Sharpshooters, the 
Corps entertained them with a dinner. The citizens 
committee afterwards presented the Corps with $50 
from the funds raised to entertain these veterans. For 
years it has been the custom of the Corps to send 
flowers to Civil War Veterans' funerals held in the 
city or nearby. 

The Corps was the first organization m the city to 
send Thanksgiving dinners in baskets to those who 
might not have any extras for that day; sending to 
veterans and their families. Commencing with three 
baskets in 1890, they have sent these baskets each 
year since, sometimes as many as twenty-five or thirty, 
each basket containing a chicken and all other things 
to make a good dinner, furnished by members of the 
Corps. 

In 1893, in the new Armory, at a public meeting. 
Corps No. 73 presented to Post Brown a Memorial 
Volume or Record Book with a page each for the war 
record of 400 soldiers. This book cost $125 and is 
now in the vault of the Bank of Jamestown awaiting 
a final resting place in a Memorial Hall when such a 
place is ready. It is to be regretted that more vet- 
erans have not placed their war record in it hereto- 
fore, as now many have answered the last call with 
this work left undone. This volume was presented 
to Post Brown by the president of the Corps, Mrs. 
Ella Stearns Tiffany, and received for the Post bv 
Commander Henry J. Yates. 

The plot of ground in the southern part of the city, 
where the 112th, and 154th N. Y. Regiments and the 7th 
Company of Sharpshooters camped before starting for 
the front in 1862, was owned bv a patriotic citizen, 
Mr. Everett Johnson. He offered the survivors of these 
organizations a plot of this ground if they would place 
a suitable marker there. As soon as Corps No. 73 
learned of this, they offered to place on this plot, 
a boulder with a bronze tablet, suitable engrave.!. 
This offer was accepted and on September 13, 1915, 
with patriotic exercises, it was presented to the sur- 
vivors of those organizations by the chairman of 
the boulder committee, Mrs. Lona D. Brown. Major 
W. S. Cameron of the 154th Regiment, Joel I. Powers 
of the 112th Regiment, and John A. Brown of the 
7th Company Sharpshooters accepted it for their or- 
ganizations: and L. L. Hanchett of the 112th Regi- 
ment, in turn presented it and the plot of ground to 
the city as a park, to be known as Lincoln Park. The 
boulder cost $100. 

For the first fifteen or twenty vears, Corps No. 73 
found considerable relief work to do. Post Brown 
furnished fuel and groceries to comrades and families 
in need; the Corps, clothing, bedding and extras in 
food for the sick. During the first five years the 
(. orps relief expenses amounted to $410. and was 
greatly increased the following years. As the vears 
rolled by, relief work became less, as the children of 
veterans became grown; fewer veterans remained; 
more liberal pensions were granted. Corps No. 73 then 
took up mote extensive patriotic work. Thev have 
presented flags and patriotic literature to Fairmount 
School and Euclid School in the eitv. and to Rice 
Corners and Stillwater schools outside of the city. 

In August, 1916, on behalf of the Corps, the presi- 
dent, Mrs. Alvena Malier, presented to the Chautau- 
qua Veterans' Association a flag for use at Chautau- 
qua. The Corps has presented to Post Brown, since 
their organization, two flags, the last being the one 
that the Post now use. During the Spanish American 
Yiar of 1898, the Corps collected money, purchased 
material, and made flannel cholera bands and hospital 
garments to the value of $58.57. Thev contributed 
$10 towards the support of families of these veter- 
W S r a T T f ave * 5 towards comfort kits sent by the 

Corps No. 73 has also contributed from $5 to $10 
to each of the following funds to relieve suffering: 
Galveston Flood; Butler (Pa.) Flood; Ohio Flood; 
Japan and San Francisco earthquakes; Y. W. C. A.; 
and to a fund for the families of firemen who lost 
their lives; $25 to Com], any E 11916); ?45 to Near 
East Relief Fund in 1920. The Corps has contributed 
for years to the Southern Memorial Fund for the 
dee,, ration of soldiers' graves in the South, and to 
a flag fund for presenting Hags to the schools of the 
cities in which the W. R. C. conventions are held. For 
several years the Corps gave money to a fund to help 
maintain and pay for the Andersonville Prison prop- 
erty. They have also donated numerous articles for 
fairs and given money to help finance smaller Corps. 

In 1917, when every one did war work, the Corps 
was one of the first to form a Red Cross Auxiliary. 
On May 22, 1917, twenty-four names were submitted 



to Red Cross Headquarters, and the Auxiliary formed 
with the following officers; Chairman, Mrs. Alvena 
Malier; secretary, Mrs. Lona D. Brown; treasurer, 
Mrs. Mary L. Horton. Membership, increased to 85, 
was not confined to Corps members; some men joined 
the Auxiliary, supporting the work with money and 
their influence. Meetings were held each week in 
Corps Hall, there being from ten to thirty-five work- 
ers each meeting. One sewing machine was purchased 
and one hired. The Auxiliary made and turned in to 
the Red Cross 2691 bandages, 50 refugee garments, 128 
comfort bags, 76 bed spreads. Members and their 
friends knitted at home and delivered to the Red 
Cross 673 pairs of socks and stockings, 65 sweaters, 
9 scarfs, 8 pairs of mittens, 2 shawls, and 1 pair wrist- 
lets. The Corps received donations for this work be- 
sides what the Red Cross furnished, $10 from the 
Woman's Temperance Society. $5 from Sons of Vet- 
erans' Auxiliary, and $3S from their own treasury. 
Some members of Corps have been engaged in war 
work for three wars. A committee attended the Red 
Cross tent one day each week for several weeks. 
The members sold Liberty Bonds in the stores and 
a committee helped collect and pack refugee clothing, 
besides each member contributed a towel and hand- 
kerchief for a hospital box. This war work began 
in May, 1917, and ended in May, 1919. 

Woman's Relief Corps Home at Oxford, 



There 



>rps 
N. Y. where a veteran and his wife may be cared for 
together, or his widow cared for. In 1894 Corps No. 
73 sent to this home $125 toward furnishings, in 1899, 
$25. and in 1902, $10 toward a W. R. C. monument in 
the cemetery at this Home. In 1914 the Corps gave 
$10 for markers for graves of soldiers buried there. 
At another time they sent a box of bedding valued 
at $14. They have also sent each year a barrel of 
canned fruit and jelly containing from thirty to sev- 
enty-five cans. One Christmas the Corps sent fifty- 
seven pounds of candy in half-pound boxes — one box 
for each inmate. 

On February 4, 1887, members of the Corps organ- 
ized a Sewing Society to meet in the afternoons prev- 
ious to the Corps meeting. They brought their sup- 
pers with them and spent the afternoons in sewing. 
They quilted, tied comfortables and mattress covers, 
etc., for pay. The money thus made was used to help 
purchase dishes, linen, etc., for the Corps. 

One of the first purchases of the Corps for their own 
use was an organ. This was later exchanged for an 
Ahlstrom piano costing $350. They then began buying 



mo costing 53511. They then beg; 
sr, table linen and kitchen ut 



dishe 

that now they can easily serve from 80 to 100 persons. 

One of the Corps most valued possessions in a mem- 
orial record book bought in 1895. It has recorded 
therein the resolutions upon the deaths of members, 
dates of death, etc. Mrs. Lucia Smith has always had 
charge of this book, doing all the recording in it. 

To have a goodly treasury meant work. All the 
members worked faithfully on every project to make 
the money necessary to carry on the various under- 
takings of the Corps. They commenced by serving 
suppers, having at first to secure a vacant store, ar- 
range for tables, chairs and temporary stove: the table 
committee bringing from their own homes the neces- 
sary dishes, linen and silver, the kitchen committee 
doing likewise. Later the Corps purchased such prop- 
erty for their own use, and have for many years had 
chicken pie suppers, lawn fetes, war sugar and experi- 
ence socials, conundrum suppers, election day dinners, 
Fourth of July dinners, ten cent tea bazaars, rummage 
sales, card parties and Appomattox Day suppers. 

The Ladies' Home Relief Society when it disbanded 
had $10 in their treasury, which they sent to Corps 
No. 73. in December. 1892. by Mrs. Mary A. Sampson. 
who was one of their members, and a president of 
Corps No. 73. 

One of the largest projects for making money was 
a Merchants' Carnival in 1891. Members solicited the 
merchants of the city to advertise their wares, each 
merchant paying one dollar for such advertisement. 
These various advertisements were presented by young 
women properly costumed. Arranged as a Carnival, 
it was held in the Opera House for two nights to 
crowded houses, and as a result the net proceeds were 
$366.14. 

For the last seven years the Broader Education 
Society has given each year a subscription concert 
under the auspices of Corps. Artists of unusual abil- 
ity have been presented, and the concerts well patron- 
ized. These concerts have netted the Corps from 
$60 to $75 each year. The annual dues of the Corps 
have only been one dollar per member, but with a 
membership of over one hundred since the second 
year of its organization, such amounts helped keep 



PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES 



391 



treasury 
rtaken. i 
its frier 



In every project the Corps has 
3 always met with loyal support 
id the citizens ot Jamestown as a 



The first week of June, 1920. Post Brown and Corps 
No. 73 moved from the hall over 9 East Third street, 
which thev had occupied so long, to temporary quar- 
ters in the Patriotic Club Rooms in Soldiers' Memorial 
Park, awaiting the repairing of the Gov. Fenton Man- 
sion as a home for patriotic organizations of James- 
town, New York. The officers (1920) are: President. 
Mrs. Lona D. Brown; secretary, Mrs. Eurydice A. 
Wellman. 

The American Legion — In a letter of greeting to 
the American Expeditionary Forces, just at the time 
when that far-famed organization was finishing up its 
great task between the Argonne forest and the Meuse 
river, Booth Tarkington assured the soldiers and sailors 
that when the war was over they would "take the 
country and run it to suit ourselves." 

A short time later the war was over, and the A. E. 
F. found time to think about Tarkington's letter. Hence 
the American Legion. The army and navy men had 
developed a faculty for seeing realities during the war 
and they saw that if they were to have much influence 
in enforcing their ideas they would have to keep the 
spirit of team work which they had built up in service. 

On February 15, 1919, a group of twenty men met in 
Paris and concocted the idea. On March 15-16-17, rep- 
resentatives of every division and of every section of 
the A. E. F. met again in Paris. At this meeting the 
Legion was really born. A committee of fifteen was 
appointed and representatives were sent to the United 
States to take up the idea with those who had remained 
on domestic service. 

A caucus was held in St. Louis, May 8-0-10, 1919, and 
organization work was put under way in earnest. The 
first national convention was held in Minneapolis on 
Armistice Day, November 11, 1919. From that point 
the Legion launched forth on its first year's work. 

It has grown, in a little more than a year, from noth- 
ing into a body with 2,500,000 members and 9,000 posts. 
It is represented in every section of the United States 
and in Hawaii, Alaska, Paris, Coblenz, the Phillipines, 
the Canal Zone, wherever the American flag flies. This 
body, bound together by common ideals, thinks of itself 
as a vigilance committee created for the purpose of 
upholding the highest American ideals, of supporting 
ico per cent. Americanism in a way to make the phrase 



ir-an 



thins 



Exactly what the American Legion intends to do, and 
exactly what are its aims, purposes and ideals, are set 
forth in the preamble to its constitution, one of the 
briefest and clearest creeds ever reduced to writing. It 
reads : 

For God and Country, we associate ourselves to- 
gether for the following purposes: 

To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United 
States of America; to maintain law and order; to 
foster and perpetuate a one-hundred-per-cent Amer- 
icanism; to preserve the memories and incidents of 
our association in the Great War; to inculcate a 
sense of individual obligation to the community, state 
and nation; to combat the autocracy of both the 
classes and the mases; to make right the master of 
might; to promote peace and good will on earth; to 
safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of 
justice, freedom and democracy; to consecrate and 
sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual 
helpfulness. 

Delegates representing the various posts of the 
American Legion in Chautauqua county met in Dun- 
kirk, September 25, 1919, and formed the Chautauqua 



County Committee. The object of both the local and 
county organizations of the Legion is to keep alive the 
glorious traditions of the Army and Navy, and to pro- 
mote along practical lines the welfare of the young men 
who served in the armed forces of the United States 
during the World War. The principal object of the 
County Committee is connected with the employment 
of service men, and matters pertaining to war risk in- 
surance, disability claims, and all that pertains to their 
temporal welfare. 

Each local post of the Legion in the county is a cen- 
ter of patriotic influence, and a social club for the ser- 
vice men and their families. 

Thirteen delegates met, representing the then seven 
posts of the Legion in Chautauqua, Jamestown sending 
five delegates, Dunkirk two, Fredonia two, Kennedy, 
Ripley, Westfield and Silver Creek one each. Gerald 

E. Frey, of Dunkirk Memorial Post, who had been 
serving as temporary county chairman, presided, and 
was elected county chairman. The names of these thir- 
teen delegates to this first county convention, will long 
be of interest: Jamestown — James C. Rugg, Fred 
Morey, Ernest O. Holmberg, Earl Brookins, Joseph 
Midg'lev; Dunkirk— J. N. Van Buren, J. C. Schrantz; 
Fredonia— Lewis B. West, Harold F. Lovelee ; Silver 
Creek— Claude L. Newman; Westfield— Walter J. 
Falvay ; Ripley— Dr. Paul S. Persons ; Kennedy— 
Gustave A. Nelson. The first elected officers were: 
County Chairman, Gerald E. Frey, of Dunkirk; Vice- 
chairman Warner Anderson, of Westfield; Secretary, 
Lewis B. West, of Fredonia; Treasurer, Melin A. 
Okerlind, of Jamestown ; employment and insurance 
officer, A. Bartholdi Peterson, of Jamestown. 

The headquarters of the committee are located in 
Memorial Park, Jamestown. The present officers are 
(1920) : County Chairman, Melin A. Okerlind, James- 
town ; Vice-Chairman, Albert M. Stebbins, Silver 
Creek; County Secretary, George M. Bennett, James- 
town; County Treasurer, Fred Whitney, Mayville; 
State Committee, 1st Assembly District, Fritts Magnu- 
son, Jamestown, 2nd Assembly District, Guy C. Wat- 
son, Fredonia ; County Committee, Kary K. Crandall, 
Gerald L. Dearing, Howard C. Oldenberg, Harry M. 
Laughlin, Walter J. Falvay, Allen S. Bartlett, E. W. 
R.ibinson, Nathan Neate, Paul A. Davis, A. B. Peter- 
son, Michael Lombardo, Fred Chindgren, Willard Pe- 
terson, Miss Selma Lincoln, Charles R. Putnam, Clase 
W. Crofoot, Thomas L. Lawson, Clarence Berdick, L. 

F. Baker. 

There are now fourteen posts in Chautauqua county: 
John Dill Post. No. 434, Brocton: Dunkirk Memorial, 
62, Dunkirk ; Samuel Derby, Frewsburg ; Fredonia Post, 
■59, Fredonia; David Vern Luce, 778, Sinclairville ; 
Charles A. Moorehouse, 351, Ripley; Don Martin, 148, 
Silver Creek ; Henrv Mosher, Falconer ; Norton Raspas, 
Sherman ; Walter D. Perkins, Kennedy ; John W. Rog- 
ers, 327, Westfield; Ira Lou Spring, 149, Jamestown; 
William T. Travis, 493, Mayville; Herman Kent, Cel- 
oron. 

Most of these posts are named for heroes who made 
the supreme sacrifice. Ira Lou Spring Post is named 
for Corporal Ira Lou Spring, a young man of under 
twenty-one, who was killed in action June 14. 1918. the 
first enlisted man from Jamestown to answer the 
higher roll call. Falconer Post is named for the gal- 
lant Captain Henry Mosher, who fell in _ action in 
France, and the other names have equal title to re- 
membrance. 



392 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 



The Young Men's Christian Association, founded in 
London, England, June 6, 1844, by George Williams, set 
in motion certain activities of immeasurable influence 
upon young manhood of the entire world. Its aggres- 
sive spirit soon reached America, and an organization 
of young men for young men was effected in Boston 
in 1851. The enthusiasm of its devotees along prac- 
tical lines of Christian fellowship found a ready re- 
sponse in our larger cities, spreading from point to 
point throughout the land until today there are more 
than two thousand Associations in North America, 
with approximately 1,000,000 members; over 800 build- 
ings, with property value at $128,000,000; 85,000 lay- 
men, serving as committeemen, and more than 5000 sec- 
retaries to carry out the Association program of ser- 
vice. 

The first Association in Chautauqua county was or- 
ganized in Jamestown in 1856, and for several years 
carried on a useful work in the community, sustained 
entirely by volunteer workers. Meanwhile, the develop- 
ment of young men in body, mind and spirit, under the 
guiding hand of trained leaders in larger cities, attract- 
ed attention in Jamestown, and in response to a news- 
paper announcement in 1884 a small company of men 
gathered in a dimly lighted room in the old Ford 
Block, on the site of the present new Gifford building. 
There, on the 28th of February, a new organization was 
formed and a charter membership was soon established 
with seventy-seven members. 

Following this preliminary organization, delegates 
were sent to the State Convention in session at Buf- 
falo, and these delegates returned accompanied by one 
of the State secretaries, as a result of which the Young 
Men's Christian Association of Jamestown completed 
its organization by the election of a board of directors, 
consisting of George W. Tew, Allen T. Usher, Edward 
Applevard, Charles E. Parks, J. T. Boddy, Wm. H. 
Proudlit, H. L. Fairbank, John J. Aldrich, Elliot C. 
Hall, Fred P. Hall and W. S. Carpenter. 

George W. Tew, active in business, musical and re- 
ligious circles, was chosen the first president, and for 
nine successive years rendered faithful service to the 
cause of young men. His failing health required him 
to seek a milder climate, but throughout the years he 
has maintained an honorary connection with the James- 
town Association and has liberally supported it. 

The first general secretary was James B. Ferguson, 
who served the Jamestown Association for a period 
of three years, subsequently entering the ministry of the 
Presbyterian church. During the early period follow- 
ing reorganization, the activities of the local Associa- 
tion were largely devoted to Christian endeavor, al- 
though some attention was given to physical culture. 
Game rooms and reading rooms were maintained and 
social gatherings were of frequent occurrence. 

Succeeding Mr. Ferguson, the secretaries have been : 
Albert E. Turner, one year ; Charles B. White, two 
years ; J B. Crippen, one year ; Charles N. Ramsey, 
eleven years ; C. N. Chase, three years ; A. E. Stoil, 
five years ; C. F. W. Cunningham, two years ; P. MacG. 
Allen, four years ; and C. F. Stratford, the present in- 
cumbent, who entered upon his duties in August, 1917. 
Limitations of space for this article prohibit more than 
a passing word of commendation for most of these 
men, everyone of whom has rendered a high character 
of service to the city of Jamestown. Charles B. White, 
overtaken by death at the zenith of his influence, stands 
out as the most conspicuous character in the organiza- 
tion of young men in Bible study. His death occurring 



in the flower of his usefulness was regarded by all 
classes as an overshadowing calamity, and a mourning 
multitude followed his remains to their quiet repose in 
Lakeview Cemetery. Charles N. Ramsey, whose ser- 
vices as general secretary covered a period of over ten 
years, was noted for his thorough methodical work, in 
which he laid well the foundations for future endeavor. 
He engineered the Association through that period of 
expansion from rented quarters into the new building 
dedicated in 1901. 

Five directors have filled the office of president of 
the Association, as follows: George W. Tew, 1884-93; 
Charles E. Parks, 1893-96; Thomas Henry Smith, 1896- 
97; H. E. V. Porter, 1897-1901 ; Elliot C. Hall, 1901-16; 
H. E. V. Porter, 1916 . 

Elliot C. Hall, who departed this life in 1917, was 
perhaps the most benevolent character that Jamestown 
has produced. He was officially identified with the 
Association throughout its entire history, and served 
as president continuously for fifteen years. The Asso- 
ciation was only one of many channels through which 
his acts of benevolence were constantly bestowed. 
Gentle in his devotion, broad in his scholarship and 
liberal in spirit, he left the impress of his spotless sou! 
upon his labors for humanity. 

The following have filled the office of treasurer : 
Charles E. Parks, Wm. A. Kent, Wm. H. Proudfit, Fred 
P. Hall, C. E. Clark, W. D. Broadhead and Frank E. 
Felt. The recording secretaries have been : J. T. Boddy, 
F. Bristow, George R. Butts, L. M. Butman, Frank E. 
Felt and Merlin A. Bliss. 

In 1894 a new charter was secured for the Associa- 
tion, which more clearly defined the powers and privi- 
leges of the organization and its membership. Under 
the provisions of this charter the Association has 
steadily developed. For many years the local work 
was carried on in rooms over 9 East Third street. 
Here it was that General Secretary Ramsey began the 
introduction of new features and the expansion of edu- 
cational work that soon congested all available space 
to such an extent that more commodious quarters were 
secured in the Gokey Block on West Third street. 

In 1894 the State Convention was held in the city of 
Jamestown, with over three hundred delegates. The 
spirit of State Secretary George A. Hull, sustained by 
Assistant State Secretary Fred S. Goodman and scores 
of prominent Y. M. C. A. workers from all parts of 
the State, aroused great enthusiasm and awakened anew 
the demand for a Y. M. C. A. building. 

A big and unexpected opportunity came to the James- 
town Association in 1898, when William A. Hallock, a 
retired Congregational minister, purchased the Grange 
Hotel property on Second street, which covered half of 
an entire square, and offered it as a gift to the As- 
sociation upon condition that $20,000 be raised by vol- 
unteer subscription for the purpose of remodelling the 
wooden hotel and erecting a brick structure for an au- 
ditorium and gymnasium. Some of the older direc- 
tors who had struggled with the raising of funds in 
the past, staggered over the proposition that required 
the raising of so large an amount. With many mis- 
givings the proposal was accepted, and a campaign was 
launched and the amount stipulated was promptly rais- 
ed. It was soon found that $15,000 would be required 
to remodel the old building. The board of directors 
had become more confident, and the architect was in- 
structed to draw plans for a $35,000 brick structure. A 
new campaign was launched, and pledges for $15,000 
additional was secured. It later developed that this 




JAM ESTi IWN Y. M. C. 



YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 



3"3 



sum would not be sufficient; the architect's plans called 
for $44,000. With renewed zeal, the board of directors 
determined to go forward, and before the handsome 
new building had been completed $60,000 had been ex- 
pended. 

On the 1st day of January, 1900, the cornerstone was 
laid by Col. Albert D. Shaw, commander of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. This event marked a new era 
in the Young Men's Christian Association of James- 
town. In a brief introductory address, President Por- 
ter referred to Col. Shaw as follows. "We are happy, 
and most fortunate in having secured for this occa- 
sion the presence of a distinguished gentleman, who not 
only represents the Grand Army of the Republic as its 
chief, but who at the same time represents that great 
and growing army of young men known as 'The Young 
Men's Christian Association.' " Col. Shaw stepped for- 
ward and with a few choice words fitly spoken re- 
ferred to this cornerstone, the Stars and Stripes that 
floated above it, to his comrades of the Civil War, 
and to the highest ideals of patriotism in times of peace. 
Accepting the trowel and the mortar presented him, the 
Colonel continued : "By authority of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, expressed through its board of 
trustees, we lay this cornerstone for a building to be 
erected and dedicated to the highest interests of young 
men in the development of body, mind and spirit ; all 
of which we do in the name of our Lord and Saviour, 
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." 
The dedication of the new building, one year later, 
on January 1, 1901, opened the way for broader and 
wider activities among young men. The new gym- 
nasium, with its facilities for physical development, 
health and recreation, the swimming pool and shower 
baths attracted large groups of young men, many of 
whom were but slightly acquainted with the spirit of 
Association life. The first physical director, Frank 
L. Slater, proved a genius in his profession in shaping 
the policy of this new departure. 

Reading rooms and game rooms were provided and 
educational work, embracing a variety of subjects was 
successfully conducted in evening classes for several 
years, in fact until the importance of this work prompted 
the Board of Education to establish evening classes at 
the High School. Dormitory accommodations were 
established for young men in the Association building. 
A new impetus was given to Bible study and religious 
work, in which a band of young men was developed in 
leadership for the purpose of conducting religious ser- 
vices in suburban towns and rural sections. 

The necessity of a department for boys soon became 
apparent, and this department was organized by a young 
student, Albert Johnson, who thus became the first 
boys' secretary. From a modest beginning this depart- 
ment has grown into an important factor of Associa- 
tion enterprise. In the evolution of events, billiard 
rooms and bowling alleys have been added to the recrea- 
tion activities. Throughout the years, a summer camp 
for boys and young men has been maintained, usually 
upon the shores of Chautauqua Lake. Several young 
men have been developed for Association work in the 
broader field. 

When America became involved in the World War, 
Seneca B. Burchard, vice-president of the Jamestown 
Association, and a prominent wholesale merchant, offer- 
ed his services to the International Committee and was 
immediately detailed for service in France. P. Mac.G. 
Allen resigned as general secretary, and soon after 
offered his services, and for four years he has worn 
the Y. M. C. A. military uniform. He is still engaged 
in Y. M. C. A. work at Prague, Czecho-Slovakia. 



Samuel R. Byrson, physical director in 1917, as first 
lieutenant led the first platoon of his company in the 
general attack upon the Hindenburg line, in which only 
four of his followers survived without injury, he him- 
self being severely wounded. For his bravery he was 
awarded a distinguished service medal. 

The most intense activity of the Jamestown Associa- 
tion occurred during the war. On August 1, 1917, Carl 
F. Stratford took up his duties as general secretary. On 
September 1, 1917, H. T. Martin assumed the responsi- 
bilities of physical director and on this same date A. L. 
Esplin began his work in reorganizing the Boys' De- 
partment upon a community-wide basis. Scarcely had 
these officers been installed when the first big demand 
for welfare work was made on the country, in which 
Jamestown's quota was $27,000. It was also necessary 
to raise $12,000 for local current expenses. The two 
campaigns were combined, and $40,000 was raised in 
November. As the gigantic needs of the World War 
became apparent, the board of directors of the James- 
town Association, by unanimous action, contributed the 
services of General Secretary Stratford to the patriotic 
demands of the hour, and in some cases other members 
of the official force were impressed into service. The 
local work was given second consideration. In spite 
of these conditions, the interests of the local Associa- 
tion moved forward in strength and unfaltering pur- 
pose. For services of a broader character, the gen- 
eral secretary was loaned as follows : Director of 
Publicity for Chautauqua county in Liberty Loan 
Drive; Director for Jamestown, Wet and Dry Cam- 
paign ; Red Cross Campaign Director, May, 1918, 
$119,000 raised; United War Work Fund Director, 
Campaign, for Jamestown, and Chautauqua county, 
November, 1918, $200,000 raised; District Director for 
Western New York, Inter-Church World Movement, 
1920; Thrift Campaign, 1920; Director, Community 
Chest Campaign, 1920, $91,500 raised. 

In addition, the Jamestown Association was made 
responsible for recruiting Y. M. C. A. secretaries from 
Chautauqua county for war work, and in April, 1919, 
$25,000 was raised for the immediate needs of the 
Jamestown Association. 

During the war, the doors of the Association were 
thrown open to all men in uniform and all privileges 
were extended free of charge. After the Armistice, 
every returning soldier was given the privilege of three 
months' membership in the Association. Free scholar- 
ships for vocational training have been issued to twenty- 
five men through the medium of the Jamestown Asso- 
ciation. By virtue of its connection with the United 
Y. M. C. A. Schools, the Jamestown Association 
offers instruction by correspondence in 160 different 
subjects. Community-wide activities have been carried 
on through Educational Clubs, Father and Son gather- 
ings, Juvenile Delinquency work in cooperation with 
city authorities, cooperative Sunday School work. High 
School "Y" Clubs, and special attention to employed 
boys are among the constant activities. 

An outstanding feature of the religious work pro- 
gramme of the Association in recent years has been 
its shop meetings. Ten such meetings are held each 
week, with an attendance varying from 40 to 250. The 
expanding work of Jamestown Association is sustained 
by an annual budget of $24,000, provided by member- 
ship fees, rentals and voluntary contributions. 

The official family at present is as follows : 

Directors — H. E. V. Porter, president ; L. M. But- 
man, S. B. Burchard, George B. Pitts, vice-presidents ; 
M. A. Bliss, recording secretary; F. E. Felt, treasurer; 
W. B. Broadhead, A. J. E. Larson, Austin Anderson, 



394 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



E. Snell Hall, N. O. Johnson, F. W. Bigelow, Win. J. 
Olson, O. N. Rushworth, F. P. Hall. Scott Baker, F. V. 
Anderson, W. I. Blystone, Sidney Clark, John A. Jones, 
Alfred A. Anderson. 

Trustees — T. H. Smith, president ; F. P. Hall, secre- 
tary; A. A. Amidon, S. B. Burchard, F. W. Hyde, F. J. 
Underwood. 

Ladies' Auxiliary — Mrs. Ella A. Lakin, president; 
Mrs. D. L. Lewis, vice-president; Mrs. Nora Barger, 
secretary. 

Employed Officers — C. F. Stratford, general secre- 
tary; D. F. Barrett, assistant secretary; H. T. Martin, 
physical director; E. C. Eckbloom, boys' secretary; 
Give Wright, assistant in Boys' Department ; L. A. 
Beckerink, office secretary. 

A volume would be required to record the acts of 
such officials as Jerome Preston, C. J. W. Hall, A. N. 
Camp ; Mrs. Levant Brown, of the first Auxiliary, 
known in her day as the "Mother of the Y. M. C. A. ;" 
Mrs. W. H. Hickman, who organized and became first 
president of the present Ladies' Auxiliary; Robert L. 
Jones, assistant secretary, who became an evangelist; 
Rev. W. H. Overs (now Bishop Overs), who vitalized 
the interest in foreign missions ; and scores of others 
whose only reward is the consciousness of having done 
what they could to promote the facilities calculated to 
produce a stalwart manhood. 

H. E. V. Porter. 

Westfield— The birth of the Young Men's Christian 
Association of Westfield may be placed to the credit 
of Rev. William Frederick Faber, D. D., then pastor of 
the First Presbyterian Church. He saw in the town 
numbers of young men whom the churches did not 
reach, and his desire to aid them caused him to call a 
meeting of citizens for the evening of May II, 1885, at 
the office of Edward A. Skinner, "to take steps louking 
toward the establishment in our town of a Young Men's 
Christian Association." The result was the appoint- 
ment of a committee to agitate the matter among the 
citizens and to arrange for a public meeting with speak- 
ers from abroad. The work of that committee resulted 
in a mass meeting in the Wells Opera House, June 3, 
1885, with able Y. M. C. A. speakers. At that meeting 
it was unanimously voted to organize. The following 
ministers signified their willingness to support such an 
organization, by the payment of annual dues : A. M. 
Tennant. N. F. Faber, Charles W. Hayes, J. E. Chapin, 
A. Knight and Alfred Rose. Laymen who made the 
same pledges were J. H. Plumb, F. A. Hall, W. O. Ball, 
Edwin Rose, Spencer Skinner, R. H. Thompson, G. M. 
Rykert. C. R. Cosgrove, Ross Knight and R. M. Ma- 
teer. These men later became charter members of the 
Association, with additional members : G. H. Barton, 
E. A. Skinner, J. A. Skinner, P. W. Bemis, J. R. Fay, 
S. W. Mason, H. W. Blowers, Dr. T. D. Strong, Jasper 
N. Bacon and N. D. Tennant. 

A constitution was adopted June 8, 1885, and an 
election held at the same meeting, when the following 
officers were elected : President, S. W. Mason ; vice- 
president, P. W. Bemis; secretary, John R. Fay; treas- 
urer, Spencer Skinner. Rooms were rented in the 
Morse building, No. 14 Main street, which were car- 
peted and furnished, and on September 6, 1885, Sunday 
afternoon meetings for young men were begun. The 
matter of support was again placed in the hands of 
Rev. William F. Faber, the founder, and he with an 
associate thoroughly canvassed the field until support 
for a year was secured. The first general secretary 
of the Association was George F. Jones, who began his 
work December 1, 1885. On August 29, 1886, the fol- 



lowing was reported as the first year's work : Member- 
ship, 125 ; reading room, four dailies, fourteen weeklies, 
nine monthlies; attendance at rooms, 6,919; at young 
men's meetings, 1,189; at two public receptions, 760; at 
six practical talks, 330; books in the free library, 300; 
money collected for the work, $863.87. 

The Association prospered a few years, then was 
without a secretary for a year, the president, W. H. 
Thompson, loyally assisted by J. W. Phillips, perform- 
ing most of the work. This condition brought out an- 
other letter from Rev. W. F. Faber, published in the 
"Republican," April 2, 1889, plainly stating that if the 
village wanted a Y. M. C. A. it would have to so de- 
cide promptly. At a' meeting held soon after, the 
Association took on new life, and a general line of 
Association work was entered upon. The Association 
finally was obliged to give up the rooms they had oc- 
cupied for eighteen years, and on May 24, 1904, a sub- 
scription was started to purchase a site, and erect a 
modern Y. M. C. A. building. A lot 50 by 208 feet was 
donated by Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Brewer, the former 
owner of the lot, James Taylor, making a rebate of 
$250 on the selling price as a gift to the Association. 
A well planned building was erected, and the Associa- 
tion is now well housed and is a useful adjunct to the 
church in Westfield. The permanent building committee 
in charge of the construction were: F. B. Brewer, 
chairman ; Dr. C. E. Welch, George W. Sanvin. John R. 
Ray, H. L. Munson, James E. Hall. Mr. E. J. Thomp- 
son, of Gowanda, was the architect, he furnishing detail 
drawings from plans made by the chairman of the 
building committee, the building standing substantially 
as Mr. Brewer planned it. 

Chautauqua County — There are but two communi- 
ties in Chautauqua county supplied with Association 
buildings — Jamestown, and Westfield. But the county 
has organized a county Y. M. C. A. under the charge 
of a paid secretary, which brings to the ten thousand 
boys of Chautauqua county between the ages of twelve 
and twenty, many of the advantages enjoyed by the 
larger towns. This is done through the organization of 
local committees and volunteer workers, and working 
along a definite program and tested specialized meth- 
ods of work, graded to meet the needs of the employed 
boy, the school boy, and the farm boy, brings into the 
county influences which help the home, the church, the 
school and the community. More than one hundred 
and seventy-five counties maintain this Y. M. C. A. or- 
ganization, which co-operates with all agencies inter- 
ested in the welfare of young men and boys and com- 
munity. 

The headquarters of the County Association is in 
the Y. M. C. A. building in Westfield ; Raymond F. 
Rope, county secretary ; county committee : O. A. Ot- 
taway, Brocton ; George R. Raynor, Chautauqua ; H. F. 
Baldwin, Falconer; Dr. F. F. Jenkins, Falconer; Henry 
Leworthy, Fredonia ; George Nichols, Fredonia ; ( >. N. 
Rushworth, Tamestown ; H. E. V. Porter, Jamestown ; 
E. W. Taylor, Lakewood ; A. W. Sixbey. Mayville: J. 
A. McGinnies, Ripley; I. O. Ottaway, Sherman; Wil- 
liam H. Phear, Jr.. Sherman; H. A. Hiller, Silver 
Creek; Edgar T. Welch, Westfield, O. A. Jones, West- 
field. 

This Association is an organized effort to bring about 
wholesome community life with co-operative social, 
recreational, educational and religious activities tend- 
ing to make small town and country life more satisfy- 
ing. Chautauqua, with Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie, 
Niagara and Wyoming counties, comprise the Buffalo 
district county work, headquarters 45 West Mohawk 
street, Buffalo. 



RETROSPECT OF MUSIC IN AND AROUND JAMESTOWN 



395 



RETROSPECT OF MUSIC IN AND AROUND JAMESTOWN. 
By Gilden R. Broadberry. 



The history of music in Chautauqua county during its 
upwards of one hundred years of establishment and 
organization, shows the same changes and vicissitudes 
as other sections of the country have met and overcome. 
In the early days, when the county was sparsely popu- 
lated, and when there were very few communities of 
any size, music was naturally a negligible quantity. 
Instruments were very scarce, and conditions were ex- 
tremely unfavorable for the practice or development 
of the art. 

While it is entirely possible to individually appreciate 
and enjoy music, it is conceded that its progress and 
practice in the past in this county have been effected 
by combining it with the social element. Music formed 
a good, innocent and praiseworthy excuse for gathering 
social groups together. It naturally follows, there- 
fore, that many of the earliest musical organizations, 
even though formed ostensibly for the practice and 
study of music, largely fostered the social spirit. _ 

Music has been found to progress more rapidly in 
large centers of population, where a greater number of 
people possess leisure and means to study the art and 
to meet the expense attending public musical enterprises. 
Chautauqua county is not favorably situated in this re- 
spect. Located in the southwestern corner of New 
York State, it is in a measure isolated, with no large 
cities within its confines. Buffalo, Cleveland and Pitts- 
burgh are the nearest large centers where music in its 
highest forms can be heard and enjoyed. Of late 
years, Jamestown, Dunkirk and Chautauqua have profit- 
ed from the general advance in the art, and have en- 
joyed more high-class musical attractions than in the 
past. 

Through all the past years, the spirit and joy of music 
have been kept alive through the untiring energy and 
the sincere devotion of music -loving souls throughout 
this county— sometimes in districts the most remote 
from anything approaching what might be termed an 
artistic center. All honor to these pioneers who have 
kept the spark aglow, and have sustained interest in the 
spiritual part of living. Their attainments may not al- 
ways have been of the highest; their knowledge may 
not have been profound ; their achievements may, to 
modern eyes, have appeared meagre, and their stan- 
dards, measured by those of to-day, may have seemed 
pitifully low — but by their love of the better things, 
by their sincerity of purpose, and by their persistence 
and enthusiasm, these pioneers have, not only in Chau- 
tauqua county, but through the length and breadth of 
our country, made possible the splendid musical status 
which obtains to-day, and which, at its present rate of 
progress, it is expected and confidently believed, will 
soon equal that of any other nation. 

General interest in music in Chautauqua county may 
be traced to the travelling singing teacher, who es- 
tablished in centers of population the singing school, 
sometimes dignifying these gatherings by the name of 
Musical Conventions. The work undertaken in these 
schools or conventions consisted of an elementary 
course of lessons in reading music and in singing, 
followed by a closing concert. Several well-known 
leaders prominent in the music convention movement 
which swept over the eastern portion of our country 
in the two or three decades succeeding the Civil War 
period, visited Chautauqua county and conducted their 
schools in Jamestown, Dunkirk, and other centers of 
population. These conventions developed local leaders, 



who went into the surrounding communities and car- 
ried on the work on a smaller scale. As an aftermath 
of these activities, and as an evidence of the interest 
they created, societies and associations more or less 
permanent were formed. 

Such a one was the Southern Chautauqua County 
Musical Association, established in 1874, which continu- 
ed for about thirteen years. It had semi-annual meet- 
ings, lasting three or four days. These meetings were 
held in Dunkirk, Ellington, Sinclairville, Cherry Creek, 
Kennedy, Ashville, Panama, Sherman, Stockton, Frews- 
burg and Mayville. The president of the Association 
was A. H. Stafford. Other officers were Ludwick Dob- 
bin, John F. Baxter, W. D. Phelps, George L. Robbins, 
Oscar Partridge, and Miss Maude Whitney. The mem- 
bership numbered from seventy-five to one hundred and 
fifty. The pianist was Miss Marcia Bruce. Directors 
and instructors at different times were: C. C. Case, 
W. S. Kelso, Samuel Ames, Professor Samuel Elliott 
and H. R. Kirkland. A similar organization with head- 
quarters at Dunkirk, which extended its influence over 
communities in the northern section of the county, was 
the Forest Union Musical Association. 

In 1860-61, an old-fashioned singing school was 
organized in the village of Kennedy, Poland township, 
and taught by Judson W. Breed, of Jamestown. This 
was broken up by the call for troops issued by Presi- 
dent Lincoln. Most of the male members of this choir 
who were of military age enlisted in Company G, 49th 
Infantry, New York Volunteers. The young women 
members organized a girls' choir, which sang in church 
for the first time on November 10, 1861. This choir 
lasted for about two years. It sang anthems, chants and 
hymn tunes from the old-time publications — the Diapa- 
son, the Jubilee, and the Sabbath Bell, relying almost 
entirely on the tuning fork for the key. The village 
boasted one melodeon, which was carried to the church 
for special occasions. 

Amongst old-time musicians prominent in the south- 
ern part of the county may be mentioned Charles 
Crumb, of Cherry Creek, who died in 1884. He was a 
well known vocal instructor, and taught singing schools 
for a number of years. He prepared himself for this 
work in the Geneseo Normal, with P. B. Bliss. He had 
considerable musical talent and became a proficient 
teacher. In Kiantone, the principal musicians in the 
early days were the Jones families, from Vermont; the 
Eben Davis family; the Paul Davis family; and the 
Cheneys. Three sons of Seth Cheney— Nelson, Mat- 
thew, and Mark— were members of a Brigade Band 
in the War of 1861-65. 

Jamestown, being the most populous center, has had 
a large share in advancing the musical status of the 
county, and has at different times had many musical 
organizations which have enjoyed a more than local 
reputation. Some of these were choruses of the usual 
convention variety, organized for the production of 
the early popular American cantatas, — "Belshazzar," 
"Queen Esther," and "Nebuchadnezzar," and had only an 
ephemeral existence, whilst others lasted for a number 
of years. 

One organization was the Handel and Haydn Mu- 
sical Association, which existed for about five years, 
formed in 1891. Its officers were :— President, A. H. 
Stafford; secretary Gilbert G. Hall; treasurer, Mrs. 
Robert G. Shaw; accompanist, Mrs. H. R. Kirkland; 
director, Harry J Fellowes. It produced, amongst oth- 



396 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



er works, Root's cantata, "The Haymakers," which 
was given in operatic form at the Opera House in 
Jamestown, for the benefit of James Barker. The per- 
formance was repeated at Randolph, and other places 
throughout the country. 

Others were the Columbian Choral Society, Herbert 
Whitney Tew, director, and the Saint-Saens Choral So- 
ciety, Miss Mary Donovan, director. In addition, 
choruses were organized at different times, and di- 
rected by Judson W. Breed, Judge John J. Kinney, 
Mme. Walbridge, whose society gave "The Messiah" 
at Celoron, directed by Strelezki, of Buffalo; and Wil- 
lebald Lehmann. whose chorus prepared "The Chimes 
of Normandy" for public production. 

In the fall of 1909 a centennial celebration of the one 
hundredth anniversary of Jamestown was proposed. A 
Centennial Chorus of several hundred voices was or- 
ganized, with Dr. Julius Lincoln as president, and Pro- 
fessor Samuel J. Thorstenberg as director. The pro- 
posed celebration was afterwards abandoned on account 
of a e:reat conflagration; but in 1910 the chorus was re- 
organized under the name of the Jamestown Choral 
Society, with the same president and director, for the 
purpose of studying oratorios and other standard vocal 
works. 

From 1910 to 1920 inclusive, the activities of the 
Choral Society have been as follows : Rehearsals, 467 ; 
grand concerts in Jamestown, 36 ; popular concerts in 
and about Jamestown, 17; musical entertainments, 12; 
open air concerts, 9; concerts at Chautauqua, co-op- 
erating with the Chautauqua Choir, 11; one 5-day 
Spring Festival. Standard works sung during this 
period are: "Messiah," 10 times; "Creation," 3 times; 
"l e Maiden." 5; "Jubilee Cantata," 4; "Festgesang," 
4; "Swan and Skylark," 2; "Fair Ellen," 4; "Joan of 
Arc," 5; "The American Flag." 1; "Judas Maccabeus," 
2; "Elijah," 2; "The New Earth," 1; "Stabat Mater," 
1 ; "Samson and Delilah," 1 ; "Samson," 1 ; as well as 
many standard anthems and glees. 

The following persons have served as president : Dr. 
Julius Lincoln, Lincoln M. Stearns, P. MacG. Allen, 
Mr?. Herman G. Anderson, Miss Nellie Farlee, and 
A. L. Esplin. 

The Centennial deficit of $886.76 has been paid, and 
charities and patriotic organizations have been benefit- 
ted by the work of the Society in the sum of $2,117.80. 
Five hundred dollars worth of Liberty Bonds have 
been purchased, the latter now being used as a nu- 
cleus for a permanent fund, which it is hoped will be 
sufficiently large to insure the life of the organization 
indefinitely. The interest only of this fund is to be 
used in the work; the principal, should the organization 
ever disband, to be used for local charities. Persons 
of any age, creed or nationality, who are interested in 
choral singing, are eligible for membership. The ac- 
tive membership at this time numbers about one hun- 
dred. 

The palm for length of existence must be given to 
the Mozart Club, the oldest and largest women's club 
in Jamestown, which stands among the best musical 
clubs in the State of New York. It was organized in 
the early winter of 1879, by a group of devotees of the 
"Art Divine," led by Miss Josephine Fenton, daughter 
irnor Reuben E. Fenton, now Mrs. Frank Ed- 
' rifford, a woman of wide artistic and social ex- 
perience. She was chosen president, and has been pre- 
1 ifficer and an inspiration to the Mozart Club 
for over forty years, assisted by a board of twelve di- 
rectors, with others consecrated to the cause. 

In 1894 the Club was incorporated, and established 
quarters of its own, owing to the growing membership 



(now about 200), composed of active, associate and 
non-resident. There has from the beginning been 
much musical talent in the Club; the ideals have been 
high, and through the years, at morning recitals held 
during the winter season, the programmes rendered by 
members have been delightful concerts. 

The Mozart Club not only encouraged the study and 
practice of music among its followers, but its aim also 
is altruistic. It has brought to Jamestown great or- 
chestras, famous singers, and distinguished virtuosi. 
The creed avowed in its constitution reads : "For the 
mutual promotion of the study of classical and standard 
musical works and musical literature, and for the en- 
couragement of a wider and more liberal patronage of 
the Art, we hereby organize this society, to be known 
as the Mozart Club." With a large and strong mem- 
bership reaching into many circles, the influence of the 
Mozart Club in artistic and spiritual uplift is ever and 
increasingly felt in the study and love of music. 

The Olio Club, consisting of about fifty of the best- 
known amateur musicians, was very active in the musi- 
cal life of Jamestown from 1891 to 1895. The members, 
comprising the younger set, gave monthly programmes 
of good vocal and instrumental music. The unique 
program of this society was given on June 16, 1893, 
at the residence of Miss Hegeman, now Mrs. Clayton 
E. Bailey, when the following well known artists were 
impersonated by members of the Club: Fanny Bloom- 
field-Zeisler, Lillian Nordica, James Whitcomb Riley, 
Ignace Paderewski, Sofia Scalchi, New York Philhar- 
monic Club, Emil Fischer, Marshall P. Wilder, Julia 
Rive-King, Adelina Patti. 

The Music Study Club was organized on October 20, 
1908, by Mrs. John M. Cushman and Miss Adella G. 
Underwood. Ehe object of the club is to study com- 
posers and their works, as well as the literary side of 
music. Meetings have been held on the second Tuesday 
of each month from October to April, inclusive. A 
musical programme, with a paper prepared on the sub- 
ject to be studied, followed by discussion, is given at 
each meeting. The club has a musical library. The 
presidents of the Club have been: Mrs. John M. Cush- 
man, Mrs. Herbert L. Hunt, Mrs. William R. Bots- 
ford, Mrs. Chauncey A. Moon, Mrs. Gertrude L. Moss- 
hammer, Mrs. Harry W. Steward, Mrs. Frank Priest, 
and Miss Anna A. Knowlton. Mrs. John M. Cushman 
was the first president, and served in that capacity for 
four years. She also prepared a paper and gave a 
talk at each meeting, from the time the club was or- 
ganized until 1918, when ill health prevented constant 
attendance. To Mrs. Cushman, more than to any other 
member, the club is indebted for the success it has at- 
tained. As a rule, the programs are given by club 
members, which number fifty, but at times guests are 
included among the performers, and occasionally a 
speaker is procured to lecture on musical matters. The 
Club has given seventy-seven private and six public 
recitals. 

Jamestown has a large Swedish population which, 
through its church affiliations, as well as in secular 
societies, has exercised much influence in musical ad- 
vancement. The following choruses, with preponderat- 
ing Swedish membership, have helped sustain musical 
interest and have done notable work : The Chautauqua 
Maenerchor, 1891-96; Union of Scandinavian Singers, 
a mixed chorus, 1898-1901 ; Swedish Glee Club. J. A. 
Eckman, director, about eighty male voices ( 1897- 
1903), gave performances at Chautauqua; Swedish 
Choral Union, 1808-1902; Lyric Club, female voices, 
1900-03; Aeolian Quartet, 1893-1903. These societies 
gave the first performances in this city of many choral 



RETROSPECT OF MUSIC IN AND AROUND JAMESTOWN 



397 



works, as: "The Dream," Costa; "The Daughter of 
Jairus," Stainer ; "Holy City," Gaul; "Ruth," Gaul. 

Another well known organization active musically 
twenty-five years ago was the Hugo Jungst Quartet, 
composed of James W. Butterfield, first tenor; Alfred 
Woollen, Harry J. Fellowes, and W. S. Bailey, at differ- 
ent times, second tenor ; Wrothwell Butterfield, first 
bass ; and Herbert Whitney Tew, second bass. This 
quartet was coached by Dud'ley Buck, and it sang in the 
principal cities of Western New York and Northern 
Pennsylvania. 

Instrumental organizations do not seem to have been 
as popular as vocal societies. Several have been formed 
at different times, but were only short-lived. About 
1910, the Jamestown Symphony Orchestra, under the 
direction of Gustav Lindgren, did good work and gave 
several concerts. The Lyric Mandolin Club was a popu- 
lar organization from 1895 to 1898. It gave concerts 
in Jamestown and surrounding towns. Bands have ever 
been a means of creating and fostering interest in 
music. The old-time band organizations of Jamestown 
were : Jack Wilbur's Band, Alex. Johnson's Band, 
Gage's Celoron Gold Band ; Fenton Guard's Band, af- 
terwards known as The Thirteenth Separate Company 
Band. Later two celebrated English bands, the Black 
Dyke Mills, and the Besses o' th' Barns, visited the city 
and led to the formation of the Anglo-American Band, 
under William Hainsworth, a noted cornetist, who had 
had wide experience in brass band work. This band 
filled an engagement at the Toronto, Canada, Fair in 
1908. 

Music in the public schools, which is always such an 
important factor in the progress of the art and in 
arousing interest, has in Jamestown been under the di- 
rection of E. V. Clark and F. E. Bottsford as super- 
Competent and enthusiastic teachers and incumbents 
of professional positions always exercise great influence 
on the popularity and standing of their art. James- 
town has been fortunate in this respect. One of the 
old-time musicians, well known in Jamestown and 
throughout the county, was Eliphalet Mitchell, who was 
associated with musical interests in the 50's and 6o's. 
He conducted old-time singing schools, and was choir 
director of the First Baptist Church of Jamestown for 
a quarter of a century, entirely gratuitous. He later 
served with the First Methodist Church of Jamestown 
for seventeen years. His salary was fixed at $75 a 
year, with no increase during all that time. His daugh- 
ter Alice, later Mrs. Samuel Allen, not only had vocal 
ability but acted very efficiently as her father's organist 
in the last position for thirteen years, commencing at 
the age of thirteen. 

The record for continued service in one position is 
possibly held by Clarence D. Rose, who in addition to 
teaching music, acted as organist of the First Presby- 
terian Church, Jamestown, for over twenty-five years, 
resigning in 1919. Mr. Rose also composed several 
selections which became popular. Other local composers 
were: Judge John J. Kinney, who wrote a "Te Deum" 
which was used frequently in St. Luke's Church ; and 
Miss Isabel Harrington, perhaps the most voluminous 
of all local composers. Her compositions have met with 
much favor and have been frequently used. 

Amongst directors and teachers who have had much 
to do with shaping the musical taste of the community 
may be mentioned George B. Ford, B. A. Barlow, and 
John W. Hartley ; Alex. Johnson, teacher of various 
instruments, arranger, etc. Amongst voice teachers 
were Professor Alberta Lawrence, Professor Max 
Bendheim, Harry J. Fellowes, and Mrs. Eudora Pardee; 



voice and piano, Miss Mary Donovan and Willebald 
Lehmann ; piano, George A. Georgi ; Ear! H. Hill, who 
established Hill's Piano School, popular for many years ; 
Mrs. Earl Hill, Miss Bessie B. Reed; and Mrs. Craw- 
ford Bargar, who as May Sellstrom was for some 
time assistant to Sherwood, in Chicago and at Chau- 
tauqua. Violin, Forest Cheney and A. C. Bratt. Organ- 
ists, J. A. Eckman, Gustaf Nordstrom, John C. Lonn- 
gren, E. V. Clark, K. O. Stops, Mrs. W. N. Gokey, Miss- 
Isabel Harrington, Gustav V. Lindgren, and Frank S. 
Dewire. 

Singers who have added to the fame of Chautauqua 
county and to Jamestown especially, are: Mme. Belle 
Weaver Cole, of international reputation ; Mme. Car- 
lotta Pinner, Miss Nellie Turnwall, Mary Vander- 
grift, Lillian Johnson, Ella Maria Dreager, Mrs. 
George Tew, Mary and Lillian Feather, Alfred Wooller, 
Herbert Whitney Tew, John W. Whitney, James W. 
Butterfield, Wrothwell Butterfield, William Feather. 
George Tew, Robert Parker, and Willis Tew. 

Jamestown has not only done its full share towards 
developing the artistic side of music, but it has also 
contributed in a manufacturing line to the further ad- 
vance of the art by producing musical instruments. The 
earliest firm of piano manufacturers in the city was 
Peterson & Schmidt, 1865-68, followed by Georgi & 
Brown, 1868-71. A dissolution of this firm left George 
A. Georgi, 1871-76, a piano manufacturer, and the 
Brown Brothers (Charles A., Julius N. and John R.), 
manufacturers and dealers, 1877-88, Julius Ebel, and 
the Ahlstrom Piano Company. 

The Ahlstrom Piano Manufacturing Company was 
organized in 1875 under the name of Jamestown Piano- 
Forte Company. In 1877 this name was changed to 
Ahlstrom, Long & Co., and in 1880 it was again changed 
to C. A. Ahlstrom & Co. The pianos made have al- 
ways been known as the "Ahlstrom." C. A. Ahlstrom, 
(who, in company with his brother, M. N. Ahlstrom, 
William Long, J. N. Wiborg, John Lund, N. J. Olson, and 
G. A. Dahlman) incorporated the business, is the only 
surviving member of the original firm, which with one 
exception is the oldest firm now doing business in 
Jamestown. 

The model for the first Ahlstrom piano was made 
by C. A. Ahlstrom in 1872, but the first regular piano, 
a square grand, was not completed until 1875. This 
instrument was sold to the Convent of Benedictine 
Sisters in Oil City, Pennsylvania, and used there con- 
tinuously for thirty-eight years. It is now in the pos- 
session of the manufacturers, who point with great 
pride to their first piano, as the foundation upon which 
their business has been built. 

All of these firms made thoroughly reliable and 
reputable instruments, a fact attested by the condition, 
in spite of the wear and tear they have withstood, of 
the many samples of their workmanship still found 
throughout the country. 

The Cheney phonograph, one of the well-known talk- 
ing machines on the market to-day, is the result of the 
inventive genius of Forest Cheney, a native of Poland 
township, also widely known as a violin player of more 
than average ability. Celoron, a suburb of Jamestown, 
has produced George E. Chase, with a genius for mak- 
ing fine violins which are much in demand by players 
from all sections of the country. Two of the furniture 
factories in Jamestown, the Maddox Table Company 
and the Herrick Manufacturing Company, have at times 
contributed to the cause of music by producing piano 
cases, while half a score of other furniture factories are 
busily engaged in producing cabinets for talking ma- 
chines. 



398 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



No retrospect of music in Jamestown or Chautauqua 
county would be complete did it not bear testimony to 
the influence along musical lines exerted by the Chau- 
tauqua Institution, an account of which will be found 
in another section of this history. Every year, for two 
months during the summer, Chautauqua is open, and the 
board of trustees has always recognized music's claim as 
a cultural influence. Consequently, it has seen to it that 
music has occupied a prominent place in the educa- 
tional scheme of the Institution. Each year a large 
chorus is assembled, and for the past many years 
a first class orchestra has been engaged. These forces, 
in addition to well known soloists, have been adequate 
to produce standard and representative orchestral and 
choral works which have been enjoyed by thousands 
of auditors. Residents of Chautauqua county have not 



failed to take advantage of this, the best and most con- 
venient opportunity to familiarize themselves with these 
works and to enjoy the performances. In addition, the 
large number of people assembled at Chautauqua have 
made it possible to have engaged during the season ex- 
cellent teachers whose services have been available to 
residents of Jamestown and other points in the county, 
thus enabling them to take advantage of the best in- 
struction at less expense and inconvenience than usual. 
This retrospect will show that the people of Chau- 
tauqua county have ever shown that same character- 
istic desire for culture and advancement which Ameri- 
cans have always exhibited, and that they have been 
willing to put forth any effort necessary for the at- 
tainment of their desires. 



DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
By John W. Spencer. 



He, who has fought in the defense of his country, is 
justly the nation's hero. To him the world gives loud 
huzzas in admiration and adoration. The poet sings 
praises of his valor. The artist depicts him in acts of 
heroism on canvas and chiseled marble. Shafts of 
granite adorn most conspicuous places in parks and 
streets that the multitude may give silent tribute as they 
pass. 

While I would not depreciate one jot or tittle of the 
glory due the defenders of a nation yet I must lay be- 
fore you the complaint that the founders of a nation 
have never had but a fraction of the credit justly their 
due. A man on the battlefield may qualify himself 
for the grateful memory of mankind by a single reckless 
dash. The founder of a State can do so only by the 
unfaltering, heroic fortitude of a lifetime. 

We greatly admire the men who unflinchingly en- 
dured the soul trials of Valley Forge. It was, however, 
a suffering that had its mitigations. There was a com- 
munity of suffering. Even though misery may not 
always love company, there is a satisfaction in the 
thought that one enjoys no greater favors than do 
others. There was great pain in those shoeless bloody 
tracks in the winter snow, but there was hope in the 
knowledge that the changing seasons would in a few 
weeks bring relief by the coming of verdant spring. 
When peace came and the Continental soldier laid down 
his musket and took up the ax, he exchanged weapons 
for a new foe which he must meet with another heroism 
that he might conquer the giant trees of the forest and 
wring from the encumbered soil a sustenance for him- 
self and his family. 

Every State and nation has its founder, and by force 
of circumstances these have been men following agricul- 
ture, an occupation invariably thought of as one of 
peace. Even though it be one of peace, it requires hero- 
ism of the highest type — a heroism like the string of a 
bow that is always taut, never having relaxation, a 
heroism that to be effective must be keyed at concert 
pitch, that pitch to be constantly maintained, a heroism 
not to be stored in a reservoir to be let loose in a great 
flood in a moment of emergency but rather to be like 
the unceasing flow of the fountain to continue on and 
on until the body is laid away to return to the dust 
from whence it came. 

More than a hundred years ago began the coming 
to this county of men of undaunted courage of whom I 
have spoken. Every foot of ground was tenanted by a 
race of trees far older than our history, and not a place 



to be found to plant a hill of beans. For the moment 
a fertile soil gave no more opportunity for human sus- 
tenance than could have been found in the heart of 
Sahara. We are told the first step was to clear ten 
acres of ground. Can you conceive the number of days 
of brawn that amount of labor required and the amount 
of food necessary to give force to that amount of 
labor? Although the question is easily understood, yet 
it is easy to understand why even an agricultural county 
should first be an importer of food before it becomes an 
exporter. In case of either the ebb or flow of the 
tide of trade the question of easiest transportation 
became one for serious consideration. In these later 
years of steam transportation, man has been able to 
direct the development of a country much as he willed, 
but a century ago development followed a path much 
as bodies of water willed. It is therefore easy to un- 
derstand why the shores of Lake Erie led to this point 
the adventurous pioneer to lay the first hearth stone 
and compel the soil to yield its first harvest of bread. 

The more I have thought of the question of develop- 
ment of agriculture as it occurred in Chautauqua 
county during the past century, the more clearly I see 
how transportation has been the hand that has guided 
its meanderings, for industry and trade, like a stream 
of water, do not take the shortest course but the easiest 
one. 

A hundred years ago water courses were the only 
highways that commerce knew or could conceive. At 
that time economists predicted, and with good reason, 
considering the light they had to guide them, that the 
back of the Alleghenys would always be the dividing 
line of trade, and the future would develop an east side 
traffic and a west side traffic, each distinct in character. 
While the waters of Lake Erie gave this valley the high 
distinction of attracting the first settlers, it by no 
means gave it a monopoly. It was soon learned that 
Pittsburgh was a more desirable point to take a grist 
of grain or a hundred pounds of maple sugar for 
barter than Buffalo. As the crow could fly, the latter 
was but a fraction of the distance to the former, yet 
to the frail craft available in these days the placid wa- 
ters of Lake Chautauqua, the Conewango and Alle- 
gheny gave less peril than found in the wind and waves 
of tempestuous Erie. The evidence to be expected in 
tracing the development of which I speak does not 
rest on the first chance settler or scout as I may say, 
but rather the beginning of communities. 

All the larger streams and their tributaries located 



DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



in the southeastern third of the county connect and 
become part ot the Allegheny and later the Ohio river 
and therefore made available the markets of Pittsburgh 
and Cincinnati. Much of the virgin forest of that sec- 
tion was pine, and made the most marketable timber. At 
the present time we look upon timber as giving an add- 
ed value to land; then it was an incumbrance. The 
rafting privileges of that section facilitated the clearing 
ot the land, as the slight value of the logs was a re- 
muneration for removing the trees and clearing away 
the stumps. Developments were much slower in town- 
ships having combined handicap of hardwood and hem- 
lock, with no opportunities for transportation and only 
an incidental revenue from the sale of black salts. My 
own memory can recall when the township of Clymer 
and parts of French Creek and Mina held the greater 
par ' ot the virgin forest awaiting the coming of the 
thrifty Hollander. 

The Lake Erie Valley showed greater adaptability 
for the production of grain than that of other parts of 
the county, a product most prized by the earliest pioneer 
With a fringe of population along Lake Chautauqua 
and down the Conewango, and another fringe stretch- 
ed along the shores of Lake Erie, it is easv to see how 
Mayville became the compromise location for the coun- 
ty seat. The opening of the Erie canal in 1824 gave a 
great impetus to lake traffic which made Barcelona a 
port for all merchandise required in the immediate 
vicinity, as well as the towns to the south, including 
Jamestown, the latter town being reached by haul to 
Mayville and thence by Chautauqua Lake. 
_ The southern water route was better adapted to float- 
ing lumber down stream than to bringing merchandise 
back, the development of the Western Reserve of 
Ohio had a most favorable influence on the prosperity 
of this valley. The best method for the farmers of 
that fertile country to dispose of their grain was to 
transfer it into meat and drive the stock to eastern 
markets. Our historic "Main Road" was the artery 
through which that great traffic passed. An observer 
from the hillside could see at certain seasons of the 
year a trail of dust from west to east marking the path 
of droves of cattle, sheep and hogs. A combination of 
farm home and tavern for the needs of drover and 
droves occurred with great frequency. The remnants 
ot some of these hostelnes are yet to be seen. This 
traffic was such that the fodder required was so great as 
to in a general way make a home market for the farm 
products of the locality. 

The Erie canal had an influence on the agriculture 
of the county, but it was remote as compared to that 
which began on the completion of the Erie and the Lake 
bhore railroads. It may surprise many that the build- 
ing of less than fifty miles of railroads across the 
Isthmus of Panama had a most profound influence in 
dairy interests of the county. These factors followed 
each other m such quick succession that the results so 
overstep each other that there is some great difficulty 
in individualizing the influence of each 

The completion of the Lake Shore to Chicago absorb- 
ed the transportation of the products of the Western 
Keserve so there were no more caravans of stock pass- 
ing our doors, and therefore a home market for farm 
products was wrecked. Farmers had to adjust them- 
selves to markets with new conditions, which is a con- 
!nZ g J' nS T°u d °- , CattIe »"«> s heep slowly increased 
in numbers. The apple orchards began to spread, which 
movement reached its zenith in the seventies, when it 
began to decline under the discouragements of fungus 
and insect enemies until at the present time it has al- 
most become obsolete, a fact I deplore and a condition 
I know to be unnecessary. 



399 

Aside from this valley of fruits, the chief agricul- 
tural interest of the county is that of dairying. It was 
not always so. Prior to the completion of the rail- 
roads spoken of, farmers' methods of cropping ran in 
aimless and haphazard lines. The soil and climate 
were not eminently fitted for corn, and winter wheat 

rlL n °£ ffiV.^ ° r 2 eal of the s P ri "g ^nths. The 
crops best fitted to the conditions south of our range 

taS 7*2 g T S ^ h r ay . WhicH are better for mai "" 

ta.nng cattle than for fitting them for the shambles 
of the butcher. Not until the completion of the rail- 
road across the Isthmus of Panama, which made good 
butter available to the markets of California, did dairy- 
ing begin to crystallize and take direction. Before that 
event some desultory dairying had been done, but the 
plan of holding the season's product until just before 
the close of lake navigation, the low price of twelve 
to fourteen cents per pound, with a sale sometimes 
made to an irresponsible dealer, made that specialty 
an unattractive feature of farming. That was at a 
time when Cahfornia was a distant market and re- 
frigeration transportation was unknown. Butter to 
reach there must go through the warm water of the 
™J, t u a ?' f T A SSmg J he Isthmu s under a tropical 
sun to be loaded on a barge and towed five miles to 
a steamers side lying in the Bay of Panama, to again 

fnV* nn he M 0t ^^ °^ V*? that Spent te " da ^ coa * " 
ing along Mexico and Southern California. Butter to 
reach a destination of such great length under such 
hardships with a benign reputation must be of spotless 
character when it left home. 

I well remember the winter when Mr. Dowey of 
Delaware county, visited the hill towns of this county 
engaging dairies of butter at 16^ cents per pound 
the product to be delivered weekly and paid for on de- 
i W uv y u } W ?? , at , thls time that "butter days" were es- 
tablished which became a great factor in trade for 
many years, and lasted until the present method of 
creameries and cheese factories made the last great 
mn.liiH-ation in the dairy industry. "Butter days" for 
Westfield fell, I believe, on Monday; that of Sherman, 
I know came on Wednesday. I have forgotten the 
days tor Stockton, Smclairville and Jamestown 

conditions were most startling to farmer 



The 



That the purchaser should voluntarily raise the price 
receive the goods at the nearest village and pay on 
delivery, was so astonishing as to lead some to suspect 
a trick, in a sense, there was a trick, but it did not 
involve a question of personal integrity. The surprise 
came because of the high quality of butter required by 
the buyer. 16^ cents meant butter for the California 
trade and not for boarding house or bakery consump- 
tion. The requirements were not so great but many 
were able to reach them with perhaps an occasional 
lapse. 

In those, my boyhood days, I remember returning 
home with a rejected firkin in the back end of a lum- 
ber wagon, the wheels of which were held in place by 
linch-pins. This condemned firkin, a black sheep among 
a number of fairly good ones, was well concealed by a 
grist from the mill. At home, secret family confer- 
ences were held out in the wood house, down cellar 
and in the evening in the kitchen after the hired man 
had gone to bed. This was an .occasion when pro- 
fessional reputation was at stake; besides, the i6 r /4 
cents were needed in lifting the mortgage. In a few 
days the family made a visit to an acquaintance who, 
so far as any one knew had never had his butter re- 
jected. We rode in the linch-pin lumber wagon with 
oat straw in the bottom of the box, which did duty as a 
Persian rug. Well do I remember how diplomatically 
the question of good butter making was introduced. 



400 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



These were days when church attendance was more 
general than I fear it is at the present time. There 
was a morning service, and then an intermission of an 
hour and a half, to be followed by an afternoon service, 
which latter to a hungry boy seemed like a circle that 
has no end. During the intermission the children were 
supposed to be in Sabbath school, while their fathers 
were out under the horse sheds discussing cows, bulls 
and butter, with all the zeal shown in modern farmers' 
institutions. These were days when better methods 
were found only by cutting, trying and guessing. There 
were no agricultural schools teaching the why of 
things. Farmers counted themselves fortunate if by 
luck they discovered a how. 

While the average quality of the dairy herds is as 
good as the average of any county in the State, yet 
Chautauqua has not obtained a worldwide reputation 
as a stock breeding center. Such a reputation is pos- 
sible only in parts of the country having blue grass or 
an abundance of cheap corn. Several herds and flocks 
have had their origin here, but it was not until they 
moved elsewhere that they attracted wide attention. 

This paper would be too long were I to give a his- 
tory of the county and township fairs, being a combina- 
tion of recreation and educational days. Two great 
institutions working wonders for the social and educa- 
tional advancement of the farmer had their origin in 
our county, not only that, but the need of each was con- 
ceived and installed by the farmers themselves. 

The first to receive birth and baptism was the 
Grange. (See special chapter). The second was the 
Nixon bill for University Extension of Agricultural 
Knowledge. Prof. Bailey tersely says that agricul- 
tural education in the United States has three epochs, 
viz.: The Morrill bill, the Hatch bill, and the Nixon 
bill — the two former in generating knowledge and 
teaching in university form, and the latter for taking 
the Experiment Station and Agricultural College to the 
people. The State makes annual appropriation for this 
work, which is given to the College of Agriculture of 
Cornell University to administer. The first year's work 
was in 1894. To give a concrete example illustrating 
how this work is conducted in co-operation with the 
farmer, I would mention that at the present time cer- 
tain areas of this grape belt are seriously affected by 
an insect known as the "leaf hopper." Instead of work- 
ing out the problem of its destruction and abatement of 
its damages at the Experiment Station by specialist, as- 
sistance is given the vineyardist on his own premises. 
Another pest known as the grape root worm, or fidia, is 
being handled in the same manner. In the spring of 
1897 and 1898 samples of sugar beet seed were sent 
to farmers for the purpose of determining the adapta- 
bility of the soil of our State for the crop. In many 



counties these co-operative tests were made by hun- 
dreds of farmers. The rate per acre of yield and the 
per cent, of sugar were determined by experts, and the 
capabilities of the sugar beet production of all parts of 
the State are known. 

Hundreds of experiments in potato culture and com- 
bination of fertilizer, the cheapest renovation methods 
of wornout soil, the determining the kind of soil and 
subsoil best adapted to successful culture of alfalfa 
clover, assistance in solving obscure troubles in the man- 
ufacture of butter and cheese, are all freely given, not 
in a distant laboratory, but by the help of the farmer 
interested, on his own premises and in a practical man- 
ner. Not alone is the Experimental Station taken to the 
farmer but also the College of Agriculture. The first 
step in the latter was the organizing a Farmers' Read- 
ing Course on the correspondence and Chautauqua plan. 
For the past four years the membership has not been 
far from 25,000 each year. Later a course was opened 
for farmers' wives, establishing with them a cor- 
respondence on questions directly relating to their 
home life. 

Agriculture has been placed in the schools in the 
form of nature study. Teachers are assisted by a spe- 
cial line of literature which is given gratuitously, and 
children are organized into Junior Naturalist Clubs, 
Junior Gardeners, and Civic Improvement Clubs. For 
several years the average membership of the Junior 
Naturalist Clubs has ranged from 20,000 to 25,000. 
Members are each month sent a leaflet suggesting ob- 
jects for observation, and the members in turn write 
each month what they have seen, mind you, — seen and 
not read. These letteis are written in school and are 
made the topic of an English period. The mass of the 
people speak of the music of the cricket as singing. 
These Junior Naturalists will tell you crickets are in- 
strumentalists and not vocalists, and that the ears are 
on these particular insect's legs. The office force is 
now busy listing the names of Junior Gardeners, chil- 
dren who have gardens all their own. On June 26, 1902, 
the registration was 4000. 

Another movement was begun in the spring of 1902, 
that or organizing Junior Civic Improvement Societies. 
Upward of three thousand children have written us 
what they have done towards the improvement of four 
hundred rural school grounds. Interest in this work 
has awakened an enthusiasm in every State in the 
Union, and so far as possible educators are adopting 
our methods. The influence in the extension work has 
spread to foreign countries until now it has reached 
around the world. We have Junior Naturalists in 
Europe. Asia and Oceanica, and it has now become 
a settled fact that the sun never ceases to shine on 
Junior Naturalists. 



CHAUTAUQUA FARM BUREAU. 



County agricultural agents were first employed by 
the United States Department of Agriculture to dem- 
onstrate better farming methods in the South. The idea 
gradually started in the North and the Farm Bureau 
was first used in New York State, the County Agricul- 
tural Agent then being known as the Farm Bureau 
Manager. The first Bureau to be started in New York 
State was at Binghamton, Broome county, about 1909 
or 1910. During the winter of 1912-13 five or six other 
counties organized, of which Chautauqua was one. The 
idea of having a Farm Bureau was first discussed in 
Chautauqua county at Pomona Grange in 1912, and I 
believe that A. M. Loomis, agricultural editor of the 



Jamestown "Evening Journal," made the suggestion that 
a committee was appointed. As a result of the efforts 
of the committee a Farm Bureau was organized and H. 
B. Rogers chosen as Farm Bureau manager, beginning 
the duties of his office in February, 1913. Financial 
support was first secured from the county through 
the board of supervisors, from the State of New 
York, the United States Department of Agri- 
culture and Chautauqua Institution. The organiza- 
tion consisted simply of an executive committee who 
with the manager drew up the plans and were responsi- 
ble for the work. 

Chautauqua Institution deserves a great deal of credit 



CHAUTAUQUA FARM BUREAU 



401 



for assistance in starting this new venture. The In- 
stitution continued its support for several years until 
the work was well established. The county board of 
supervisors has generously and consistently supported 
the work from the beginning. Much credit is due this 
body of men for their progressive attitude toward the 
Farm Bureau. 

The support given by the State has been indispensable. 
They have cooperated effectively with the county agen- 
cies to make the Bureau a success. One of the men 
who first represented the Government in the Farm 
Bureau work was M. C. Burritt, one of the speakers at 
the 1920 Farm Bureau picnic. He was the first to con- 
ceive the idea that Farm Bureaus would be more 
effective if they had some sort of organization for the 
special purpose of accomplishing the purpose for which 
the Farm Bureau existed. He drew up a plan for a 
Farm Bureau Association with a committee in every 
township or community, in addition to the executive 
committee. Chautauqua fell in line with the other coun- 
ties of the State in adopting this plan. 

The change to a membership basis greatly increased 
the efficiency of the work in Chautauqua county. Much 
more was accomplished by the Association with its local 
committees than had been by the Farm Bureau manager 
working alone with volunteer assistants. As a result 
of the Farm Bureau the adoption of better methods of 
farming has been hastened. The amount of lime used 
has been greatly increased as a result of the field tests 
conducted by the Bureau and the spreading of informa- 
tion concerning the value of different kinds of lime 
and sources of supply. The oats crop of the county has 
been increased by the adoption of modern methods of 
treating the seed. Fertilizers are being applied to the 
soil with more understanding, and better stock is being 
kept, with better returns, as a result of the Breeders' 
Association, automobile tours, etc., that have been en- 
couraged by the Bureau. 



In the fruit section of the county the Farm Bureau 
has cooperated with the Grape Experiment Station es- 
pecially by organizing automobile trips to visit the 
Station. Assistance has been given to the South Shore 
Growers' and Shpipers' associations and to the C. and 
E. Grape Co. Experimental work on tomatoes was be- 
gun in the spring of 1920 on the W. K. Stebbins farm 
in Sheridan. 

In the organization of the Dairyman's League the 
Farm Bureau rendered a great service to the county. 
The assistance given the nineteen branches of the 
League in Chautauqua county is a good example of how 
it pays to maintain a permanent Bureau for the service 
of the farming interests. 

The 1920 membership of about 1,700 is one of the 
larger ones in the State. It was a credit to the county 
that the membership was increased during the last year, 
although the dues were raised. However, from the 
standpoint of percentage Chautauqua county is near the 
bottom of the list and should have a much larger mem- 
bership. Present conditions demand that the farmers 
be more strongly organized than ever and if the Farm 
Bureau is to keep up with the times and meet the de- 
mands being made upon it must have more general 
support from the farmers of the county. 

The amount of work done in the public schools in be- 
half of agriculture in its varied forms has greatly 
increased and many of the rural villages maintain com- 
plete agricultural departments. The Calf Club of the 
Forestville Free Academy and Union High School has 
38 members, and at the 1920 fair of the County Agri- 
cultural Society the boys competed with their flolstein 
calves and carried off all the highest honors in class, 
and free for all, events in which they entered. The 
number of farmers who cultivate their acres or manage 
their herds according to scientific principles is con- 
stantly on the increase and the term "book farmer" is 
no longer one of reproach. 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL CORPORATION. 



The Chautauqua Agricultural Society was formed at 
Mayville, Judge Zattu Cushing the first president. In 
July, 1821, a list of premiums to be awarded at the 
next annual cattle show was published in the Chau- 
tauqua "Gazette." Among the premiums offered was one 
of $8 for the best cultivated farm of not less than fifty 
acres ; .$5 for the best one-eighth acre of tobacco ; $8 
for the best twenty yards of full cloth; $5 for the best 
twelve yards of "bombasett;" $4 for the best fifteen 
yards of flannel ; $3 for the best twenty yards of tow 
and linen cloth, the cloth to be manufactured of mate- 
rial the growth of Chautauqua county. The Society 
had a life of but, in 1836, few years, then lay dormant 
until revived as the Chautauqua County Agricultural 
Society. On September 1, 1886, the semi-centennial 
meeting of the Chautauqua County Agricultural So- 
ciety was held in Marvin Park, Jamestown, and a log 
house erected by the old citizens of Jamestown as a 
memorial to their fathers — the pioneer settlers of Chau- 
tauqua county, — was dedicated with appropriate services. 
Marvin Park the home of the Society was well im- 
proved, having a mile or more of well roofed sheds for 
cattle and horses, a good race track, and all necessary 
exhibition buildings. 

The Park had been reclaimed by Judge R. P. Mar- 
v'l, the site having formerly been a swamp. The an- 
nral fair of the Society was quite-an event, but finally 
fe ; 1 into disrepute and ceased to exist. 

In 1880 The Agricultural Society of Northern Chau- 
Chau— 26 



tauqua was organized, leaving ground between Fre- 
donia and Dunkirk for exhibition grounds. 

In September. 1887, the Society held their Seventh 
Annual Fair and Live Stock Exhibition, E. L. Wilcox 
of Arkwright being president and general superintend- 
ent. A special feature of the fair was an unusually 
large premium list, over $4,000 being awarded for 
premiums and gifts. 

The Society languished until 1900 when new blood 
was injected and a fresh sta'rt made. On July 27, 1900, 
the Chautauqua Agricultural Society was organized, 
with S. Fred Nixon president. Dr. Fenner, of Fredonia, 
superintendent. Fairs were held at the grounds between 
Fredonia and Dunkirk every year until 1916, when that 
interesting county event was omitted. The Society held 
a valuable charter and the property was worth salvag- 
ing, although as a money maker the fair was a failure. 
The year 1017 witnessed a revival of interest, the omis- 
sion of a fair in 1916 having proved that the county- 
at-large were in its favor. Arthur R. Maytum, of Fre- 
donia, attempted to interest Jamestown men in the So- 
ciety's rejuvenation but without success. He did how- 
ever succeed in interesting the Merchants Exchange of 
Dunkirk and on July 6, 1917, a reorganization was 
effected. The present style and corporate title is Chau- 
tauqua County Agricultural Corporation, — capital $40.- 
000. The Corporation owns thirty-one acres of land, 
fairly well improved for fair purposes and has to its 
credit for 1920 the best fair ever held in the county, 



402 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the exhibits being good and the attendance very large. 
At the legislative session of 1919-20 a bill was passed 
and approved by the governor permitting Agricultural 
Societies of a certain class to increase their capital to 
$150,000. The Corporation will take advantage of this 
law and if the additional stock can be sold, their plans 
of expansion and improvement will be carried out. 

The officers of the Corporation (1920) are: Robert 
J. Gross, president, Dunkirk, N. Y. ; James M. Madigan, 
treasurer, Dunkirk; Arthur R. Maytum, secretary, Fre- 
donia. Directors — Charles J. Anderson, Fredonia ; A. 
C. Barbeau, Silver Creek; Henry C. Card, Fredonia; 
Jay Crissey, Jamestown ; John H. Cummings, Sinclair- 
ville ; W. J. Doty, Mayville ; Charles M. Dow, James- 
town ; C. W. Green, Brocton ; Robert J. Gross, Dun- 
kirk ; Amos E. Hall, Cassadaga ; W. H. Hegmann, Fre- 
donia ; Jos. A. McGinnies, Ripley; Wm. H. Marvin, 
Forestville; A. R. Mavtum, Fredonia; Sam F. Nixon, 
Westfield; H. E. V. Porter, Jamestown; C. M. Purdy, 
Jamestown ; A. Wienberg, Dunkirk ; Gerald B. Wil- 
liams, Dunkirk; Dr. F. E. Wilson, Fredonia; J. G. 
Wolpert, Dunkirk. 

The census reports for 1920 show that Chautauqua 
county cities and large villages are increasing in pop- 



ulation at the expense of the farming communities, 
while Jamestown makes a somewhat better showing in 
that respect than sister counties. The figures are not 
reassuring and show conclusively that a new problem 
in American life has arisen which must be solved 
wisely, for an abandoned farm is a menace to both 
city and country. While Jamestown, with its corrected 
figure of 38,917, shows a gain of 7,620, and Dunkirk 
with 19,336 has a gain of 2,115, which increases com- 
bined nearly equal the total gain of the county. There 
have also been gains, many of them very substantial, 
in Brocton Celoron, Falconer, Fredonia, Lakewood, 
Mayville, Sherman, Silver Creek, and Westfield, due 
to enlarging industries or to their proximity to the cit- 
ies. Of the incorporated villages, only Cherry Creek, 
Forestville, Panama and Sinclairville show actual 
losses. But in the twenty-six towns (considering Har- 
mony and North Harmony as one) there are only in- 
creases in Carroll, Chautauqua, Clymer, Dunkirk, Elli- 
cott, Hanover, Kiantone, Pomfret, and Portland, which 
excepting Clymer, include large villages or are near 
the cities. Seventeen towns show actual losses includ- 
ing some of those in the fertile Grape Belt as well as 
the dairying towns in Southern Chautauqua. 



THE GRAPE INDUSTRY. 
By Dr. C. E. Welch. 



Among the features which have advertised Chautau- 
qua county to the world, none has exceeded the great 
Chautauqua Grape Belt. The quality of her Concord 
Grapes is supreme. The immense tonnage raised and 
shipped to all the world, either as the fresh fruit or in 
the form of grape juice, has made the name Chautau- 
qua familiar everywhere. 

There are four great grape growing sections in the 
United States : California is the largest in total acre- 
age, but the grapes are almost entirely of the European 
varieties ; the Chautauqua Belt ranks second in acreage, 
and is by far the rnost important region in the produc- 
tion of native American grapes; Southwestern Michigan 
and the Central Lake region of New York complete the 
list of major sections, the Michigan belt carrying a much 
larger proportion of native American grapes than the 
Central New York Belt. 

The Chautauqua Grape Belt has been called the home 
of the Concord Grape. Extending along the southern 
shore of Lake Erie in a narrow strip of rich, warm soil, 
the climate tempered by the lake on the north, pro- 
tected by the Chautauqua hills on the south, nature ap- 
parently designed this garden spot as an ideal home 
for the Concord Grape. Although not exceeding three 
or four miles in width, this section extends far enough 
along the lake to allow some 35,000 acres of vineyard 
in addition to a large amount in other fruits and gen- 
eral farm produce. The larger part of the belt is in 
Chautauqua county, although it continues some fifteen 
miles into Erie county in the State of Pennsylvania. 

The Concord Grape originated at Concord, Massachu- 
setts, being the result of wild grape seed planted in 
1843. The variety was early introduced into Chautau- 
qua county. Results were so satisfactory that by 1880 
there was a considerable acreage planted to Corncords. 
Since 1850, grapes have been grown here in commercial 
quantities, but the early varieties were not entirely suc- 
cessful, and gradually the Concord replaced them until 
today it is almost universal. 

Analyzing the industry in 1900, we find that the bulk 
of the crop was moved in small baskets and was large- 
ly for table use. Some grapes were shipped in larger 



baskets for making of wine, and some were used in 
local wine cellars. At that time the grape juice in- 
dustry had not reached sufficient proportions to have 
much influence on the grape markets. The crop that 
year was in the neighborhood of 80,000 tons. The busi- 
ness had shown good profits and expansion had been 
rapid. 

For various reasons the market for table grapes has 
declined during the past twenty years, but the shipment 
of grapes in bulk and the rapidly increasing demands 
for grape juice have more than offset the decrease. For 
some years past the grape juice manufacturers have 
taken the larger part of the crop, and still have not had 
sufficient, finding it necessary to develop other grape 
regions. There has not been a great deal of change in 
the acreage since 1900, and the production per acre 
has probably decreased some. When land was cheap, 
growers took little care of the vineyards, raising as 
large crops as possible, and when the land was drained 
of its goodness, it was a simple matter to abandon the 
old and set out new vineyards. Such methods have 
largely passed, the grower to-day using such cultural 
methods as will give him the proper normal production 
per acre without taking too much from his land. 

Chautauqua Concords are trained on wires, from two 
to three feet high, stretched between posts in parallel 
rows. Each year the vines are pruned and tied up to the 
wires. The other operations, such as plowing, cultivat- 
ing, spraying and fertilizing, keep the grower quite busy 
through the season until nearly picking time. 

Grapes are harvested practically in one month, which 
results in a very busy period throughout the belt. Com- 
ing usually in October, the weather is neither sultry nor 
unpleasantly cold. In addition to the grower's family 
and neighbors, pickers come from nearby towns and 
cities for a few weeks of pleasant outdoor work with 
good pay. Shipping points along the railroads are 
congested with refrigerator cars. A continuous stream 
of heavily laden wagons and trucks passes along the 
road. Everywhere is hustle and bustle during the Chau- 
tauqua grape harvest. 










;y i' w in Tin.; i;rapk t.iot/i' 



THE GRAPE INDUSTRY 



403 



There have been attempts to handle the crop through 
central packing houses, as is standard practice for 
oranges, lemons and some other fruits. Among the 
difficulties found is the fact that grapes cannot be 
handled through a mechanical grader. Then, too, the 
very short season and perishable nature of the fruit 



are further handicaps to such methods. The industry 
of grape raising and grape shipping comprises the 
principal activity of most of the belt cities and towns. 
Nearly every grape juice factory of importance lies 
within the Chautauqua Grape Belt. Thus Chautauqua 
gives to man the Concord Grape. 



THE SWEDISH PEOPLE IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 
By Charles A. Okerlind. 



Swedish people began coming to Chautauqua county 
about 1850, and since that year their number has stead- 
ily increased. The census of 1910, the last available 
authority at this writing, furnishes ground for the esti- 
mate that there are now in Jamestown 20,000 and in 
Chautauqua county 30.000 persons of Swedish birth or 
descent. These figures are arrived at by including the 
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of im- 
migrants. Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed 
since the first persons of Swedish birth came to Chau- 
tauqua county, most of them with little capital save 
stout hearts and willing hands, but they have proved 
good citizens, have assimilated with the communities 
in which they settled, and through marriage and in- 
termarriage have become a worthy integral part of the 
great commonwealth of New York. In Jamestown it is 
safe to say that seventy-five per cent, of those appear- 
ing as taxpayers bear Swedish names, and at least 
seventy per cent, of the business world of that city are 
Swedes by ancestry or birth. Almost to a man, the 
thousands of merchants, manufacturers, business and 
professional men of Swedish birth, naturalized as quick- 
ly as law would permit, have become in fact as well as 
in thought and spirit, American citizens. 

Leading up to the coming of the first Swedes to 
Chautauqua county was the arrival in Buffalo, New 
York, in 1846. of Germund and Catherine Johnson with 
their two little girls, one six, the other eight years of 
age. Funds being exhausted, the parents remained in 
Buffalo, while the two girls were taken into the family 
of Robert Falconer, then living in Sugar Grove, Penn- 
sylvania. Later, Mr. Falconer found employment for 
the girls' father, Germund Johnson. This led to other 
Swedes going to Sugar Grove, and on October 13, 1848, 
a party headed by Frederick Johnson arrived there. In 
that party were two young women, Johanna Charlotta 
Johnson (sister of Frederick), and Lisa Lena Ander- 
son, these two, in the summer of 1849, going to the not 
far distant village of Jamestown, New York, and be- 
coming the first actual Swedish residents there. 

These young women both married in Jamestown in 
1852, Johanna Charlotta Johnson winning the love of a 
young Swede, Frank Peterson, who came in 1850, and 
Lena Anderson becoming the wife of Otto Peterson, 
who also came from Sweden in 1850. Both ladies sur- 
vived their husbands, Mrs. Frank Peterson now (Au- 
gust, 1920) residing in Falconer, aged eighty-nine, Mrs. 
Otto Peterson a resident of Jamestown, aged eighty- 
seven. 

It is stated that later in 1849, Samuel Johnson and 
Andrew Peterson settled in Jamestown, and in 1851 
the birth of a daughter is recorded as "daughter of 
Andrew Peterson and wife, the first Swedish girl baby 
born in Jamestown." On December 29, 1851, the first 
Swedish boy (Theodore) was born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Samuel Johnson. The girl baby died, but the boy lived 
to old age. 

The greater number of those who are reckoned as 
Jamestown's first settlers came in 1850, 1851 and 1852. 
Some of them were: Samuel Sjostrand, Lars A. John- 



son, Nils J. Swanson, Peter Johnson, Andrew Peter- 
son, his wife Anna and son John A., Andrew P. Peter- 
son and wife; John Larson, a local Methodist exhorter, 
afterwards settling in Minnesota ; Frank and Otto Pet- 
erson (previously mentioned, but not brothers), Israel 
Israelson, his wife Anna with her five children of 
a previous marriage; and Mrs. Marcus P. Jacobsen 
(mother of the first Swede school teacher in James- 
town, the late Martha Jacobsen) ; Samuel Berg, his 
wife and four children; John Gorman, Johannes John- 
son, his wife Brita Stina and three children ; A. P. 
Gelm, wife, son John, and a daughter, etc. The early 
comers are said to have been in the neighborhood of 
one hundred about the close of 1852. The experience 
of one was similar to that of all the others. The above 
mentioned Britta Stina Johnson, who passed away 
March 8, 1907. at the ripe age of ninety-two years, used 
to tell about hers, somewhat after this fashion: "My 
husband and myself and our three children arrived in 
Jamestown in the summer of 1852. The voyage across 
the Atlantic was made by a sailing vessel and required 
six weeks and four days. When we left the mother 
country we had no other aim or destination than 
'America.' In our company were, however, some whose 
destination was Jamestown, and likely because we did 
not have the means to continue with those going farther 
west, we made up our minds for Jamestown, too. 
From New York to Albany we journeyed by canal, and 
thence to Dunkirk, New York, by rail. Resting in the 
lastnamed city over night, we started the following 
day by ox-carts for Jamestown. The day of our arrival 
the Swedish population of Jamestown, consisting up 
till then of very few people, was increased with thirty." 

The first Swedish couple who devoted themselves 
to business here on their own account were A. J. and 
Maria Brockman, who, after coming to America in 
1864, opened up a grocery store here in 1868. Mr. 
Brockman's health failed him, however, and he died in 
1877, having sold his business to J. T. Snderholm some 
time previously. Mrs. Brockman lived on, honored and 
active, to the end of the century. 

Another merchant was Conrad A. Hult, who com- 
menced selling men's clothing and furnishing goods 
shortly after his arrival here in 1872. In the Centen- 
nial year (1876) or about twenty-five years after the 
first influx, the list of Swedish business men in James- 
town showed forth quite an increase. Beside Hult. the 
clothier, there were then : Olof Lundquist, hatter ; F. L. 
Nordstrom, shoe dealer ; Jonason & Beurstedt, cigar 
dealers and makers; A. W. Ljungberg, general merchan- 
dise and newspapers ; J. T. Soderholm and F. A. Thom- 
as, grocers ; S. E. Melin. tailor ; Paul Rosencrantz, pho- 
tographer ; and S. J. Rapp, shoemaker. Others who 
were clerks but became storekeepers shortly afterward 
were Axel F. Johnson, drugs ; Elof Rosencrantz, hard- 
ware, and Victor Linnander, clothing. In ever-increas- 
ing numbers the Swedes came during the last half of 
the nineteenth century, the numbers coming each year 
becoming less as the new century progressed. 

Elliot M. Peterson, son of the pioneers, Frank and 



404 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Charlotta Peterson, was the first Swedish doctor in 
Jamestown. He was well liked, and had a lucrative 
practice at the time of his death in 1887. Charles E. 
Anderson was the first Swede dentist, and Olaf A. Olson 
the first Swedish lawyer. 

The first Swedish newspaper was "Folkets Rost" 
(The People's Voice), which made its appearance Octo- 
ber 14, 1874. That paper, four pages, 14 x 21 inches in 
size, was owned by The Swedish Printing Association. 
In 1877 the paper was sold to Conrad Hult and Paul 
Rosencrantz, and in 1878 to Haller and Gunderson, who 
enlarged it to eight pages, 25 x 17^4 inches in size, and 
renamed it "Vart Nya Hem" (Our New Home). In 
1891 the paper was sold to the Vartland Publishing 
Company, and received a new name, "Vartland" (Our 
Land). The only other newspaper in Jamestown now 
published exclusively in Swedish is "Skandia," a week- 
ly founded in 1908. 

The first church work among the Swedish people of 
Jamestown was begun in June, 1851, by Rev. Olaf Gus- 
taf Hedstrom, a regular Methodist minister, who, hav- 
ing been converted as a young man in New York in 
1829 and ordained a preacher in 1835, became active 
in 1845 as an immigrant missionary for the Methodists 
on the historical "Bethel ship." Except when journey- 
ing westward in the interest of his conference quite 
frequently, his work was there for upwards of thirty 
years. On account of his early conversion and exten- 
sive missionary activity, Hedstrom has been called 
"the Father of Swedish Methodism," in the old country 
as well as in the new. This Hedstrom was at the time 
mentioned (June, 1851), on a journey westward, likely 
in connection with his work of establishing the first 
Swedish Methodist Episcopal church in Chicago, which 
was formerly organized by him in the following year. 
While passing through here he conducted the first pray- 
er service in Swedish that was ever held in James- 
town, at the home of Samuel Sjostrand (Johnson) on 
Barrows street. There were only twelve attending. 
Late the following year (November, 1852), Hedstrom 
returned and organized the local Swedish Methodist 
Episcopal Church, which in 1854 had thirty-seven mem- 
bers. "Father" Hedstrom's life work came to a close 
in 1877, and in 1886 his Swedish co-religionists raised 
a memorial shaft over his grave in Greenwood Ceme- 
tery, Brooklyn. 

Samuel Sjostrand, through the influence of Hed- 
strom's prayer meeting at his own house, decided to 
join the First Methodist Episcopal Church, thus be- 
coming the first Swedish Methodist in Jamestown. 
Shortly afterwards he was licensed as an exhorter. This 
gave him and his friends an opening for holding meet- 
ings in the basement of the then American Methodist 
Episcopal church (the present Unitarian), on the oppo- 
site side of Chandler street from where the Swedish 
Methodist Episcopal church now stands. Sjostrand 
was assisted in these meetings by John Larson and An- 
drew P. Peterson, the latter who came in 1852, and the 
grandfather of Major A. Bartholdi Peterson. 

Rev. Olof Hamrin came here early the next summer 
(1853), and was for a year the first minister of the 
church organized by Rev. O. G. Hedstrom whom he had 
assisted previously in his labors on the "Bethel" ship. 
He received a local preacher's license in June and be- 
came a conference member in July of the following 
year (1854), but was suddenly taken away a couple of 
weeks later by an attack of cholera. 

Such was the beginning of the first Swedish Metho- 
dist Episcopal church of Jamestown, now presided over 
by Rev. John Emanuel Hillberg. 

There were Swedish Lutherans in the Jamestown 



colony, and there were differences between them and 
the Methodists, but they could not have been serious, 
as Rev. Julius Lincoln, D. D., pastor of the First 
Lutheran Church, wrote in his "Memorial Album" in 
1907 that "Rev. Jonas Swensson, the first regular pas- 
tor of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Jamestown, who 
came from Sweden in 1856, was well received and 
sheltered by the Methodist preacher, Rev. Jacob Bred- 
berg, who had succeeded Rev. Olof Hamrin." Rev. 
Jonas Swensson was a minister forceful in his preach- 
ing and of a strong character. He possessed the faculty 
of bringing things into order, not only with regard to 
daily life experiences, but within the hearts of his 
hearers. He was the beloved pastor of his flock, and 
his resignation and removal west after only two years' 
service was deeply regretted. 

The First Lutheran Church was also served by Rev. 
Carl Otto Hultgren, who was ordained as a minister 
June 19, 1864, at the meeting of the Augustana Synod 
in Rockford, Illinois. He entered upon his pastoral 
duties in Jamestown a month after his ordination, at 
the age of thirty-three years, and remained the active 
pastor for thirty-one years. On September 18, 1895, he 
retired, remaining afterwards its pastor emeritus up 
to his death, which occurred April 9, 1901. Dr. Hult- 
gren was born December 25, 1832, in the parish of 
Hvena, Sweden, and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, 
Jamestown. 

From the First Lutheran Church sprang the Swedish 
Lutheran Immanuel Church, organized in 1887. The 
Swedish Baptist Church was organized July 20, 1884. 
In 1879 the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church of 
Jamestown, New York, was formed, was incorporated 
in 1885, and was accepted by the Swedish Evargelical 
Mission of America in May, 1891. Swedish Zion Mis- 
sion Church was organized October 4, 1894, and on May 
16, 1895, was admitted to membership in the Swedish 
Evangelical Mission Covenant of North America. These 
distinctively Swedish congregations all have well plan- 
ned modern church edifices and are a power for good 
in the community. 

At the time war broke out between the North and 
South, there were a number of young Swedes living in 
Jamestown. Almost to a man they enlisted in the 
Union army, but owing to their youth none returned 
with a commission. Neither do the records contain any 
mention of one of them being punished for a crime, 
nor was one ever tried by a courtmartial, nor did one 
desert the flag of his adopted country. Many of these 
boys sleep in national cemeteries, some perhaps in 
graves marked "unknown," but some returned to lives 
of useful citizenship under the flag they helped to de- 
fend. No attempt was made at the time to preserve the 
names of these boys, and what is known is from the 
recollections of survivors. 

The first real organization of a secular nature among 
the Swedes of Chautauqua county was "The Swedish 
Singing Society Brage," in 1871, although "Freja," also 
a singing organization, existed for several years until 
1876. "Brage" remained a singing society for males 
but a year, then both sexes were admitted and the 
aims of the organization were widened; "Brage" dis- 
banded in 1878. The Scandinavian Temperance and 
Benevolent Society was organized in 1872, the last char- 
ter member of that society, Olof Lundquist, dying April 
21, 1909. Various Swedish singing societies have ex- 
isted since "Brage," one of them, "Pacius," having a life 
of several years. There was also the Jamestown Glee 
Club, and Lyran, the present society. 

The first meeting for the purpose of forming a 
Swedish military company in Jamestown was held in 



THE SWEDISH PEOPLE IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



405 



Brage Hall, June 6, 1875, and on August 25 "The First 
Separate Company" of the New York National Guard 
was mustered into the State service in Jones Hall, East 
Third street, by General Rogers, in the presence of his 
entire staff. The company roster contained seventy-six 
names, with John P. Hollers, captain ; Conrad A. Hult, 
first, and A. W. Ljungberg second lieutenants. Captain 
Hollers resigned his command later, and in 1880 Lieu- 
tenant Hult was commissioned captain. This was the 
first company organized under the State law authorizing 
separate companies. Its designation "First," was chang- 
ed afterwards to "Fourth," and later to "Thirteenth," 
and then to Company E, 65th Regiment, now Company 
E, 74th Regiment, National Guard, New York. Its 
popular name, Fe'nton Guards, was conferred in its 
early days as a compliment to Governor Reuben E. 
Fenton, a townsman, and in the newspaper of the day 
this account of the naming of the company is given : 

The Swedish military company, the Fenton Guards, 
made a call the other day on Governor Fenton at his 
handsome residence on Brooklyn Heights. The band 
played a lively march, and the boys, resplendent in 
their pale blue and yellow uniforms, kept in step 
steadily and beautifully. The company presented a 
fine appearance, their bearing being much praised by 
the spectators. After the commanding officer had ex- 
plained the purpose of the visit and thanked the Gov- 
ernor for his permission to name the company after 
him, Fenton stepped forward and made a speech, in 
which he expressed his satisfaction at such a company 
having been organized. He also bid the Swedes wel- 
come to these parts, where their strong arms were 
well needed and where he hoped they would work out 
their own prosperity. The speech was received with 
enthusiastic hurrahs, after which the singers in the 
company sang "Lovely May." the words of which had 
been translated from Swedish into English by August 
Lund. 

The State militia were under no regulation as to the 
design of their clothes in those days, and consequently 
the "Fenton Guards" could adopt as their own the 
uniform of the bodyguard of Charles the Twelfth, a 
handsome blue with yellow trimmings, which combined 
the Swedish national colors and was much admired. 
The "Fenton Guards" retained its character of a dis- 
tinctly Swedish organization up to 1887. During the 
railroad riot of 1877 it was ordered out, but did no 
active military service. In 1884 the boys were enter- 
tained for three days by the 32nd Regiment of Brook- 
lyn. The same year the company attended State camp 
under Captain Hult, and in 1886 under Lieutenant 
Ljungberg. In February, 1887, Captain Hult resigned 
his command, his resignation being followed in a few 
months by those of First Lieutenant Ljungberg and 
Second Lieutenant Smith. Lieutenant Smith had suc- 
ceeded Lieutenant John H. Swanson, who resigned in 
1885 on account of moving to Buffalo, where he organ- 
ized and for a while captained a company composed most- 
ly of Swedes, in the 65th Regiment. After the Swedish 
officers resigned, the Fenton Guards reorganized as an 
open-for-all institution. The emoluments from the 
State, as well as the local support, became generous 
again. Quite a number of Swedes have belonged to it 
since then, and when in 1898 the Guards were ordered 
into national service, during the Spanish-American 
war, it had Frank A. Johnson as its second lieutenant, 
besides other Swedes in its ranks. Lieutenant John- 
son enlisted as a private, August 3, 1880, and arose 
gradually, until he was elected second lieutenant, Feb- 
ruary, 1892. When the company returned from the war, 
Frank A. Johnson was its captain, appointed in May, 
1898, but later resigned, and accepted a lieutenancy in 
the company, which he retained until his final resig- 
nation in the spring of 1914. During the World War 
he attempted to enlist, but age barred him, and he en- 



tered the Home Guard, becoming its captain. For 

twenty-two years he was Jamestown's chief of police, 
then was out of office four years, but in 1920 was re- 
appointed, and is now (August 1, 1920) serving. 

Captain Conrad A. Hult was a man who always gave 
little concern to appearances and conventionalities, but 
was always "a live wire" even in his later years, which 
is proven by his election in the nineties to the city 
council for a period of eight years. During his last 
term he was chosen president of the council, and served 
as acting mayor upon certain occasions. For three 
years (1895-1898) he was deputy sheriff of Chautauqua 
county, and during the Spanish-American war was 
commissioned by Governor Black to recruit his own 
company of volunteers had such additional troops been 
needed. The old captain passed beyond in 1902, and his 
funeral was conducted from the Armory with full mili- 
tary honors. 

It was not until 1876 that Swedes began to exert any 
influence in local politics, the American born sons of 
the early comers being then of age, and as interested 
citizens began exercising their rights. They asked for 
representation on the village board of trustees, sug- 
gesting the name of John Gelm to the village caucus. 
They were promptly "turned down" and, smarting un- 
der a sense of injustice, they "bolted" and nominated 
John Gelm as an independent Republican candidate for 
village trustee. Gelm was elected, and from that time 
onward the Swedes have made themselves a factor in 
city, district and county politics. J. Emil Johnson was 
the first Swede to fill the mayor's chair in Jamestown, 
his first election occurring in 1900. Through two re- 
elections he was continued in the mayor's office for six 
years. Samuel A. Carlson, a city official, was elected 
mayor of Jamestown in 1908, and has been re-elected 
at the expiration of each term, his last election occur- 
ring in November, 1919. No better comment can be 
made upon his efficiency than to refer to his six re- 
elections. 

John Gelm, the pioneer Swede officeholder, was 
elected sheriff of Chautauqua county in November, 1894, 
having previously served the city of Jamestown as chief 
of police. Gust A. Anderson was elected sheriff of the 
county in 1913 ; Fred R. Peterson was sent to the As- 
sembly in 1896; and Rev. Julius Lincoln, of Swedish 
parentage, pastor of the First Lutheran Church of 
Jamestown, was twice elected assemblyman during his 
pastorate, for nine years was a member and six years 
president of the city Board of Education. There are 
but a very few offices in Chautauqua county which have 
not had or now have Swedish incumbents, no other 
Swedish-American colony perhaps outrivaling James- 
town in that respect. It is, moreover, a fact that the 
Swedish officeholders, elective and appointive, have as 
a rule been re-elected or reappointed for a second or 
more terms, conclusive proof of efficiency and fidelity. 
There are several striking examples of this, the most 
noteworthy, the retention in the mayor's chair of J. 
Emil Johnson for six years; Mayor Samuel A. Carl- 
son's twelve years of continuous service as mayor, with 
still an unexpired term of two and one-half years to 
serve ; Gust T. Johnson's twenty-two years of service 
as assistant postmaster of Jamestown, a post he yet 
ably fills; Charles A. Okerlind, term of eleven years as 
city auditor; and Frank A. Johnson's connection with 
the Jamestown police as chief, he being head of the 
force for twenty-two years, and again holds the po- 
sition after an interval of four years. 

The Norden Club, a social organization of represen- 
tative men of Swedish antecedents, occupies quarters in 
a handsome club house owned by the Norden Realty 



406 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Company, the stockholders of the Realty Company all 
being members of the club. 

The Gustavus Adolphus Orphans Home an institu- 
tion for the care of orphans and neglected children, lo- 
cated in the eastern section of Jamestown, was found- 
ed by Swedes in 1884, and since that time has been the 
object of generous giving by Swedes as individuals, as 
well as by their churches and societies. Named after 
that illustrious defender of the faith, King Gustavus 
Adolphus of Sweden, and established by and under the 
authority of the Swedish Lutheran New York Con- 
ference, the administration of the Home is controlled 
by that body, but is also under State supervision. For 
its maintenance, however, the Home largely depends 
upon the voluntary donations from individuals and or- 
ganizations. While no denominational or social lines 
are known in connection with the Home, it is but jus- 
tice to the First Lutheran Church to add that the heav- 
ier part of the burden of support in the past has been 



borne by that organization. But support for the Home 
has been generous regardless of nationality or denom- 
ination, and when a quite recent drive was made to 
raise $30,000 to free the Home from debt, and to pro- 
vide for extensive improvements, the amount was raised 
in four days. John S. Swensson has been superinten- 
dent of the Home since 1898. 

The Swedes have taken a strong position among the 
farmers of Chautauqua and are a contented, prosperous 
class of agriculturists. The towns around Jamestown 
and the Chautauqua Lake region proved the most at- 
tractive to them, but a scattering of Swede farmers is 
noticeable in other parts of the county. Chautauqua 
county has been wonderfully aided in her manufactur- 
ing and business development by her thirty thousand 
Swedish sons and daughters of foreign and native birth, 
and in return has given opportunity which has been 
gratefully and profitably improved. 



DONALD MacKENZIE; KING OF THE NORTHWEST. 
By Ernest Cawcroft 



The mind of the aging man turns to the scenes of his 
youth and early prime. When he meditates upon the 
eternal eventualities, memory carries him back to his 
native heath, and his reflections are eased by the hope 
that his ashes will mingle with the soil which gave him 
birth. 

But Donald MacKenzie does not sleep the deep sleep 
at Inverness, the capital of the MacKenzie clan in Scot- 
land and where the future "King" of the Northwest 
found his birthplace on June 15, 1783. He does not 
rest at Fort William, now the leading grain port at the 
head of Lake Superior, but one century ago the capital 
of the Northwest Fur Company, no less than the centre 
of the commercial enterprise and the social and political 
intrigue of the vast Hudson's Bay territories. 

And is there a tomb to mark for him a resting place 
at thriving Winnipeg? No, the man who had his seat 
at the then Fort Garry, and who by virtue of his 
governorship ruled the vast Provinces now known as 
Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, does not sleep 
under the soil over which he reigned for eight years 
as a governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Donald 
MacKenzie sleeps the celestial sleep in Evergreen Ceme- 
tery, just at the foot of Mayville Hill, and overlooking 
the waters of Lake Chautauqua. 

The Regents of New York State once required the 
reading of Washington Irving's "Astoria" for purposes 
of high school study. There I gleaned my first knowl- 
edge of Donald MacKenzie. Later I became interested 
in the development of Western Canada; my studies of 
and trips through that region brought home to me the 
name "MacKenzie" on many occasions. But one must 
go a long way from home to get the real importance 
of new events. "The Times" (London), publishes an 
obituary column which is distinguished throughout the 
world for its discriminating freedom from funeral plati- 
tudes, and its devoted effort to chronicle the achieve- 
ments of those who have passed from the King's ser- 
vice by death. During the early part of 1912, I found 
at the bottom of an article devoted to a deceased Peer 
of the Realm, the following item: "Our Mayville, New 
York, correspondent informs us that Henry Mac- 
Note.— (This article was read before the Chautauqua 
County Historical Society Meeting at Dunkirk, and 
printed in the February, 1918. issue of "The Canad- 
ian Magazine" of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.) 



Kenzie, one of the surviving sons of Donald Mac- 
Kenzie. the Canadian Explorer, is dead at that place." 

This item connected my travels in Canada with my 
previous high school reading. Moreover, it impelled 
me to study the career and to seek to visualize the 
personality of a man cast in a large mould. I accepted 
the invitation to prepare this paper on "Donald Mac- 
Kenzie: The King of the Northwest," because I felt 
that many students of Canadian history have had but 
a vague conception of the deeds of this hero. To be 
born in Scotland, to achieve fame in Oregon and Mani- 
toba, and to live for eighteen years in Chautauqua 
county, breaks the links of personal history. 

It has been my task to connect some of the links in 
the historical chain of Donald MacKenzie's life. The 
MacKenzies have written their names in large letters 
over the map of Canada. The habit of Dominion his- 
torians and biographers of referring to their particular 
MacKenzie by his last name only, has deepened the con- 
fusion in proportion to the books published. But in 
view of the fact that the record of the MacKenzie clan 
is distinctive in the history of Scotland and Canada, 
I shall trace out the career of Donald MacKenzie by 
a process of exclusion, just as I have been compelled 
to do in the verification of certain biographical data 
for the purposes of this paper. 

Thus Donald MacKenzie must not be confused with 
Sir Alexander MacKenzie, who hailed from the same 
region of Scotland, and whose explorations placed the 
MacKenzie River upon the map of Canada in 1789. 
Nor with Kenneth MacKenzie, who looms large in the 
"History of the American Fur Trade," by Chittenden, 
and who in his trading and explorations traversed a 
large portion of the same territory covered by Donald 
in his American trip to the Pacific Ocean. 

James MacKenzie was a governor of the King's 
Posts in Quebec Province. Henry MacKenzie served 
as secretary of the Northwest Company at Montreal; 
and the premier member of that competitor of the 
Hudson's Bay Company was Roderick MacKenzie. 
These men were first, second, and third cousins of each 
other. They played a leading part in the lives of each 
other, some as friends and others as the executives of 
rival fur and trading companies. Between their friend- 
ships and their rivalries, they placed the name of Mac- 
Kenzie in the history of North America, beyond erasure. 



DONALD MAC KENZIE, KING OF THE NORTHWEST 



407 



This Roderick MacKenzie was the correspondent of 
Sir Alexander MacKenzie, and the cousin of Donald. 
The romantic explorations of Alexander were being 
told by proud Scotsmen about the time the youth of 
Donald was getting under way. Then Roderick Mac- 
Kenzie was writing home to Glasgow and Edinburgh, 
as well as to Donald, telling of the opportunities for 
young Scotsmen in seeking the vast fur wealth of the 
Canadian Northwest. 

Thus the wanderlust of the young man was stirred, 
and in 1801, Donald MacKenzie, then seventeen years 
of age, left Scotland for Canada, where he entered and 
remained in the employ of the Northwest Fur Com- 
pany for eight years. During these eight years he re- 
ceived his collegiate training by clerking, trapping, and 
trading, by exploration and adventure, and by playing a 
man's part in defending the accumulations of the fur 
season against the plunder spirit of primitive outlaws 
and angry Indians. He was a famous man, even in his 
youth, in this primitive country, and this prestige of the 
wilderness soon brought him into positions of great 
responsibility. 

The career of Donald MacKenzie, as a factor in the 
making of North American history, must be timed from 
the day he connected himself with John Jacob Astor. 
The limits of this paper compel me to spare you the 
details ; but the New York Legislature incorporated the 
American Fur Company on April 6, 1808. The dashing 
and enterprising John Jacob Astor longed to tap the 
wealth of the wilderness to invest his profits in the 
lands of the metropolis. His broad mind conceived the 
idea of establishing a line of trading posts, connecting 
the Missouri with the mouth of the Columbia river on 
the Pacific. He not only foresaw the commercial possi- 
bilities, but he perceived, as his letters to the President 
and Cabinet officers show, the need of asserting Ameri- 
can title to the American Northwest. Rival fur and 
trading companies were claiming ownership on behalf 
of their respective governments and without thought 
of the present international boundary line. Mr. Astor 
made overtures for peace, and proposed to consolidate 
his venture with first one and then the other of exist- 
ing companies. Meeting with no success, he decided 
to offer positions to the best men of the Northwest 
Fur Company. Alexander M'Kay, who had accompani- 
ed Sir Alexander MacKenzie in his 1789 and 1793 ex- 
peditions; Duncan M'Dougal, Donald MacKenzie and 
Wilson Price Hunt, of New Jersey, were finally asso- 
ciated with Mr. Astor under a new named corporation : 
"The Pacific Fur Company." 

The Astor party outfitted at Montreal, the emporium 
of the fur trade. It crossed the Rocky Mountains in 
1810, exploring and establishing trading posts enroute, 
and finally arrived at the point to be known as Astoria, 
at the mouth of the Columbia river. Washington Irving 
described Donald MacKenzie at this period of his prime 
as "excelling on those points in which the others were 
deficient ; for he had been for ten years in the interior 
and valued himself on his knowledge of wood-craft and 
the strategy of Indian trade and Indian warfare. He 
had a frame seasoned to toil and hardships ; a spirit 
not to be intimidated, and was reputed to be a re- 
markable shot, which of itself was sufficient to give him 
renown upon the Frontier." 

Once the Pacific Fur Company party had fixed its 
capital at Astoria, leading members were delegated to 
establish additional posts at distant points. It was the 
policy to pre-empt good trading grounds, as well as to 
win the ultimate support of the United States Govern- 
ment by pushing the boundary line far north. Donald 
established the most distant post from Astoria on the 



Shahaptan. His trading settlement was considered an 
encroachment upon the territory of earlier and rival 
companies. He was burdened, too, by constant fights 
with Indians in that region. Supplies did not arrive 
and the opposition of the rival companies increased. 
Donald went to the nearest trading post of his associates 
for conference. While in consultation with Messrs. 
Clare and Stuart, a partner of the Northwest Com- 
pany, John George M'Tavish, arrived from the region 
of Lake Winnipeg, bearing the news that war had been 
declared between the United States and England. He 
added the true or false information that an English 
ship had been sent to seize Astoria. MacKenzie deter- 
mined to break camp and return to Astoria. There a 
conference between the Astoria coterie ensued during 
the summer of 1812. It was decided to abandon Astoria. 
M'Dougal and MacKenzie argued for abandonment 
in view of all the circumstances, while less influential 
partners were against immediate departure. But the 
will of the stronger men prevailed, and the return was 
made over the Rockies in several parties. While Wash- 
ington Irving speaks in terms of personal praise of 
Donald MacKenzie, he reflects the attitude of his patron, 
John Jacob Astor, in severely criticizing the position of 
M'Dougal and MacKenzie in persuading the co-partners 
to abandon Astoria. This critical view of the decision 
of MacKenzie and associates finds favour in the "His- 
tory of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition," published by 
direction of the United States Government in 1842. 
The Historian Ross takes a sounder view of the decision 
of MacKenzie, and he is inclined to look at the vexa- 
tious question from the standpoint of the whole issue, 
rather than to determine it from the viewpoint as to 
whether Mr. Astor lost money and suffered in prestige. 
There can be no question but what the decision of Mac- 
Kenzie in relation to Astoria was a source of long 
resentment; but after the War of 1812, Mr. MacKenzie 
joined with Mr. Astor in seeking to impress upon the 
United States Government the need of renewed efforts 
in the Oregon region. The abandonment of Astoria 
did not mean the downfall of the entire Pacific Fur 
Company project. In fact Hunt and MacKenzie laid 
the foundation for the large Astor fortune on that very 
trip over the Rockies. 

But it must not be inferred that MacKenzie and his 
friends accepted in silence the Washington Irving ver- 
sion of the betrayal of Astoria. The Astoria money and 
portable properties were delivered to Mr. Astor in 
New York by MacKenzie, and the home view of this 
debatable question may be gleaned from an obituary 
tribute appearing in the "Mayville Sentinel" the week of 
his death. "Washington Irving in his Astoria," writes 
the editor of "The Mayville Sentinel" on January 25, 
1851, "has in his own happy style narrated a few of 
these adventures, which in one of the most important 
transactions of his life, relative to the betrayal of 
Astoria, he has done him great but undoubtedly unde- 
signed injustice. To him, and to him alone, was Mr. 
Astor indebted for all that was saved from the ruin 
which treason had wrought." 

But the days of personal vexation are over for both 
men. The Astoria episode adds to the fame of both 
Astor and MacKenzie. The trip over the Rockies and 
the assertion of American title to the mouth of the 
Columbia laid the foundation for the otherwise dubious 
54 degrees 40 minutes fight in later years. It is true 
that the contest well nigh precipitated another war be- 
tween the United States and England. 

The part that our Scottish hero, and subject of the 
King of England, played in laying this foundation was 
recognized by Daniel Webster when he visited Mac- 



4o8 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Kenzie at Mayville for the purpose of securing data for 
the diplomatic contest which culminated in the settle- 
ment of the boundary dispute in a manner satisfactory 
to the United States in what is known as the Webster- 
Ashburton Treaty. 

Beckles Willson, in writing the "History of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company," in 1900, pays an unwitting tribute 
to the services of Astor and MacKenzie, when he says : 

"This brings us to the whole point Involved in the 
American contention, which deprived Great Britain 
of a vast territory to which the United States possess- 
ed no shadow of right. A year before the amalgam- 
ation of the rival companies, the northwest coast for 
the first time engaged the attention of the American 
Government, and what came to be known as the Ore- 
gon question had its birth. The States possessed no 
title to the country, but a strong party believed that 
they had a right to found by occupation a legitimate 
title to a large portion of the territory in question. 
A bill was introduced in Congress for the occupation 
of the Columbia River region. It is curious to reflect 
that the restoration of Fort George (Astoria) by the 
British was one of the strong arguments used at that 
time." 

I departed from the consecutive tracing of MacKen- 
zie's career for the purpose of picturing such distant 
but dependent and related events as the trip over the 
Rockies in 1810, and the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 
1842. It is evident that MacKenzie realized that he 
had participated in a history-making enterprise, despite 
the charges and counter-charges of treason and bad 
faith. This conclusion is attested by the repeated ef- 
forts of MacKenzie to renew the interest of Astor af- 
ter the war of 1812. and the latter attempt to induce the 
President of the United States to afford proper diplo- 
matic and military support for this continental enter- 
prise. But MacKenzie re-entered the employ of the 
Northwest Fur Company as a confidential agent. He 
was a leader in the fight between that Company and 
the Hudson's Bay Company for exclusive trading priv- 
ileges in the Canadian Northwest. The fight was just 
as keen as the pre-war contest between the trading 
companies of England and Germany for the explora- 
tion of Central Africa. The commercial battle raged 
in various forms and at distant points in the wilderness 
for a decade. Then the usual thing happened. The ri- 
val companies consolidated. They signed a deed poll, 
realizing that co-operation between outsiders is better 
than competition, in exploiting the natives of the 
•wilderness. The development of Western Canada dates 
from the day that the rival companies perceived that 
the untapped wealth of that region was so enormous 
that competition for an unquestioned surplus was 
futile. 

The amalgamation of the two companies provided 
the high water mark of opportunity for the career of 
MacKenzie in Canada, just as the founding of Astoria 
marks the distinctive feature of his American achieve- 
ments. His experience and skill were recognized; his 
name was powerful in the wilderness. He became a 
chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. He journ- 
eyed from the Pacific Coast to York Factory in 1822, 
and the same year he was appointed councillor of the 
Governors of the Company's Territories. When Gov- 
ernor Bulger departed, he was sent to the Red River 
settlement to supervise the Company's affairs and to 
seek an adjustment of the long standing differences be- 
tween the Scotsmen and the natives. In June, 1825, 
he was appointed governor of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, and at 42 years of age he became the commer- 
r'p.l and semi-political ruler of a region, now divided 
i • 1 three Canadian Provinces, and as large in extent 
as many of the major European states. 

His Governor's seat was at Fort Garry, now Win- 



nipeg, and there during eight years of rule, he ap- 
proached the high tide of life. I cannot enter into 
the many events in the life of a man charged with 
business responsibilities and the maintenance of civil 
order in a wilderness. But my researches have com- 
pelled me to do what I have long planned to do in 
connection with my studies of Western Canada: to 
procure and examine the records of the Hudson's Bay 
Company in general and especially as bearing upon the 
governorship of Donald MacKenzie. It is one thing 
to read a polished and complete governmental code 
such as Macaulay wrote for India and Root penned for 
the Philippines ; "but it is another, and equally interesting, 
to read the records of men grappling with order and 
disorder in a wilderness, and making their government 
as the occasion arose. This is the revelation which has 
come to me in examining the legislative records of the 
Red River Colony and the Hudson's Bay Posts. 

Thus in the legislative records, we find Donald Mac- 
Kenzie under date of August, 1826, addressing a mem- 
orandum to A. Colville, Esquire, Hudson's Bay House, 
Fenchurch street, London, dealing with his difficulties 
in keeping order among certain Swiss colonists. On 
May 4th, 1832, the records indicate that he is sitting 
in Council for the consideration and adoption of regu- 
lations, to protect the woods from fire. In 1833 there 
are resolutions of the Hudson's Bay Council, assign- 
ing MacKenzie to the Fort William District, which 
indicates that he was preparing to wend his way down 
the Great Lakes to Chautauqua county. The records 
indicate an important meeting of the Council of the 
Red River Settlement in 1833, with Governor-in-Chief 
George Simpson presiding, and the following minute is 
entered : "A medical certificate being received from 
Dr. Hendry of Chief MacKenzie's ill-health, which ren- 
ders it necessary for him to visit the civilized world to 
obtain the benefit of medical advice — Resolved, that 
leave of absence be granted to Chief MacKenzie for the 
current year." 

And thus Donald MacKenzie faded from his tri- 
umphs in the Northwest. He had handled the distress- 
ing situations which followed the Red River flood in 
1826 and the tragedy of the flight of the Swiss set- 
tlers. "This benevolent gentleman," says the Cana- 
dian historian Gunn, in discussing MacKenzie's gover- 
norship, "not only made use of the stores under his 
charge for the relief of the sufferers, but aided by the 
influence of his high position and personal character 
to induce others to join in the good work." 
_ But now in the prime of life, he headed for civiliza- 
tion. He never returned to the region of his triumphs ; 
and the story of his last decade in Chautauqua county 
is just as little known in Western Canada, as the rec- 
ord of his earlier achievements in the West is not ap- 
preciated by the people of Chautauqua county. Just 
why he went to Chautauqua county is not known. It 
is believed by many of the older settlers that while 
stopping at Fort William, he met a young geologist, 
Douglas Houghton, who described to him the splendors 
of Mayville Hill between the lakes. Alexander Mac- 
Kenzie, of Toronto, who is now writing "Life of Don- 
ald MacKenzie," says that he came to the United States 
because he loved Republican institutions. 

He spent the ebbtide of his life at Mayville from 
1833 until his death on January 20, 1851. He became 
an intimate friend of Judge Peacock, the agent of the 
Holland Land Company, and he secreted that gentle- 
man in his house on the high ground, back of the May- 
ville Academy, when the infuriated tenants from Hart- 
field mobbed the land office. William H. Seward, then 
a young attorney representing the Holland Land Com- 



DONALD MAC KENZIE, KING OF THE NORTHWEST 



409 



pany. and later Lincoln's Secretary of State, was sent 
to Mayville, remaining there for more than a year 
in adjusting the disputes between landlords and ten- 
ants. Peacock, Seward and MacKenzie became cron- 
ies ; one wonders whether Donald in describing the 
contests between the English and Russian companies 
for the fur trade of Alaska during the period of his 
Pacific Coast activities, turned Seward's thought to the 
possibilities of annexing that territory in later years. 
Donald was the character of the Northern Chautau- 
qua region, and he was the subject of numberless 
myths and gossip as to his deeds. But he came to 
Mayville to escape the excitement of his early career. 
It cannot be said that he invited the intimacy of a large 
number of his fellow citizens : the records of the Pea- 
cock Lodge of Masons do not indicate that he joined 
the craft, but doubtless, in common with other leading 
spirits of the Hudson's Bay Company, he had become 
a member of the ancient Brotherhood earlier in life. 
He journeyed to Buffalo, where his judicious mind made 
investments in that promising canal town; he worked 
on his memoirs, but his wife found that writing did 
not add to the amiability of a man of deeds. She burn- 
ed the half-finished manuscript. He conducted a large 
correspondence, and leading men from the East to the 
West visited him. The venerable Obed Edson credits 
the story of the Civil War days that John Jacob Astor 
visited his former partner at Mayville. This gives 
colour to the conclusion that after the dispute about 
Astoria, and a lawsuit, in which Donald secured judg- 
ment against Jacob, the men were friends in the last 
decade of life. Donald MacKenzie lived the conven- 
tional life of the wilderness. The inter-marriage of 
Hudson's Bay Company agents with Indian women 
was a common event. While this domestic system had 
the elements of individual romance, it was in part the 
basis of that collective tragedy which ensued when 
many half-breed children joined the Riel rebellion in 
the false hope that a successful revolt would establish 
their title to the lands of their fathers. One surviving 
Indian child came to Mayville with Donald MacKen- 
zie and his Swiss wife and white family. I speak with 
no words of disparagement, because in the Anglican 
churches of the Canadian Northwest, I have seen these 
Indian children of Scots fathers leading in the choir 
service. Indeed, a situation which the Northwest ac- 
cepted as one of the necessities of a primitive country 
was given some recognition on that eventful day in 
Buckingham Palace when Sir Donald Smith played the 
man, banker, railroad builder, Hudson's Bay Governor, 
Canadian High Commissioner. Sir Donald Smith had 
married an Indian girl while in the Northwest. The 
English Cabinet desired to give him recognition, and 
suggested to Queen Victoria that she elevate him 
under the title of Lord Strathcona. Then the gossips 
of London whispered to the Queen that Sir Donald had 
married the Indian girl according to the rites of the 
wilderness. The Queen proposed their remarriage in 
the Anglican Church, but Sir Donald declined to taint 
the first rite by admitting the need of a second ; Vic- 
toria countered with the suggestion that the patent of 
nobility be granted to Sir Donald alone, but the latter 



insisted that it be issued to Lord and Lady Strath- 
cona, and to the heirs of their body. These were the 
days when Canada was being made to feel her place in 
the Empire. The necessities of imperial politics im- 
pelled the Queen to grant letters patent to Lord and 
Lady Strathcona. 

The unsettled conditions in Continental Europe, fol- 
lowing the French Revolution, caused the parents of 
Adelgonde Droze to bring her from Switzerland by way 
of Hudson's Bay to Fort Garry. She married Donald 
MacKenzie in 1825. and she shared with him the social 
responsibilities of his governorship of the wilderness. 
It is believed that her taste for European life and 
studies was one of the motives which started the gov- 
ernor toward civilization. The probate proceedings in 
the Chautauqua County Court on May 6, 1857, indicate 
that thirteen children were born of this union. Mrs. 
Jemima MacKenzie MacDonald, of Buffalo, Noel, Rod- 
erick, and Catherine, now dead, were born in Mani- 
toba, and accompanied the family to Mayville. The 
other children were born at Mayville. William P. Mac- 
kenzie now lives near Hartfield, overlooking Chau- 
tauqua Lake. Donald MacKenzie was thrown from 
his horse at Silver Creek, returning from Buffalo. He 
lingered for six months but he did not recover his 
clarity of mind, nor that physical power, which with 
his more than six feet, and 300 pounds in weight, made 
him feared in the hand to hand encounters in the North- 
west. He was buried on the high ground of his yard 
from which one looks down the Lake to the Chautauqua 
Assembly grounds. Later his body was removed to 
the Mayville Cemetery, where the Scots father, the 
Swiss wife, and the deceased members of the family 
sleep in peace together. 

I contributed to the "Canada Magazine" in 1912 an 
article on "The Last Days of Donald MacKenzie." As 
intimated in an earlier portion of this paper, the de- 
parture of Donald for Fort Garry on a year's vacation, 
and his failure to revisit the scene of his achievements, 
left a blank in the record of his Northwestern career. 
The reprinting of portions of my article in the papers 
of Winnipeg and other cities is indicative of the in- 
terest of the Northwest in the final chapter of this man's 
career. 

This leads me to a suggestion which will give this 
paper an air of practicality. The Scottish Society of 
Winnipeg is one of the strong racial and cultural bod- 
ies of the Northwest. The Hudson's Bay Company is 
still a power in that region, and it now maintains 
many of the trading posts frequented by MacKenzie. 
Vincent Astor is the representative head of the family 
whose wealth was founded in part on the activities of 
MacKenzie and associates, while the Chautauqua Coun- 
ty Historical Society is pledged to record the deeds 
of those who found birth or a haven in these parts. 
Why not, therefore, a common movement to secure the 
co-operation of those organizations in an effort to 
erect two substantial memorial tablets — one at Winni- 
peg to portray the deeds of the Scottish hero at Fort 
Garry, and the other at Mayville, to recall to Ameri- 
cans the memory of a King's subject who aided in mak- 
ing possible "fifty-four forty or fight." 



THE "INDIAN WAR.' 
By Theodore A. Case. 



On Saturday the 6th day of January, 1838, near the 
same spot where a quarter of a century before the first 
settler in the town of Ellington felled the trees and 
erected his rude log cabin in the forest, originated one 



of those amusing, yet at the time, seemingly serious 
events, that spread consternation among the then in- 
habitants of the eastern part of the county. The winter 
was one of extreme mildness and on the morning of 



4io 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the day of which I speak, the sun arose in a cloudless 
sky and its rays lay with almost summer warmth upon 
the bare earth and brown leaves. 

Nearly a mile west of Olds' Corners, on the Cat- 
taraugus county line, and on the old Chautauqua road, 
in a little log cabin, lived one Eldred Bentley, Jr., with 
his family, among whom was a daughter named Mercy, 
a simple-minded girl. Eldred had married a daughter 
of one John Niles, whose wife had succumbed to the 
hardships of life, and the old man was then making 
his home with the Bentley family. His conduct was 
not at all times exemplary and Olds' Corners in those 
days afforded tempting opportunities to the old man's 
appetite, which met with feeble resistance upon his 
part. It is supposed he had taken an early morning 
walk to the tavern and upon his return had sat down 
by the roadside on the sunny side of a log to enjoy the 
open air and warm sunshine. The external and intern- 
al warmth both conspired to lift from his soul the 
oppressing cares of life and he soon passed into a hap- 
py slumber. At this opportune moment an Indian, from 
the neighboring Cattaraugus Reservation, came on foot 
along the highway and spied the old man resting by 
the roadside. He stopped momentarily, evidently tak- 
ing in the old gentleman's condition, which no doubt 
inspired his native thirst for the white man's "fire- 
water ;" and whether he instituted a search upon Niles' 
person for the coveted fluid or not, at all events under- 
neath the old man's outer garments showed conspicu- 
ously a red shirt. 

As the Indian turned to pursue his journey, the girl 
Mercy appeared not far off and spying the Indian and 
her grandfather's form half reclining upon the ground, 
with his red shirt made more conspicuous as he lay in 
the bright sunshine, she in an instant, in her excited 
imagination, transformed the red shirt into a blood- 
stained garment and peopled the woods with savage 
Indians. 

Without a second look she ran to Perry Bentley 's, 
a near neighbor, where her uncle, Richard J. Hall, 
commonly known as John Hall, who lived about one 
and one-half miles west on the same road, happened 
to be calling that morning on horseback. She hur- 
riedly told him that her Grandfather Niles had been 
killed by the Indians and that the woods were full of 
them below the house and they were murdering all the 
white people. Hall, startled by the story of his niece, 
and not stopping to learn of its truth, sprang upon his 
horse and started upon a run west along the old 
Chautauqua road, calling loudly at every house that the 
Indians were down in the Bentley neighborhood and 
were murdering all the white people. 

His course led up the hill which he pursued until he 
reached his own home, which was a log cabin near the 
top of what was then called "The Big Ridge," or, 
"Mutton Hill." Nearly opposite Hall's house was a 
new frame dwelling owned and occupied by Benjamin 
Ellsworth, which is still standing and habitable to this 
day. Under this house was a commodious cellar, and 
an arrangement was quickly made with Ellsworth, af- 
ter acquainting him with the gravity of the situation, 
whereby the women and children of the neighborhood 
should there congregate and take refuge in the cel- 
lar while the men, who were supposed to be made of 
sterner stuff, should be summoned from far and near 
to give battle to the Indians at this point. On the 
score of strategy the place was well chosen. No more 
commanding position could have been selected in all 
that section of country. Indeed, from this point an 
extended view can be had of the Valley of the Cone- 
wango for many miles and beyond of the distant hills 



of Cattaraugus. The sloping hillsides in every direc- 
tion made approach doubly difficult by an advancing 
foe, beside, a little cemetery had been started near by 
where the bodies of the slain could be conveniently 
interred. 

A few rods west of Ellsworth's was a log school- 
house, the first built in the town, where school was 
then in session. The little flock were quickly transferred 
to the cellar, save one of the larger boys, who was 
dispatched to the home of Captain Moses Ferrin about 
three-fourths of a mile north in the town of Cherry 
Creek, with request that he warn out his company of 
militia in that town and come with all possible haste 
to the place of rendezvous at Ellsworth's. 

After making these preliminary arrangements, Hall 
continued his ride on horseback westward down the 
hill at breakneck speed, warning every settler of the 
impending danger and to proceed with their families 
immediately to Ellsworth's for safety and defence. Con- 
sternation seized the people; some were just sitting 
down to their mid-day meal, but sprang from the table, 
collected their firearms, if they had any, and a few 
personal belongings, leaving their meal all untouched, 
and with their wives and children hastened to the place 
of meeting. An eye-witness of this impromptu gather- 
ing on the hill, discussed years afterward, with much 
levity, the personal appearance of some of the women 
on that occasion, showing that no time had been wasted 
in the preparation of their toilet. Dressed in short 
home-spun skirts with pantalets and boots, some with 
their husband's striped jackets and old hats and caps, 
with hair flying, pulling along in frantic haste their 
frightened and sobbing children, in their wild rush 
for a place of safety. Tis said one young lady appeared 
upon the scene with three hoods upon her head, a pitch- 
fork in one hand and broad-axe in the other, and the 
strangest thing of it all was that she was unable to 
explain how she acquired the outfit. Almost as much 
disorder and confusion characterized the men who gath- 
ered on that memorable occasion ; some had guns with 
ammunition, some with no ammunition, some with 
swords, some with pitchforks and butcher knives, in- 
deed anything that might be turned into a weapon of 
defense. One man, who no doubt believed in fighting 
at close range, appeared with six butcher knives bristling 
from his person. So the inhabitants gathered as the 
news spread, and in the meantime Hall was speeding 
westward to the Bates Settlement, in the Clear Creek 
Valley. Here Carey Briggs was teaching school and 
it was the noon hour. He sat quietly in his schoolroom 
enjoying his mid-day lunch when he observed an un- 
usual commotion among the children in the yard, and 
that they were fleeing toward their homes with all 
possible haste. Soon a neighbor appeared and informed 
Mr. Briggs of the cause. School was over for that 
day and the master, not with rod and rule, but with a 
pitchfork over his shoulder, joined the party march- 
ing for the "Big Ridge." 

From this point westward the news was carried by 
fleet-footed messengers to Gerry, Charlotte, Arkwright 
and other neighboring towns with orders to the several 
companies of militia to gather for battle. To the story 
was added the further intelligence that three thousand 
Indians from Canada had landed at the mouth of Cat- 
taraugus Creek and had made their way over into the 
Conewango Valley and were killing and scalping the 
white people as they went, and that Dwight Bates and 
family, who lived as near as the Bates Settlement, had 
already fallen victims to the wily foe. Many a home 
was barricaded against the invaders, while the thought- 
ful housewife hung her kettles of water to the swing- 



THE "INDIAN WAR' ; 



411 



ing crane in the fire-place, preparing to scald the red- 
skins upon their approach. 

Hall, changing his course at this point, proceeded 
eastward down the valley toward the village, heralding 
the news at every house he passed, and if by chance 
he met a doubting Thomas he gave expression to his 
offended dignity by commanding such, by virtue of his 
office as justice of the peace of the town of Ellington, 
to hasten to the place of conflict, armed and equipped 
for battle. (It might here be added that Hall had 
come into office as justice just five days prior to the 
happening of this event.) The veteran miller, the late 
Henry Wheeler, decided that the place of safety for his 
little flock would be in the wheel-pit under the mill, 
while he stood picket on the outposts. The village 
schoolhouse then stood a little west of the "Center," 
as if was then called, on the road traveled by the fleet 
messenger. The late Lorenzo D. Fairbanks was teach- 
ing and school was in session; and this is what one of 
the pupils present on that occasion, the late Hon. Albro 
S. Brown, in a published article years afterward had 
to say about Hall's appearance there: "A man rode up 
to the schoolhouse door and in a stentorian voice de- 
manded a hearing. The teacher and several of the 
larger boys rushed to the door to ascertain the cause. 
There we were confronted with a black horse, flecked 
with foam and besmeared with mud, its rider apparently 
filled with alarm and consternation, and in a hasty, 
loud and tremulous manner, delivered this strange and 
startling message : 

"Turn out ! turn out ! the Indians are upon us ! The 
women and children are to be taken to the village for 
safety, and the men in arms ready for action are to as- 
semble at the house of Benjamin Ellsworth!" And 
away went the messenger with the speed of the wind, 
spreading the startling news to the right and the left. 
It is needless to say that the school was closed for that 
day and the frightened children fled to their homes for 
safety. 

Hall, upon his arrival at the village, hastened to in- 
form Captains Enoch Jenkins and Ebenezer Green, of 
the militia, who immediately began to get together such 
members of their respective companies as they could 
readily reach, and at the same time urging the citizens 
who were provided with arms to join their commands. 

There was a wild rush for firearms and ammunition 
for defense or aggressive warfare. Some of the in- 
habitants chose to remain and guard their homes and 
the families of such as took the field, while others 
proceeded in companies and squads, cautiously toward 
the seat of war. 

Down the valley to Clear Creek — then called "Tap- 
shire" — fled the rider of the black horse, already grown 
hoarse from incessant shouts of warning, until he ar- 
rived at the home of Col. Noble G. Knapp. Knapp held 
a commission from Gov. William L. Marcy as colonel 
of the 218th Regiment of Infantry, composed of several 
companies scattered about in the adjoining towns. Hall 
lost no time in making known to the Colonel the gravity 
of the situation. It is said the Colonel was visibly 
affected and declared he would need to make some 
necessary preparation before starting, as it was "the 
custom of the red-skins to always kill the officers first." 
It is also related, concerning the truth of which the 
writer does not vouch, that the Colonel took down his 
sword and proceeded to grind it, but that his nervous 
hands bore more heavily on the back than the front 
of the blade, and that before his departure he bade an 
affectionate farewell to his wife and children, adding 
to the latter that "their papa was going away to fight 
the Indians and might never return." Finally the Col- 



onel, with such of his comrades, who as the news 
spread, had come to his assistance, proceeded cautiously 
toward Olds' Corners and to the scene of the conflict. 
Hall who had preceded him and warned the people 
along the way and nearly completed a circuit of a dozen 
miles or more when his poor beast, overcome by the 
fatigue of the journey, fell to the earth and expired— 
the only recorded death resulting from the "Indian 
War." 

In the meantime at Ellsworth's on the "Big Ridge," 
recruits were arriving from the country covered by 
Hall in his flight, and all was bustle and confusion. The 
vigilant eyes of the settlers there assembled scanned 
the outskirts of the neighboring woods, expecting every 
moment to see the red-skinned savages emerge from 
their secret hiding places and hear their blood-curdling 
war whoops. Ellsworth, upon reflection, not just liking 
the idea of having his house turned into a stockade and 
thus exposing his wife and six children to possible 
death and torture, concluded to load them into his ox 
cart and move on west, leaving his neighbors to give 
battle to the enemy. He had no sooner commenced 
to put this plan into operation than the rest of the 
party gave him to understand that if such a move were 
attempted they would shoot his oxen on the spot. That 
settled the matter and restored his heroism. About this 
time a lone horseman was seen leisurely approaching 
along the road from the direction of the supposed 
enemy. All eyes were intently watching his movements. 
Speculation was rife as to what it all meant, that any 
living person could exhibit such supreme indifference 
in the face of imminent danger. His actions were re- 
garded with the keenest suspicion, and upon his arrival, 
he was immediately the center of a questioning crowd. 
He expressed great ignorance and surprise at the won- 
derful stories related to him by the people there as- 
sembled, and hastened to assure them he had personally 
passed the "dark and bloody ground" and had seen no 
evidences of the presence of the arch enemy, and that 
it could not be possible that there was lurking in the 
neighboring forests the murderous foe whose appear- 
ance they momentarily expected — all of which fell on 
deafening ears. The word was passed around that this 
fellow was a spy sent out by the enemy to disarm the 
fears of the settlers and put them off their guard — he 
should be summarily dealt with, and a conference was 
held pending his detention. Earnest words were spoken 
and opinions clashed as to what should be done with 
this fellow; but at length, after a thorough questioning 
and cross-questioning, and owing to the man's apparent 
honesty, wiser counsel prevailed and he was allowed 
to proceed, but not without many suspicious glances 
following his movements as he proceeded westward 
down the hill. 

In other parts of Ellington people were congregat- 
ing and providing means of defense as best they could; 
women were engaged in running bullets and otherwise 
providing the sinews of war. It is said of one patriotic 
citizen, who, preferring solitary confinement to the 
unpleasant custom of scalp-lifting as practiced by the 
enemy, sought refuge in a hollow log, and there re- 
mained until the dusky twilight made escape more 
certain. 

It was late in the afternoon before the struggling 
militia and armed citizens, who had planned to approach 
the enemy from the rear by way of Olds' Corners, with 
strategic caution, arrived at the scene of the trouble 
and ascertained its cause. _ From here the news was 
quickly carried to the garrison on the hill of the false 
alarm, who in their exuberance of joy discharged their 
firearms into the air, thus causing trouble and con- 



412 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



sternation among the women and children in the cellar, 
who thought the attack commenced, but their fears were 
soon put at rest and they were released from their 
confinement. Great was the anxiety aroused at this 
meeting, but greater by far was the joy of the parting 
of this heroic band, as they turned their backs upon 
the invisible foe and hastened to their weeping families ; 
but the story kept going and the scenes here recorded 
were in a measure re-enacted at other points and in 
other localities more remote. 

I cannot close this paper, however, without adding 
an article published in the "Fredonia Censor" of the 
date of January 17, 1838, concerning this affair, which, 
while faultv in many particulars, due no doubt to the 
difficulty of obtaining at that time the facts among 
so many conflicting rumors, yet it serves to more truly 
portray the extent to which the excitement prevailed 
among the people at that time throughout many of the 
eastern towns of the county. The article is head-lined : 

TERRIBLE WAR IN A NEW QUARTER. 

On 

cmii«i. ruation bv a "report that got into circulation 
that Three Thousand Indians from Canada had land- 
ed at the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek and had made 
their way into the region of the Conewango Valley 
and were' pressing on, murdering and scalping every- 
body in their way. An express came to Sinclairville 
from Ihe Colonel of the regiment there, under the 
greatest excitement, tears actually standing in his 
eyes Immediately the rumor flew. All the old guns 
were instantly in requisition, many that had remained 
dumb for years, unless breaking silence at a squirrel 
hunt — the tea chests of all the stores were rifled for 
lead, which was immediately run into bullets— every 
ounce of powder in the place was bought and a team 
got up to send to this village for more. Directions 
given to the families of those who were going 



In the Town of Arkwright the excitement and alarm 
was, if possible, still greater. During the afternoon 
and night families were flying from house to house, 
in some cases half a dozen families congregating to- 
gether, the greatest dismay depicted on their counten- 



ances — horses were kept harnessed to wagons all 
night, ready for instant flight — weapons of defense of 
every kind were brought into requisition, the women 
assisting therein — one old lady, we are informed, ran 
a hundred bullets. We are told the reason the express 
did not come through from Arkwright to this village 
was the intervention of about a mile of woods, into 
which he did not dare to penetrate for fear of being 
waylaid. A horse on one route we are informed, was 
actually rode to death. 

But our readers are probably anxious by this time 
to know what gave rise to all this hubbub, and we 
think it is time to inform them. Well, a drunken coot 
in the Village of Rutlege, which is situate on the 
eastern line of this county, having taken his usual 
deep potations, retired to the edge of a piece of woods 
and stretched himself out upon a log to sleep it off. 
A short time afterward one of his children, a little 
girl, discovering him in this situation, and at the 
same time perceiving a little further on in the woods 
a couple of squaws, who were, however, peaceably 
employed in making brooms or baskets, ran home in 
great terror and told her mother the Indians had 
killed her father. The mother spread the alarm in the 
village with the usual accompaniments — the couriers 
were sent off and by the time they reached the next 
town the number of Indians were multiplied into three 
thousand! and from this simple circumstance arose 
all this foment that for twenty-four hours kept the 
Inhabitants in three or four towns in fear of instant 
death by merciless savages. And for the time being 
we suppose that neither ancient or modern history 
furnishes a parallel to it. 

The marvelous exploits of Sancho Panza upon the 
Island of Barrataria, the battle of the Kegs, the 
memorable outbreak of the Windham frogs, when the 
sable African ran in terror to his master exclaiming, 
illed for his crew, 
id Elderkin too,' 
was not a priming to this Indian War. The next day, 
however, brought a little sober reflection, and with it 
a feeling not much more agreeable than that caused 
by their fears. Like the good people of Windham, we 
understand those infected do not wish to say a word 
upon the subject. We will, therefore, spare their 
feelings by stopping where we are. 

So this historic incident has ever since come to be 
spoken of by the few survivors of those days, as "The 
Indian War," but to the present generation it is largely 
an unknown chapter in the county's history. 



THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 
By Albert S. Price. 



Slavery was an institution which, we would think, 
must alwavs have been far removed from the life of 
Chautauqua county ; a matter for those distant Southern 
States whose prosperity depended on slave labor; or 
at least for those "Border" States which were of 
necessity more or less controlled by the institutions of 
their near southern neighbors. In general this is quite 
true. Yet even this distant community had some con- 
nections with that great national problem. And these 
connections, constituting picturesque exceptions to the 
ordinary course of life here, stood out by bold contrast. 

Many" of these incidents resulted from the Fugitive 
Slave Law of 1850, one of the legislative compromises 
demanded bv a powerful and aggressive South, resisted 
by an anti-slavery North, and found to be not easily 
enforceable. The quiet but stubborn resistance of the 
English Puritans to the tyranny of James I. and 
Charles I. found itself repeated in the resistance of 
their American descendants in the North to this law, 
regarded by them as unjust and tyrannical. 

Upon its" enactment, numbers of escaped slaves who 
had lived unmolested in the North fled in terror to 
Canada. Others stayed and took the risks of being 
captured. Under the operation of the law many were 

captured and returned to slavery in the South. These 



captures invariably aroused intense excitement and op- 
position in the communities concerned, with the result 
that North and South became more and more estranged 
and antagonistic by this irritating friction. 

This law did not, however, prevent the slaves from 
attempting in considerable numbers to reach Canada 
and freedom. The northern people, smarting under 
what they chose to regard as the insult heaped upon 
them by the enforcement of the odious law, cooperated 
for a deliberate evasion of the law and for a determined 
opposition to its enforcement. They worked secretly 
and quietly, without any disturbance of the ordinary 
course of community life. This secret cooperation be- 
came known in the expressive phrase of the day as the 
"Under Ground Railroad," some times referred to by 
the initials U. G. R. R. The shortest routes from the 
South to Canada became known as the several "lines" 
of this railroad ; and, in carrying out the technical 
terminology, those who assisted the fleeing slaves were 
dubbed conductors, engineers, and trainmen. 

Several of these well-established routes led through 
this county. A "trunk line" ran along the Lake Erie 
shore from Cleveland to Buffalo. Another began at the 
Ohio river near Marietta, Ohio ; ran thence along the 
eastern border of Ohio through several counties to the 



^ONUMCNT 



«*«l 





. ., , , ft,, now 

Erected 18GG 

THE OESIC«IBY£.T.F00TE.Fm..wkjr 



I 



> *- v:V 



- f 

1 



THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD 



413 



village of Jefferson, the county seat of Ashtabula coun- 
ty. This county was the home of Joshua R. Giddings, 
Benjamin F. Wade, and several other strong anti- 
slavery leaders. From this point the "hill division" of 
the line passed through Monroe township, Ohio; across 
the State line and through the townships of Conneaut, 
Elk Creek, Franklin, McKean, Summit, Greene and 
Greenfield in Erie county, Pennsylvania; thence through 
the townships of Mina, Sherman, Chautauqua, Stock- 
ton, Pomfret, Sheridan, and Hanover in this county; 
and on to Buffalo and Canada. 

Still another branch came into the county from the 
south by way of Sugar Grove, passed through James- 
town, Ellington and Sinclairville; and thence appar- 
ently on to the north to join the other route. 

In every centre there were brave men and intrepid 
women who at a large risk assisted the dusky fugitives, 
and so struck, as they believed, an effective blow for 
freedom. The runaways were hidden from sight dur- 
ing the day, fed, and often clothed. Under the cover 
of night they were silently and secretly carried forward 
to the next "station," where word of their coming had 
preceded them. The new hosts often indicated their 
readiness to receive the fugitives by previously ar- 
ranged signals of lights in the windows, and other 
readily discernible signs. The transfer from wagon or 
sleigh, to house or other hiding place, was accomplished 
as quickly and as quietly as possible to avoid the unde- 
sirable attention of any unsympathetic or even hostile 
neighbor. Authorities have estimated that by these 
secret operations not less than thirty thousand slaves 
were helped to reach Canada. The determined efforts 
of the slaveholders to follow and recapture their valua- 
ble slaves (a perfectly natural desire) served by ag- 
gravation to further the growing sentiment against sla- 
very in the North, and to develop rapidly the activities 
of the Under Ground Rail Road. 

In Jamestown there was a settlement of free colored 
people in the district on North Main street and West 
Seventh street which was familiarly known as Africa. 
In this settlement one of the well-known and respected 
women was Mrs. Catherine Harris. Her house was 
one of the stations, where she harbored many escaping 
slaves during the troubled years, at one time secreting 
as many as seventeen. Many of the county's well known 
men received, harbored and then forwarded these fu- 
gitives. Silas Sherman of Jamestown was certainly 
one of the most active. In Jamestown Dr. Hedges 
and Phineas Crossman, too were leaders, in the work. 
Others who assisted in this vicinity were Addison A. 
Price and his brother Wilson A. Price, of Jamestown; 
Frank Van Dusen, of Jamestown ; Dr. Brown, of Busti ; 
Dr. Catlin, of Sugar Grove; Mr. Page and Mr. Nessel, 
of Ellington, Benjamin Miller, of Stockton; Joseph 
Sackett, near Cassadaga; Levi Jones of Busti; and 
Henry H. Jones of Kiantone. Many other helpers whose 
names have never been recorded took an active part 
in this dangerous work. Money was freely given by 
many anti-slavery people. Among those in Jamestown 
whose purses were always open, are remembered Alon- 



zo Kent, Orsell Cook, Lewis Hall, Albert Partridge, 
and Madison Burnell. We should all like to pay equal 
tribute to those many conscientious patriots who with 
quiet consecration helped with money, time and steady 
effort, this great cause of freedom, whose names most 
unfortunately, have not been preserved in any written 
record. In all of these there survived the spirit which 
has made the Anglo-Saxon, at any cost, always stand 
against what he regarded as tyranny and injustice. 

Among the runaway slaves was Harrison Williams, 
who escaped from Virginia, arriving foot-sore and ex- 
hausted at the farm of William Storum, a free colored 
man, in Busti, in February or March of 1851. Storum 
kept him several months, supplying his wants and help- 
ing him back to health. He was a mere boy of seven- 
teen. Early one morning in September he was kid- 
napped by his former master, who had learned his 
hiding-place. This man and some others, dressed as 
women, drove to the farm, went around to the rear 
of the house where Williams was milking, seized and 
bound him, and put him in the bottom of their wagon. 
They drove rapidly north through Jamestown by way 
of Forest avenue, Roosevelt Square and North Main 
street, to Fredonia, and thence to Buffalo. The alarm 
quickly spread, and a man on horseback, outspeeding 
the captors, arrived before them in Jamestown. A 
crowd quickly gathered in the Square, but there was 
no time to organize any effort, and the captors dashed 
through the crowd and up Main street without being 
stopped. "Guinea" Carpenter addressed the excited 
crowd, urging action, and a pursuing party was quickly 
made up. But valuable time had been lost, and the 
captors, with relays of fresh horses, got safely to Buf- 
falo. Here the owner established a legal claim. In 
the crowded court room a lane was opened through 
the crowd, and an effort was made to induce Williams 
to make a dash for liberty. The crowd intended to 
close behind him until he should reach the carriage 
which was waiting at the door to take him to a 
place of safety. Either he failed to understand, or 
lacked the necessary courage, for he didn't make the 
effort, and was taken back to Virginia. 

James W. Broadhead, of Busti, whose farm was next 
to the Storum farm, and who knew all the circum- 
stances of the capture, enlisted in the 112th N. Y. 
Regiment in the Civil War. On Christmas Day in 1863 
at Culpeper, Virginia, Mr. Broadhead saw Harrison 
Williams in camp. After being taken back to Virginia 
he had been sold to Georgia, and went as servant to his 
new master in the Confederate army. With his master 
he was captured by the Union army near the Rappa- 
hannock station in the fall of 1863, and became hostler 
for Gen. Slocum. Mr. Broadhead talked with him and 
verified his identity. This capture deeply stirred the 
county and is said to have stimulated the activities of 
the Under Ground Rail Road. 

Authorities: Contributed articles and news items 
published in the "Jamestown Evening Journal" on the 
following dates: July 21, July 22, 1896; Sept. 27, 1901; 
Slav 10, Mav 17, May 24, 1902; December 26, 1905; 
April 21, July 14, 1910. 



OLD INNS AND TAVERNS. 



Many of the early day taverns were due to the liber- 
ality of the Holland Land Company, which sold the pro- 
spective landlords a tract of land on long-time payments, 
without interest, at the very lowest price afforded to 
cash purchasers. This was an attractive proposition, 
to which was to be added the income arising from con- 



ducting a tavern. No extra expense need be incurred 
in most cases, as not more than one-tenth of all those 
public houses was more than a log house such as the 
owner would have built for his own personal use, but 
perhaps a little larger. Along the lake road, a public 
house marked about every mile. Among the most 



4 i4 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



noted of the early taverns was James McMahan's, at 
the Cross Roads, and D. Royce's, at Ripley. The tavern 
keepers of those days were usually men of strong char- 
acter, and considerable political influence. Not all the 
inns sold liquor, as no tavern keeper was licensed 
who had not a securely enclosed yard large enough 
to contain all sleighs, wagons, carts or carriages of 
guests. The early tavern passed gradually away after 
the coming of the stage coach, and by 1850 hardly one 
was left. In their place came the Village Inn, thus 
described by Charles Dickens. 

"The great room with its low ceiled and neatly 
sanded floor; its bright pewter dishes, and stout 
backed slat-bottomed chairs ranged along the walls, 
its long table, its huge fireplace with the benches on 
either side where the dogs slept at night and where 
the guests sat, when the dipped candles were lighted 
to drink mull and flip, possessed some attractions tor 
every one. The place was at once the town hall and 
assembly room, the court house and the show tent, 
the tavern and the exchange. 

On its doors were fastened the list of names drawn 
for the jury, notices of vendues, offers of reward for 
stray cattle, the names of tavern haunters and adver- 
tisements of the farmers who had the best seed pota- 
toes and the best seed corn for sale. It was there 
that wandering showmen exhibited their automatons 
and musical clocks, that dancing masters gave their 
lessons, that singing school was held, that the caucus 
met, that the Colonel stopped during general train- 
ing. Hither came the farmers from the back coun- 
try bringing their food in boxes and their horses food 
in bags, to save paying the landlord more than lodg- 
ing rates. Hither many a clear night in winter came 
sleighloads of young men and women to dance and 
romp and go home by the light of the moon. Hither 
too on Saturdays came the male population of the 
village. They wrangled over politics, made bets, play- 
ed tricks, and fell into disputes which were sure to 
lead to jumping matches or wrestling matches or 
trials of strength on the village green. As the shad- 
ows lengthened the loungers dispersed, the tavern was 
closed and quiet settled upon the town." 

This was a good description of the Village Inn of the 
decade 1840-50, and for half a century later it would 
apply to many a rural tavern with a fair degree of 
accuracy. 

In Arkwright, Isaiah Martin built the first frame house 
and kept the first tavern on the farm he bought in 1821 
in the southeastern part of the town. In connection 
with it he kept a store for several years. He had ten 
children, but only one, a son, George W., remained long 
in the town. 

The first hotel in Busti was built by Heman Bush, 
and there the first town meeting was held, March 2, 
1824. The old hotel was standing at the beginning of 
the twentieth century and used as a residence. In 
Carroll, John Myers opened a tavern in 1814 on the 
Conewango, about a mile from Frewsburg, and the same 
year William Sears established one in now Kiantone, 
John Owens opening another in 1816 at Fentonville, 
where he also operated a ferry. These taverns were 
much frequented by raftsmen, boatmen and prospec- 
tive settlers, and it is said raftsmen would quarrel for 
the privilege of a sleeping space on the bar-room floor, 
that they might enjoy Owens' stories. Owens was a 
soldier of the Revolution, from Connecticut, and claim- 
ed that he never found but one his better in a fair 
"stand up" fight. He died in Carroll, February 6. 1843, 
aged 107 years, ten months, eight days. John Myers 
was also an early tavern keeper of Carroll, and is de- 
scribed as "goodnatured and shrewd, enjoying life, 
while having an eye always open for business." He had 
thirteen children. 

Samuel Sinclear and Jonathan Hedges were the first 
innkeepers in Charlotte. In the town of Chautauqua, 
Capt. John Scott built an inn of logs on the site of the 



later Mayville House. He was supervisor in 1813, but 
left Mayville about 1826. In 1808, George Lowry open- 
ed a primitive inn at Mayville, and Waterman Tink- 
com was an early settler and innkeeper. In 181 1, the 
county being fully organized, Capt. Scott enlarged his 
log tavern by adding a frame addition which was used 
as a court house; the first court of record was held 
there in June, 181 1, and in October the board of 
supervisors met there. 

William Peacock, agent for the Holland Land Com- 
pany, built a handsome residence at Mayville, now 
known as the Peacock Inn, having been a public house 
for many years. 

Alvin Williams kept the first tavern in Clymer, in 
1826, and in Cherry Creek, George H. Frost was the 
first settler with a family, the first tavern keeper, and 
the first postmaster. For many years he was super- 
Lay's Tavern was a well known place of entertain- 
ment near the Lake shore in what is now the city of 
Dunkirk in 1813, and was at one time plundered by the 
sailors and men from an English vessel. Prior to 
1837, Walter Smith, Dunkirk's most valuable citizen 
of that period, began the erection of a large brick hotel 
to be known as the Loder House, but when the financial 
panic of 1837 swept the country, work was stopped, and 
for thirteen years, "the great unfinished Loder House 
was the home of bats and owls. 

The first hotel in the town of Ellicott was built in 
Jamestown by Jacob Fenton, who settled there in 1814, a 
Revolutionary soldier from Connecticut. With the aid 
of Judge Prendergast, he erected a fine tavern for that 
period, fronting the Chadakoin at the Keelboat landing, 
east of Main street and south of Second street. In 
1817 Jacob Fenton established a pottery at now Fluvan- 
na, which he conducted until 1822. The cups and 
saucers made in the Fenton pottery have not all been 
destroyed, but some are yet preserved as antiques in 
Jamestown homes. Jamestown has always had good 
hotels. The present "Samuel's," a modern hotel, re- 
placing the Sherman House, which was destroyed in the 
great "Gokey Block fire." 

In Ellington, James Bates in 1815 settled on lot 48, 
later known as the George L. Wade place, and there 
kept the first tavern in town. Later, in the same place, 
Alamanson Hadley and Henry McConnell kept a tavern, 
while about a mile east, on the old Chautauqua road, 
Benjamin Follet kept a log tavern until 1822, when he 
was succeeded by Lucretia French. Joshua Bentley 
erected a frame building at Olds Corners, and kept 
tavern about 1823, and about 1826 Stephen Nichols 
erected a frame building at Clear Creek which was also 
a house of public entertainment. 

William Graves kept the first tavern in French Creek, 
he building the first grist mill in the town, both in 1822. 

The village of Vermont, now Gerry, in the town of 
Gerry, was originally known as Bucklin's Corners, from 
the fact that in 1820 James Bucklin opened a hotel there. 

The first hotel mentioned in the town of Harmony 
was opened in Panama, in 1827, and later Jesse Smith 
built a tavern on the corner, which was a hotel site un- 
til the present brick building was erected. 

William G. Sidney kept the Cattaraugus House at 
Cattaraugus, in the town of Hanover, selling to Capt. 
John Mack, whose daughter Elizabeth was married at 
the Cattaraugus House in 1807 to Judge Richard Smith, 
theirs the first marriage in the town. 

William Sears is credited with erecting the first Inn 
in Kiantone, at what was then Sears, now the village 
of Kiantone; later he built another tavern on his farm, 
and there resided until his death. 





vtti- (■•i-piTiN-i:, fti:st 1 1 - 1 ■<;;■: 



% 




■ r i;x i: i ; ai. lafayktti: 




OHN SMITtT 



OLD INNS AND TAVERNS 



4i5 



Joseph Clark, well known among the early settlers 
of the town of Poland, kept a tavern near the saw 
mill on Mud Creek, now Clark's Corners. 

In 1808, Hezekiah Barker built his log tavern in the 
town of Pom fret, in now Fredonia, the log tavern 
standing on the site of the later Taylor House. Mr. 
Barker also built the first saw mill above the Main 
street bridge, and the first grist mill below the bridge. 
Richard Williams built a log tavern near the later site 
of the Pemberton House. The Columbia was a noted 
Fredonia hotel of half a century ago. 

James Dunn, the first settler in the town of Port- 
land, came in 1805, and in 1808 opened a tavern on the 
road surveyed by James McMahan in 1805. 

John Post, an early settler of Ripley and builder of 
the first tannery in that town, bought a farm in East 
Ripley and built a house which was kept as a tavern 
'for many years. Samuel Truesdale kept the first tavern 
Vt the State Line in the town of Ripley in 1805. Later 
James Truesdale built a tavern called the State Line 
House, the main building in Pennsylvania, the other 
buildings in Ripley. That tavern was later torn down 
and a church built upon the site. Perry G. Ellsworth, 
Oliver Loomis, Elihu Murray, Asa Spear, Henry Fair- 
child, David Royce and John Post were all early tavern 
keepers in Ripley. 

Orsamus Holmes, a soldier of the Revolution from 
Massachusetts, came to the town of Sheridan in 1804, 
brought his family in 1805, kept the first tavern in the 
town, was postmaster, and a highly respected citizen. 
William Griswold kept the first tavern at the "Center," 
where he located in 1805. Pryor's Inn was located at 
Roberts Corners in 1812, but burned prior to 1815. 
Benjamin Roberts settled on lot 34 in 181 1, later moving 
to the location which long bore his name, where he 
kept a hotel. He made frequent additions to the 
original house until the Roberts Hotel was considered 
quite spacious. Benjamin Roberts kept the hotel until 
his death in 1836, his son Abner succeeding him. The 
Kensington tavern was established probably about 1812 
and changed landlords many times before being torn 
down in 1865. Richard Huyck kept a tavern on the 
same road about one mile distant from the Kensington 
tavern, the fine stretch of gravel road between the two 
being used as a race course. There were at one time 
seven taverns in the town, but so great was the de- 
mand for accommodations from emigrants that often 
people were turned away. The Orsamus Holmes Tavern, 
the first in Sheridan, and also the first post office, was 
the second office established in the county. The original 
name of the office was Canadaway. 

Bela Todd started a log tavern in the town of Stock- 
ton in 1814, and John West kept a log, then a frame, 
tavern for twenty-five years, Jonathan Bugbee began 
business as a hotel man in 1821, at Centralia, in the 
southern part of the town. In 1816, Ichabod Fisher had 
a tavern in Cassadaga and Amos Brunson engaged in 
the same business in 1824. 

Villeroy Balcom, the first postmaster, as well as jus- 
tice of the peace and supervisor, opened tavern in Ville- 
nova in 1829. 

The first tavern in Chautauqua county was kept by 
Edward McHenry. who settled next to James Mc- 
Mahan in 1802. Edward McHenry was drowned in 
1803, and it is recorded that Col. Nathan Bird, who 
came in 1815, kept for years a "free tavern" for emi- 
grants at his house. The first town meeting was held 
at The Westfield House, April 7, 1829, and Westfield 
has never lacked for good nouses of public entertain- 
ment. 

The resorts of Chautauqua county are well furnished 



with modern hotels, the Lake villages of Chautauqua, 
Lakewood, Bemus Point, Lily Dale, Findley Lake, and 
other summer resorts, boasting large and modern 
houses of public entertainment. The cities and larger 
villages also maintain good hotels for the accommoda- 
tion of transient and permanent guests. The outlawing 
of the liquor traffic has changed the character of the 
modern hotel, and as the change becomes more ap- 
parent and better understood the hotels themselves will 
be great gainers. 

The following paper was read before Jamestown 
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, by 
the author, Mrs. Seth W. Thompson, March 14, 1912: 

To quite comprehend the necessity and environment 
of these taverns, one must go back to our pioneer days 
— no railroads, telephones or electric light, not even 
kerosene. Dreadful roads, sometimes corduroy; houses 
few and small — travel was largely on foot or by lumber 
wagon or horseback. Of course, traveling under such 
difficulties necessitated many and frequent stops for 
rest and refreshment. On the most important roads, 
there were taverns from one-half a mile to seven miles 
apart, many where liquor was sold. Every little burg 
had its tavern. Very many emigrant wagons were 
going westward, and many droves of cattle were driven 
eastward for market in the seaboard cities. On the 
completion of the Erie railroad, these emigrant wagons 
disappeared, together with the country taverns. The 
stage routes running east and west were abandoned 
about the same time. Quoting from "History of Chau- 
tauqua County" : 

In a trip along the Ridge Road of Lake Erie, the 
traveler will note the long line of desolation in ghostly 
hotels once gay and joyous with ringing laughter, 
sent to oblivion and trampled under foot by the iron 
horse and his train of thundering ears. 

The frequency of the tavern was due in early years 
to the rough and muddy roads that were almost im- 
passable in the inclement seasons of the year, which 
made short distances long for the heavy wagons and 
slow moving teams of those days. It would be a 
mistake to suppose these taverns were devoted solely 
to revelry and drink. The great open fireplaces, piled 
with blazing logs, the tables loaded with good cheer, 
the kindness and old fashioned hospitality of the land- 
lord and his wife, made these old hotels welcome 
havens of rest to the chilled and wearied traveler who 
was compelled to face the storms of Chautauqua win- 
ter. 

My earliest recollections go back to an old inn, or 
tavern, as it was called, halfway between Ellicottville 
and Franklinville. It was a strictly temperance house, 
and because it was so very much like very many others 
of that day, I will dwell upon it: A rather large house, 
with eaves to the road ; a platform across the front, 
with one door opening into the bar-room, another into 
the sitting-room. The bar-room had a very large fire- 
place, the sitting-room a Franklin stove. Then there 
was a very large kitchen where the cooking was done 
over a mammoth fireplace. This room also served as 
dining room. Three bedrooms below and pantry, com- 
pleted the downstairs. Above were two large rooms. 

The landlord came of a family of scholars, and ought 
to have been the village doctor or pastor. The landlady 
was all ambition and energy, and kept up the reputation 
of the house. I knew this house as a five-year old ; 
going back at ten, I was sadly disappointed to see how 
much smaller and more commonplace it seemed than I 
had remembered it. A few years ago a midnight fire 
entirely consumed it ; the family were saved by the 
frantic barking of their little dog, who perished with 
the house. 

At seven, I was again near neighbor to the tavern at 
Rutledge, called the McGIashen House. This was larger 



4i6 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



than most, and held many country dances. A little older, 
I was again next neighbor to a country tavern with its 
large ballroom and country dances. These, I imagine, 
were a little rough. With a bar-room below, and no 
exclusiveness as to attendance, it was well to be a 
descendant of New England pilgrims, who committed 
a deadly sin to dance or play cards. In both of these 
hotels I heard whispers of dark rooms where gambling 
was carried on. 

We heard much of the tavern at Waterborough, of 
the drinking, and its bad reputation. I never pass it 
now without wishing its old walls could tell its story. 
It looked very uninviting now. There was said to be a 
gang of horse thieves that passed through Cherry Creek, 
Conewango, Waterborough, and down the river, with 
unsuspected stations all around. A few years later, 
some arrests were made, and some families left very 
unexpectedly for the Far West, and the rumors died 
out. 

As an older school girl, I was at Ellington. This 
hotel was a more pretentious house, and had a better 
reputation. While we were at school, the house was 
kept by a bachelor and two maiden sisters. The brother 
wished to hold a dance, and the sisters objected. The 
older sister knelt on the stairs and prayed long and 
earnestly; she had a wonderful gift. I remember, as 
the guests had to pass her to reach the hall, and she was 
as much proprietor as the brother was, the dance was 
broken up ; and I think she rather had the sympathy 
of the students, as having as good a right to do as she 
wished, as he had. This house was burned in 1861, 
and was never rebuilt. 

There seems a strange fatality hanging over these old 
historic inns, built of wood and very combustible. 
Their usefulness passed; often occupying valuable sites, 
uncared for, they seem to be doomed. The last months 
of 191 1 saw the last of a hotel at Gerry, and one at 
Falconer. The first month of this year (1912) the old 
hotel at Clear Creek meets a like fate. 

Button's Inn has been made famous by the very in- 
teresting work of Albion Tourgee. One reads the book 
with much interest, and thinks he really knows so much 
about that interesting spot. But knowing it is a novel, 
you are prepared to leave out much of the love story, 
(although you hate to) the conversations and minor 
things, but you hold to the ghost, the Mormons, and 
some interesting legends. You will be sorry if, after 
reading the book and half believing it, you turn to the 
preface and find that the ghost was not the real one, 
and that the story did not all center around the Inn. 
But the Inn was there, and I must perforce quote from 
the book: 

Button Inn stands,— let me not say stands, since all 
the name imports has disappeared, and the wayfarer 
now can scarcely trace the footprints of its departed 
glory. It stood on a little shelf in the line of verdant 
hills that stretches along the Southern shores of Lake 
Erie. Three miles away and five hundred feet below. 
was Barcelona, to which the road led that ran by its 
door. Even yet there are few more romantic scenes, 
cosier nooks, or wilder bits, than are found around 
its site. It commanded in fair weather a view of the 
shore line for ten miles in either direction from the 
little harbor, and the light from its windows was 
visible upon the lake for a greater distance than it 
was from Barcelona lighthouse, and was claimed to 
be a safer guide than that was. The Inn itself was a 
rambling structure that had grown up around the 
original log house that was built before this portage 
was abandoned for the longer but safer and easier one 
at Erie. It was built as fort and residence, its upper 
story overlapping the lower one to prevent assault. 



Tradition gives its locating and building to a L'Hou- 
nete Boutonne, but does not know whether he was a 
deserter from the army or one of the very earliest 
and hardiest of those very adventurous French pio- 
neers, and chose this location because of its very 
extensive outlook and its easy access to the impassal.'e 
gorge in its rear made it possible to bid defiance to 
any number of savage foes. He must have been a 
bold man, or he would not have dared to make his 
dwelling a hundred miles from his nearest people, 
and a shrewd one to have fixed upon a location com- 
bining as many and such rare advantages, satisfying 
at once the demands of a strategist and the instincts 
of a poet. 

Tradition says he married a fair haired English 
girl, whom he found a captive among the Indians, 
and bought. He passed away before the English really 
came into possession, and his son and his son's son 
succeeded him in turn as hosts of the Inn, the Holland 
Land Company confirming their rights to their land. 
The Inn had for its sign a fearfully and wonderfully 
painted Indian smoking the pipe of peace, and the 
name was spelled Bouton, a great descent from the 
beautiful old French name, but had not then readied 
the very commonplace name of Button, that is now the 
name of his very numerous descendants. 

The old original log house that formed the first Inn, 
had been boarded over and held the place of honor 
as the public room. On either side were modern addi- 
tions, and a low broad porch extended across the front 
of the original gable and its numerous additions. 
Across the road were the barns and sheds, before 
which stood a great trough supplied with water from 
a spring in the rear of the house. The downward 
slope in the rear of the barns was covered with apple 
trees, and rich meadows lay beyond. For more years 
than any record tells, this Inn was the favorite for 
many a mile on the great highway that joined the 
newest West to the oldest East, as well as upon that 
cross artery of traffic which led back from the harbor 
towards the settlements on and around Chautauqua 
Lake. But at the time of the third Bouton. Lonny by 
name, its popularity was on the wane. The grass be- 
gan to grow on the road that led to its hospitable 
door. Its landlord often sat alone in his splint-bot- 
tomed rocker before the great log fire in the public 
room. The Inn was thought to be haunted, and the 
fact that the roaring great fire burned always on the 
hearth, night and day, summer and winter alike, was 
ominous, and looked upon with disfavor. There seem- 
ed something uncanny about it, and our ancestors were 
very superstitious. So, while the graineries were full, 
and the table of the best. Lonny Bouton sat before his 
roaring fire alone, a peevish, bitter old man. The old 
Inn grew older; children crept by with dread; and 
the traveler kept the straight road rather than climb 
the hill to seek refreshments for the night. 

This description of Button's Inn is largely taken from 
Tourgee's book. I am going to believe it all, because 
I want to do so. He says his ghost is not the tradi- 
tional ghost, but they had one ; that his story of the 
connection of the Mormons was not with the Inn, but 
more with the country, as was also the inventions, but 
the name and site and description of the original Inn 
has been retained. So I have not told the story of the 
ghost, or the love story, or the legends. We will each 
picture this old Inn and its very interesting location in 
those pioneer times, and build our own story around it. 
Indeed, I wonder why a man of Tourgee's ability did 
not do better. I think he did not get enthused with 
his story — a very tame ghost story, no raids or sieges 
by Indians, no troubles with the English — just a quiet 
commonplace pretty story. He wrote in 1887; if he 
could find so little of interest so many years ago, what 
can we do in 1912? It is pleasanter to believe some- 
thing, even if not true, than to know so very little. 
And one enjoys the old legends and myths of the olden 
days. If they are not true, they ought to be, so let 
each of us build up a romance around this our most 
famous Inn of our lake region, and may its fame never 
grow less. 



MERCHANTS OF THE OLDEN TIME 

MERCHANTS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
By W. H. Proudfit. 



417 



Samuel Wilkinson of Buffalo, after becoming a resi- 
dent of Portland, Chautauqua county, engaged in the 
salt business entensively in the earliest days of the 
county, bringing his salt over the ridge to Chautauqua 
Lake, thence down the Conewango, the Allegheny and 
the Ohio river to Pittsburgh and points below. The 
opening of salt works at Ohio river towns in 1812 de- 
stroyed his business. But real storekeeping began in 
Chautauqua county in 1808, when Elisha Risley, a man 
of culture and high character, opened a store in Fre- 
donia. He was then a young man of 20, but of sturdy, 
upright character and made his business a success. 
He afterward was sheriff of Chautauqua county and a 
member of congress, major-general of militia and a 
director of the New York and Erie Railroad. To Eli- 
sha Risley and his brother William is due the honor of 
introducing the sale of seeds, they establishing the 
Risley Seed Gardens in 1834, and growing seeds for 
public distribution and sale. 

The same year, 1808, but after Elisha Risley had 
opened his Fredonia store a similar establishment was 
opened at now Irvineton and one at Westfield. Wil- 
liam Peacock was made agent of the Holland Land 
Company and settled at Mayville in 1810. The next 
year Jedediah and Martin Prendergast opened a store 
there and in 1814 opened a branch store in Jamestown 
but never moved there. 

The honor of being Jamestown's first resident mer- 
chant goes to Silas Tiffany who beginning in 1816 
continued in business there for several years, keeping 
store, manufacturing and shipping lumber. Following 
these, merchants multiplied rapidly as the county set- 
tled up and the demand for goods of various kinds 
became insistent. An advertisement of 1819 stated that 
a merchant in Dunkirk kept in stock dry goods, crock- 
ery, hardware, glassware, groceries, bolting cloth, pot- 
ash kettles, anvils, vises, nails, screws, saws, etc. Wal- 
ter Smith was an able enterprising merchant and busi- 
ness man of Dunkirk, locating there in 1825 when the 
population of the settlement was considerably less than 
one hundred. He was Dunkirk's principal asset for 
several years and the most influential business man in 
Chautauqua county. The olden time country general 
store was a veritable department store, it being a mat- 
ter of pride with some of the early merchants never 
to be without any article a customer asked for. There 
are many merchants in the county to-day who have 
been in business more than half a century and are 
among the leaders to-day. 

Silas Tiffany, "a polished dignified gentleman of the 
old school" came to Jamestown in June, 1816, the area 
of the present city then an unbroken pine forest. Soon 
after his arrival he purchased the lot on the northeast 
corner of Main and Second streets and erected a large 
two story store building on the north side of the store 
a one-story house which he used for a residence. This 
was Mr. Tiffany's home after his marriage until 1837 
when fire destroyed seven buildings on the east side of 
Main street between Second and Third, including the 
Tiffany store and home. This was the second store 
in town, not counting a shanty store which stood on the 
lots when Mr. Tiffany bought them. The store was 
first built on wooden blocks and not until 1819 was a 
cellar dug and walled up with stone, the first in the 
village. His goods arrived in the fall of 1817 and 
business was at once begun. It was said of Mr. Tif- 
fany that "his gentle manners won him many friends 
and during his residence here of over half a century 
Chau— 27 



he was a highly esteemed citizen." This first resident 
merchant, Silas Tiffany, bought in 1829 the mill privi- 
lege at East Jamestown and 100 acres of timber land 
on both sides of the Chadakoin and discontinued the 
Jamestown store. This he did in partnership with his 
brother Jehial, the business center they developed be- 
ing long known as Tiffanyville. 

Elisha Hall built the first brick house in James- 
town at 306 Main street, and sold goods for some years 
in an adjoining store. 

Nathaniel A. Lowry came from Sugar Grove to 
Jamestown in 1833, bringing a stock of goods and with 
Alvin Plumb built a brick block at the corner of Main 
and Third streets. George W. and William H. Tew 
in 1829 built a large store on the corner of Main and 
Fourth streets, and which they occupied as a store 
and tinware store. After 1835 "William H. Tew con- 
tinued the business and in 1848 erected a brick block 
on the southeast corner of Main and Second streets, 
and there dealt extensively in hardware. He was in 
business over forty years with various partners and 
"amassed wealth without dishonor." 

One of the oldest establishments in Jamestown is 
the jewelry store founded by Frederick A. Fuller in 
1841 and conducted by him for 40 years until 1881, when 
it passed to his son Frederick A. Fuller, Jr. 

Levant L. Mason established the "Beehive" jewelry 
store in 1849 and conducted it until about 1910. Le- 
vant Mason, a skilled jeweler and engraver, first set up 
a bench in the bay window of the store at No. 217 
Main street. Later he had a store in the Allen block 
which was destroyed in the great fire of 1861. Not 
long afterward he bought the building at No. 217 Main 
street, the same in which he had his first little 
shop. He died in 191 1 aged 85, and at the age of 84 
would frequently take up his tools and carve as beau- 
tifully as in earlier years. 

J. R. Fenner opened a shoe store in 1840 and con- 
ducted it until 1865, when he was succeeded by his son 
J. R. Fenner, Jr. The oldest exclusive dry goods store 
is that of A. D. Sharpe, founded in Jamestown in 1874 
by Forest Wild and conducted since 1880 by A. D. 
Sharpe and the A. D. Sharpe Company. 

The pioneer clothing house is that of Proudfit Cloth- 
ing Company. The firm Proudfit & Osmer in 1866 pur- 
chased the dry goods and clothing business of An- 
drews & Preston, which they conducted until 1872 along 
the same lines. In that year they began the exclusive 
manufacture and sale of clothing, and in 1880 Wm. H. 
Proudfit became sole owner. Mr. Osmer being removed 
by death. The business has since been conducted as 
an exclusive clothing store. Mr. Proudfit was its owner 
until Jan. 1, 1903, when he incorporated as the Proud- 
fit Clothing Company: William H. Proudfit, president; 
John A. Osmer, vice-president; Frederick H. Broad- 
head, secretary; William P. Osmer, treasurer. Robt. 
P. Robertson, Wm. W. Davis, Julius Christian, Jas. 
Iverson, Jr., directors. These men were all former em- 
ployes. Some of them when school boys being bundle 
carriers for the man with whom they are still associated 
in business. 

Alvin Plumb came to Jamestown in 1826, bought land, 
built a store and began business in 1827. Mr. Plumb 
was elected assemblyman in 1833 and in 1837, was 
county clerk in 1843 and was postmaster of James- 
town. He built the first Chautauqua lake steamboat 
and was one of the important men of his day. 

Samuel Barrett was an important business man of 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



the early period, engaging as tanner, currier and lum- 
berman, and was for many years president of the Chau- 
tauqua County Bank. He was also a justice of the 
peace, supervisor, and in 1850 a member of the New 
York legislature. 

Henry Baker, a soldier of the war of 1812, came early 
and built a small shop near the lake, and when not 
engaged in cutting logs made shoes. Later he opened 
a shoemaker's shop in Jamestown, and later kept the 
Ballard tavern for two years, then was a partner with 
Alvah Plumb in a milling enterprise. In 1827 he- 
bought an interest in the store of Barrett & Budlong 
and was engaged in other mercantile enterprises, but 
devoted his last years to farming, adding farm after 
farm to his holdings until his estate comprised 1800 
acres of cultivated land in the town of Ellicott. 

Among the early merchants of Jamestown in addi- 
tion to those mentioned, the following were in business 
in the years indicated : Keeler & Parks, dry goods, 
1837; Butler & Westcott, clothing, 1840; Alonzo Kent, 
dry goods, 1848; Butler & Hall, dry goods, 1850; Kent 
& Weld, dry goods, 1852; Hall, Grant & Forbes, 
dry goods and clothing, 1856; Hall & Grant, dry goods 
and clothing, 1858; W. H. Lowry, dry goods, 1858; A. F. 
Kent, dry goods, 1856; Shaw & Hazard, groceries, 
1858; A. R. Collin, groceries, 1858; Elijah Bishop, gro- 
ceries, 1858; Albert Jones, groceries, 1850; Silas Shear- 
man, harness, 1850; DeForest Weld, dry goods, i860; 
Parks & Lowry, dry goods, 1859; Broadhead & Son, 
clothing, 1861 ; C. E. Weeks, groceries, 1862; Weld & 
Keeler, dry goods, 1862; C. F. Field, shoes, 1862; 
H. N. Smith, shoes, 1862; D. C. Breed, furniture, i860; 
Andrews & Preston, clothing, 1862; J. W. Phelps, dry 
goods, 1861 ; Harris & Sawdy, dry goods, 1863. 

Beggs & Lynde were early merchants of Dunkirk, 
John Beggs coming from Scotland, settling in Dun- 
kirk in 1819 and becoming prominent in the early his- 
tory. His brother Charles came later and was engaged 
in the drug business. 

Walter Smith was first in business in Fredonia, buy- 
ing the bankrupt business of Joseph & Ralph Plumb 
in 1819, and adding it to his own business. His first 
year's sales were $20,000. His sixth year sales $75,- 
000. In the earlier years of the business he furnished 
supplies for all the government forts and garrisons 
on the Great Lakes, every article furnished being 
grown in Chautauqua county, except white beans. In 
1826 he moved to Dunkirk and there his genius, indus- 
try and enterprise wrought marvelous results. With 
George A. French he formed the mercantile house 
Smith & French which continued prominent in Dun- 
kirk business life for many years. He died Sept. 21, 
1874, and it is said of him that no man ever lived in 
N. V. State who was his superior in planning, forecast- 
ing or executing business operations. 

Van Buren & Co. established a store in Dunkirk 
about 1825, and in 1827 Leroy Farnham was in trade 
here. 

Old merchants of Fredonia were : 1812-14, Jesse 
Handy and David Dixon; 1815, Hale & Risley; 1816, 
Joseph and Ralph Plumb. They brought in a stock of 
goods by way of Dunkirk, the first ever landed by boat at 
that port. They opened a store where the Woleben block- 
later stood. The Risleys of Fredonia were the original 
seed growers and seed dealers in the U. S. and made 
a wonderful success. Devillo White was long a mer- 
chant of the village. In June, 1920, Solomon J. Haniser 
died, aged 77 years; his firm, Haniser Brothers, cigar 
makers, the oldest business firm in Fredonia, having 
been in existence here since 1867 — fifty-three years. 
The first merchant in the town of Portland was 



Thomas Klumph in 1817, the second store was kept 
by Abial and Frank Silver in 1830, and the first store in 
Brocton was kept by Dr. Daniel Ingalls and Joseph 
Lockwood in 1830. James Atkins kept the first store in 
Westheld in 1808. Other early merchants were Aaron 
Rumsey, tanner and currier and dealer in leather boots 
and shoes ; Daniel Rockwell, a hatter ; Gervis Foot, a 
merchant ; Jasper Harrington and others. At Quincey, 
now the village of Ripley, Rappole & Keeler kept the 
first store and built the first ashery in the town. Elisha 
Grey kept the first store in Sheridan, it being located 
on the main road just east of the Haskin tavern. Al- 
bert Denny kept a few groceries for sale at his resi- 
dence near Xewell's Corners, and in 1816 William Hol- 
brook kept a store in Kensington. Edmund Mead, born 
in New York City in 1809, came to Sheridan in 1830. 
His father, who was a merchant of New York, sent 
him a stock of merchandise with which he opened the 
first store in Sheridan Center. The first building soon 
proved too small and it was replaced by another. Mr. 
Mead sold out in 1834 to Leroy Farnham who sold in 
1837 to John I. Eacker who moved the building and used 
it for a tavern store and post office. 

It is believed that Josiah R. Keeler had the first store 
in Sherman about three miles south of the village, and 
where the Hotel Sherman later stood James Barker had 
a store. Samuel T. Hawley after a business career of 
60 years in Sherman sold out to Henry Taggart. Mr. 
Hawley survived two fires and his store in the principal 
block in the village was long remembered as Sherman's 
oldest business place. "Uncle Sam," as he was affec- 
tionately called by the villagers, was afflicted with deaf- 
ness but continued in business until he was 81, then 
retired. 

James Haywood opened a store in 1817 in Stockton. 
Later merchants were McClure & Holbrook, Aaron 
Waddington, John Z. Saxton and others. 

The settlement in Villenova first known as Wright's 
Corners and later Villenova, was the location used by 
Grover & Norris in opening the first store in the town 
in 1828. Hamlet, long the business center of the town 
of Villenova, had several stores. Edwin Leworthy was 
a merchant there and it was in this store that Henry 
Leworthy, now of Fredonia, gained his first business 
experience. 

A general store was opened at Vermont (Gerry 
since 1876) in 1826 by Howard B. Blodgett, who was 
succeeded by Norman Gurnsey. In 1838 Sidney E. 
Palmer, who had been Mr. Gurnsey 's chief clerk, be- 
came owner, and on Aug. I, 1847, was commissioned 
postmaster. He kept the store and held the post- 
mastership for 55 years until his death in 1896. Mr. 
Palmer was said to have been the oldest postmaster in 
the United States in point of years of service. 

The issue of the "Jamestown Journal" of July 26, 1919, 
had an article entitled " 'Twas Fifty Year Or More 
Ago," which is reproduced in part : 

"Jamestown was quite a place even in those old days 
judging from the advertisements. It was several 
years after the fire which burned most of the busi- 
ness section which was then, much as it is at present, 
located on Main, Second and Third streets. 

At 33 Main street was the store of Proudflt & Osmer, 
just where the Proudflt store stands today. Fortun- 
ately that store had iron shutters and these kept the 
fire out of the store. At the corner of Main and East 
Third streets, where the First National Bank now 
stands, was the imposing Jamestown house, kept by 
A. M. Sherman who advertised besides the best rooms 
ami hoard, the best liquors and plenty of barn room. 

Where the lower ten cent store now stands was 
the Weld & Keeler dry-goods store, soon afterward 
bought by Hoyt & Fox. They usually had about a 
column of advertising in each issue of the Journal, 
which was then a weekly paper and about this time 



THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



419 



511 years ago were advertising marseilles quilts at 
$2.50, Nottingham lace curtains and straw hats. A 
little later in the season they announced that they 
would be able to meet the enormous tide of emigra- 
tion because of immense stocks of foreign goods. 

Across the street from the Jamestown house was 
the drug and book store of Ormes, Shedd & Co. That 
the girls were just as keen then as now for all sorts 
of beautifiers may be judged from the fact that con- 
siil.'i a hie space was alloted to the advertisement for 
Ristori's Pearl Drops, guaranteed to make the skin 
beautiful in one application. 

A. F. Carpenter at 34 Main street advertised a fine 
line of drv goods with a specially fine assortment of 
Poult de Soie silks, so that the girl of today need not 
think she has anything on the girl of fifty years ago, 
when it comes to a French name for her silk gown. 

L. L. Mason was located at 44 Main street and his 
advertisement was beautifuly embellished with a pic- 
ture of a lovely lady in hoop skirts, cape and bonnet, 
purchasing a fine assortment of jewelry from a per- 
fect specimen of manly beauty. 

Weeks & Goodrich were in the grocery business and 



that the 



.[int. 



lh lb. 



adve 



ned from the fact th 
pound when it was advertised 

id in every tenth pound pack 



they 



ing me 

sold tea for $1.40 a 
$1.80 in other stors 
note would be four 

The styles of those 
more at variance with the present styles had they 
been planned that way. It was in the days of the 
hoop skirt which most of the dry goods stores adver- 
tised for sale. It also was long, long before the davs 
of the straight front corset. The pictures of dreadful 
looking pinched in affairs sold in those days at Mrs. 
King's Emporium at 14 East Third St., were adver- 
tised as 'those splendid French corsets, fifty bones, the 
nicest thing in the market.' The fifty bones had noth- 
ith the pr' 



an .-n 



lple of the 






5f Harris & Aldrieh at 42 Main 
advertisement which announced 
'the third grand opening of spring goods' (as late as 
August) with 'the greatest assortment of dress goods 
ever offered in Jamestown and at prices lower than 
could be found elsewhere.' They even announced the 
names of their salesmen, who at that time were D. 
F. Havens, G. T. Fenton, X. S. Tiffany, S. G. Law- 
son and C. L. Rathbun. 

Among some of the other advertisements appear- 
ing in the Journal were those of Tew & Fenton whose 
hardware store was located at the corner of Main 
and East Second streets where the Fenton building 
now stands M. Bailey & Co. did a general insurance. 



real estate and loan business. Levi F. Merriam con- 
ducted a sash door and blind factory, Comstocks' Ba- 
zaar with something new every day and the following 
names of advertisers, some of whom have a familiar 
sound even after the passing of half a century, are: 
Saw.lv & Field and A. M. Harrington, two thins in the 
dry goods business; C. C. Burtch, W. C. J. Hall and 
Charles S. Hazcltine, drugs; Kufus Jones ,v Son. hard- 
ware; James R. B'enner and H. N. Smith, shoe dealers; 
D. H. Grandin, miller, and Knorr Bros., barbers. 

That was in the days before Jamestown had won 
renown as a manufacturing center and among the 
advertisements was that of William Broadhead iV- Son 
who were announcing a great 60-day reduction sale 
cloths, clothing and gents' furnishing goods 



Mai 



& Gr 



inducted a grocery at 30 Main 
street and their advertisement stated that they were 
having specials, although they were not announced 
in those words, of Japan tea at $1.25 a pound, Young 
Hyson at $1.80 a pound, molasses at $1.00 and syrup 

At the sign of the Red Herring, which was at 40 
Mam street, Henry S. Parsons sold watches and jew- 
elry and also had a big stock of fishing tackle. Kim- 
ball & Whitney, located at 3H Main street, were dealers 
in pure drugs and medicines, pure wines and liquors 
and school books, they also made the celebrated uni- 
versal blood purifier, which they announced as justly 

One cannot help but wonder what some of those 
good folk of 50 years ago would say if they, like Rip 
Van Winkle could awaken from their long sleep and 
come back and list to the tale of woe of today. They 
thought it dreadful that they had to pay 40 cents for 
butter; and we now are paying about 65 cents a 
pound for the best grades. Cheese that horrified them 
at 15 cents a pound now sells for 3S cents. Lard 
had reached the unheard of price of 20 cents while 
today it is 41 at the least, and 45 in some stores. 
Eggs were considered a luxury at 22 cents and today 
they are not even guaranteed fresh at 55 cents a 
dozen. Corn is just double in price, then it was $1.10 
a bushel, now it is $2.20. Oats were 75 cents and 
now are H8c a bushel. Corn meal was $2.40 a bushel 
and now is $4.00. Timothy seed was $4 and now is 
$6.50. while clover seed that then was $8.00 a bushel 
today for $30. It looks strange indeed to see 
the market list, kerosene which 
was in its first stages of popularity was 45c a gallon. 
Coffee was cheaper in those .lavs than at the present 
time, but tea sold at from $1.40 to $1.80 a pound. 

been the good old days but we 



.■and] 



THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



The celebration of the one hundredth anniversary 
of the settlement of Chautauqua county, held at West- 
field on June 24-25, 1902, was an historic occasion whose 
influence upon the future of the county will be pro- 
found and enduring. It brought together within the 
confines of one village the people of every part of the 
county. Old acquaintanceships were renewed and new 
ones were formed, and the present was brought in con- 
tact with all that was sturdy, self-sacrificing, virtuous 
and hospitable in the past. Out of this commemora- 
tion came a new inspiration, a reawakened appreciation 
of the pioneer qualities, all operating to bind the county 
closer and closer together and give unity to its activ- 
ities. A patriotic purpose was undeniably served in 
bringing the people to see that in the past of the 
county there is much that is noble and upright ; much 
that is worth perpetuating in the present ; much that 
makes Chautauqua a name to be recalled with pride. 

After it had been decided to hold such a centennial, 
the committee had no difficulty in selecting the site. 
The historical claims of Westfield were pre-eminent. 
Here it was that the white settler first reared a per- 
manent home on the soil that now bears the storied 
name of Chautauqua ; from this spot other pioneers 
who had followed in the footsteps of James McMahan 
went southward into the wilderness to clear the for- 



ests and till the soil; here for years was the center 
of the county's social and commercial life. In other 
respects, moreover, the selection was most happy, for 
the reputation of Westfield for hospitality and neigh- 
borliness, established by the memorable reception to 
Count Lafayette and sustained by later generations of 
its townspeople, assured the throng of visitors that they 
would be cordially greeted and hospitably entertained. 
Nor was this expectation disappointed, for the people 
of the village gave freely of their best and were, in 
fact, delinquent in nothing needed to make the occa- 
sion a complete success. 

The project did not take on a more ambitious aspect 
than a proposition for a one-day gathering, with a 
programme of a half-dozen papers on the early history 
of the county. With the passing of time and the in- 
terest developed by the action of the Board of Super- 
visors in appointing committees to take charge of the 
organizing of a fitting celebration, the matter developed 
into a great historical occasion, covering a two days' 
celebration, at which papers were read covering, with 
those which it was impossible to find room for upon the 
programme, every important historical department in 
the development of the county during the one hundred 
years of county life. 

The principal event the morning of the 24th was the 



420 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



parade and the exercises formally opening the centen- 
nial. Before the village people had arisen from break- 
fast, the day's visitors began to pour into the town, fill- 
ing the streets and congregating in localities of par- 
ticular interest. Before 10 o'clock the music of several 
bands drew attention to the village square, from which 
the procession to the McMahan homestead was sched- 
uled to start. The congestion of vehicles and pedes- 
trians in this vicinity proved a maze, out of which 
an hour's work by Marshall P. W. Bemus and his staff 
brought an orderly procession. 

A drum and fife corps headed the column as it moved 
westward to the outskirts of the village, where the Mc- 
Mahan homestead is located, three-quarters of a mile 
west of the park. Members of the Chautauqua County 
Historical Society, in busses, held the right of line. 
Next was a lumbering ox-cart and submissive oxen, 
driven by Phin. M. Miller, who entered heartily into 
the spirit of the occasion and by the flourish with which 
he guided the oxen showed that the primitive arts 
have not been forgotten. The ox-cart was followed 
by the Westfield band, which headed a division of the 
older residents of the county and the board of super- 
visors, county officers, and ex-officers, all of whom rode 
in carriages." The Fenton Guards' band and the 13th 
Separate Company were next in line, and received 
something of an ovation along the route. The visit- 
ing organizations of business men and a contingent of 
citizens in carriages and on foot concluded the pro- 
cession. 

Nearly two thousand people gathered at the old 
McMahan homestead, which as one of the historical 
spots of western New York was much visited during 
the centennial. It was altogether fitting that here, where 
the white settler reared his first permanent home with- 
in the county, should be held the opening exercises 
of the commemoration of that event. From an impro- 
vised platform in the open air, brief but solemn ex- 
ercises were conducted. Otis D. Hinckley of Clymer 
presided. After a fervid prayer by Rev. A. M. Ten- 
nant, of Westfield, the address of welcome was deliv- 
ered by S. Fred. Nixon, speaker of the New York 
Assembly, himself an honored citizen of Westfield. The 
story of the historic McMahan homestead was charm- 
ingly told by Mrs. Helen Smith Tennant of Westfield, 
herself a descendant of the family of the first settler. 

At the conclusion of these exercises, the column was 
reformed for the march back to the village. A pause 
was made at the famous Cross Roads, where Obed Ed- 
son mounted a point of vantage and briefly told the 
story outlined by the monument which marks the site 
of the McHenry Hotel, where the first town meeting in 
the county was held and its civil government had its 
origin. 

The mass meeting in the afternoon attracted an 
immense crowd, only a part of which was able to gain 
admission to the Presbyterian church where it was 
held. The meeting was presided over by Albert S. Wat- 
son, president of the village, who spoke impressively 
of the spirit of the centennial. The centennial oration 
was then delivered by John Woodward of Jamestown, 
Justice of the Supreme Court of New York. Following 
a vocal solo by Miss Belle Tiffany, Phin. M. Miller of 
Buffalo, read Forrest Crissey's Centennial Poem. Obed 
Edson of Sinclairville gave an historical address, and 
the exercises closed with the singing of the Centennial 
Hymn, written by Mrs. Martha R. Almy of James- 
town, to the tune of America. 

Three public meetings were held Tuesday evening, 
and each was well attended. In the Presbyterian 
church Judge Almon A. Van Dusen of Mayville presid- 



ed. Phin. M. Miller of Buffalo gave the first address, 
his subject being The Public Schools of Chautauqua 
County. Captain Frederick W. Hyde of Jamestown 
presented an historical sketch of the inception and 
growth of the Chautauqua movement. In the Methodist 
church, Captain E. A. Curtis of Fredonia, presided. 
Abner Hazeltine of Jamestown delivered an historical 
address upon Freemasonry in Chautauqua County. The 
venerable Dr. Taylor of Brocton was to have read his 
paper on Military History at this meeting, but he was 
excused on account of feeble health and failing eye- 
sight. The third meeting of the evening, held in the 
opera house, was one of the most interesting of the 
entire celebration. The hall was filled to the utmost 
when James T. Larmonth of Jamestown, as chairman, 
called the meeting to order. Jerome B. Fisher spoke 
eloquently upon the Life of Governor Fenton. It was 
one of Judge Fisher's best historical efforts, and added 
new luster, if such a thing were possible, to the name 
of Chautauqua county's most distinguished citizen, Gov- 
ernor Fenton. 

The public reception in the high school building 
with which Tuesday's exercises came to a close, ranks 
as the most brilliant and representative social function 
in the history of the county. 

The affair was under the auspices of Patterson Chap- 
ter, Daughters of the American Revolution. The local 
society moreover had the co-operation of the members 
of the chapters at Fredonia and Jamestown. The three 
regents, Mrs. George W. Patterson, Miss Prescott and 
Miss Broadhead, respectively, led in the receiving, as- 
sisted by the vice regents, Mrs. Helen Smith Tennant, 
Mrs. Fullager and Mrs. Winfield S. Cameron. Many 
members of the chapters were attired in quaint and ele- 
gant costumes of the Colonial period, imparting to the 
brilliant scene something of the coloring and spirit of 
the days commemorated by the occasion. 

From the platform in the main reception room, a 
program of high merit was rendered at 9 o'clock, in- 
troduced by a vocal solo by Miss Belle Tiffany. An 
account of the memorable visit of Lafayette to Chau- 
tauqua county was read by Miss Olive Risley Seward. 
A musical feature was the singing of a quartet com- 
posed of Mrs. George W. Tew, Mrs. Alexis Crane, 
Geo. W. Tew and John J. Whitney, which was char- 
acterized as the oldest organized quartet in the county. 

Wednesday, as the second day of the centennial, saw 
little waning of either attendance or interest until late 
in the afternoon. The weather, which on the previous 
day had been fairly ideal, continued favorable until 
afternoon, when one of the severe storms frequent in 
the lake region drove the crowd to shelter and made 
passage about the streets highly disagreeable. It was 
significant of the success of the celebration that while 
Tuesday had been planned as the principal day, Wed- 
nesday almost, if not quite, sustained the record of its 
predecessor on the calendar. 

The meeting in the opera house at ioo'clock in the 
morning was presided over by Louis McKinstry of Fre- 
donia. The first address was that of Benjamin S. Dean, 
of Jamestown, upon The Political History of Chau- 
tauqua County. Louis McKinstry followed with an ad- 
dress upon The Press of the County, and Mrs. Carrie 
Twing of Westfield told the history of the Cassadaga 
Lake Free Association Movement. 

In the Presbvterian church, the addresses were by 
the Rev. Chalon Burgess, of Silver Creek, on the 
Clergy; by Dr. William M. Bemus, of Jamestown, upon 
the Medical Profession : and Mrs. Martha Shaver Mead, 
of Jamestown, upon the Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union. 




\ri >!T< IRIUM 



CASSADAGA 




Is E, T.II-T DALE 



THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



4 2I 



At the Methodist church, Supervisor L. C. Warren 
of Stockton presided. The papers included the read- 
ing of Dr. Taylor's address on the Military History of 
the County; W. W. Henderson's resume of the work 
of the Chautauqua County Historical Society ; and the 
story of the Swedish Settlement of the county, the 
latter written by Professor A. J. Lannes of Jamestown, 
who was appointed to take the place on the program 
originally given to Rev. Julius Lincoln, who was ab- 
sent in Europe. 

In the Presbyterian church in the afternoon, Charles 
M. Dow. of Jamestown, spoke upon the Business De- 
velopment of the county ; James L. Weeks presented his 
paper upon the Bar of the County ; and John W. Spencer, 
of Cornell University, discussed the county's agricul- 
tural interests. 

In the opera house, the meeting was opened with 
William Sexton as chairman. Dr. Julien T. Williams 
of Dunkirk spoke on the Speculative Era in the His- 
tory of Dunkirk; G. E. Ryckman told of the grape in- 
dustry from its inception and E. Buckner discussed the 
Brocton Community. 



Special mention is due the music rendered at the 
various centennial exercises. Not only was the quality 
of the voices markedly superior, but the selections made 
by the committee on music were highly suitable to the 
occasion, consisting wholly of old-time songs and bal- 
lads, which in themselves had historical interest and 
recalled pioneer times. A feature was the work of the 
choir of the First Presbyterian church of Jamestown. 

The throng lingered in the high school building, re- 
luctant to leave the remarkable display of relics there 
made, until late in the afternoon; but at 6 o'clock the 
orchestra from its station in the Jamestown room play- 
ed "Auld Lang Syne," and upon this signal the build- 
ing was let to the committeemen whose task it was to 
remove the exhibits and return them to their respective 
towns and owners. 

The centennial celebration was an unqualified suc- 
cess, and from it sprang an influence that will become 
more potent as the years go by for it started Chautau- 
quans toward the next century post with higher resolves 
and quickened energy. 



LILY DALE SPIRITUALIST ASSEMBLY. 
By Mrs. Clara Watson. 



Lily Dale Assembly, situated in Pomfret township, 
was organized in 1879 under the name of Cassadaga 
Lake Free Association. The dedication of the grounds 
occurred the following year, 1880, and was dedicated to 
Free Thought, Free Speech, and Free Investigation. 
The grounds are beautifully situated on the eastern 
shore of the upper and middle of the three lakes, which 
are connected by narrow channels and are known as 
Cassadaga Lakes. The grounds of the Association are 
thus quite surrounded by the waters of the lakes and 
connecting channels, and the place was locally designat- 
ed as "The Island." 

The derivation of the name "Cassadaga" is from the 
dialect of the Seneca Indians, their name for the place 
being "Gusdago Tecarneodi," meaning "The lake under 
the rocks." The Association grounds are located on the 
Allegheny division of the New York Central Railroad, 
eighteen miles north of Jamestown, and thirteen miles 
south of Dunkirk. Lily Dale is the name of the post- 
office and of the particular locality of the once Cassadaga 
Lake Free Association, and because of this the name 
was later changed to Lily Dale Assembly, being still so 
called, the name having its origin because of the abund- 
ant pond lilies the lakes afford. 

The assembly grounds are laid out into streets and 
parks, and at the present time embrace sixty-seven 
acres. Lily Dale is about eight miles from Lake Erie 
and sixteen miles distant from Lake Chautauqua. The 
Cassadaga Lakes, like Chautauqua, are fed mainly by 
springs ; the altitude, about six hundred feet above Lake 
Erie, is sufficient to make it desirable as a health re- 
sort, and the beautiful surroundings make it a charming 
place in every way for a summer home. 

Lily Dale as a popular spiritualist summer school 
owes its origin indirectly to the spiritualistic move- 
ment in the town of Pomfret dating back sixty-five 
years ; the movement finding in the little village of 
Laona seemingly a fertile field for the development of 
a goodly number of citizens who had for many years 
taken interest in the more liberal and progressive 
thought of the times, and thus there had been developed 
a growing public sentiment to measure a then new 
philosophy of thought, by standards higher than that 



of narrow sectarian bigotry. One of the prominent 
men of the place and times was William Johnson 
(father of Mrs. Marion Skidmore, who later had much 
to do in shaping the destiny of Lily Dale Assembly). 

William Johnson's father was an orthodox preacher 
of the most vigorous type. Of him it is said: "His 
father's extreme orthodox views, as is often the case, 
produced a reaction in the mind of his son, and he 
became a materialist or atheist, and of five brothers all 
but one were heterodox. William Johnson was a man 
of more than ordinary intelligence and brain power, an 
investigator by nature, with the courage of conviction 
and ability to express the same." 

In the winter of 1844-45, Dr - Moran of Vermont 
gave a course of lectures in Laona on a subject quite 
unknown to the general mind — that of "animal mag- 
netism, mesmerism, and kindred subjects," which cre- 
ated unusual interest. He was enthusiastic in his re- 
search to solve some of the deeper problems of life 
than the stereotyped forms and usages of the dom- 
inant religious thought of the age. 

One of the prominent citizens of Laona was Jere- 
miah Carter, then in a feeble physical condition, and 
following Dr. Moran's visit a few interested friends 
formed a little company to meet together and test the 
new mesmeric power if possible, and Mr. Carter was 
operated upon with wonderful healing results, and soon 
it became evident that a power outside of any mortal 
operator was at work upon him, and it was not long 
before he gave unmistakable evidence of spirit pres- 
ence and power. His health improved rapidly, and on 
subsequent occasions the various features of the "mes- 
meric," "magnetic," or "hypnotic" state were brought 
out, and he became a spiritualist physician of prom- 
inence, healthy and hale himself. 

Other cases of early mediumship, among them Mrs. 
A. A. Straight, who was widely known, are recorded 
in Laona connected with the spiritualistic movement, 
and the place became a stronghold of spiritualism. 
Meetings were held and an undiminished interest main- 
tained for a quarter of a century. The "Laona Free 
Association" was formed in the early 50's. which proved 
a stepping stone to the organization of Lily Dale As- 



422 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



sembly. Among many interested ones in the new move- 
ment was Willard Alden, who resided on a farm on the 
eastern shore of the Middle Cassadaga Lake, and the 
spiritualists commenced holding picnics in the Alden 
grove. Jeremiah Carter tells us that in the spring of 
1877 he was one evening engaged in reading a news- 
paper when he heard a voice as out of the air say: 
"Go to Alden's and arrange for a camp meeting." and 
he was so impressed thereby that on the following day he 
visited Mr. Alden and laid the project before him. 
The matter was discussed quite generally, and at the 
June picnic in 1877 the idea was so favorably received 
that a committee was appointed to arrange for a camp 
meeting. This committee was composed of Milton H. 
Goodrich of Ripley, chairman ; O. G. Chase, James- 
town, vice-president; David Ramsdall, A. A. Straight. 
and .1. F. Carter, of Laona; Albert S. Cobb, Dunkirk, 
and Willard Alden, Cassadaga. Mrs. Joan Carter was 
secretary to the committee. The committee met a few 
weeks later and decided to hold a meeting which 
should commence on Tuesday, September 11, and close 
the following Sunday. Speakers for this occasion were 
Mrs. E. L. Watson, Mrs. L. A. Pearsall, J. H. Harter, 
Lyman Howe, R. S. McCormick. and George W. Tay- 
lor. The average attendance was about one hundred, 
with possibly four hundred on Sunday. Mr. Carter 
stood in the road and collected a fee of ten cents from 
each visitor, and on Sunday collectors were stationed 
at points on the road on either side of the grounds. At 
this first meeting there was a deficiency of about 
thirty dollars, which was made up by the committee. 
Thus Lily Dale Assembly was launched upon the sea 
of time. 

The measure of success of the first meeting was 
considered sufficient to warrant a ten-day meeting in 
1878. The receipts this year exceeded the expenses by a 
small margin. Willard Alden, upon whose grounds the 
meetings had been held, passed to spiritual life Febru- 
ary 25, and the camp meeting of that year commenced 
September 6, continuing ten days, and owing to dif- 
fering opinions of the heirs of the Alden estate regard- 
ing money considerations, a spirit of unrest pervaded 
the meeting. However, a camp meeting was arranged 
for the season of 1879 on the Alden grounds, with an 
increased attendance. Toward the close of this meet- 
ing, as there seemed to be no prospect of any satisfac- 
tory arrangements with the Alden heirs concerning busi- 
ness matters, steps were taken to formulate a new 
organization. A committee duly appointed named a 
board of trustees as follows: A. S. Cobb, Dunkirk, 
New York, president ; O. G. Chase, Jamestown, New 
York, vice-president; Thomas J. Skidmore, Fredonia, 
New York, secretary; Linus Sage, Fredonia, New York; 
Martin R. Rouse, Titusville, Pennsylvania; George C. 
Rood, Fredonia, New York. A committee was ap- 
pointed to draft by-laws, composed of Messrs. J. W. 
Rood, A. S. Cobb, and H. H. Thayer. A subscription 
list was opened and generous responses thereto were 
secured. The necessary papers for incorporation were 
signed, and the year following, 1880, the new grounds, 
purchased from the Fisher Brothers, adjoining the 
Alden grounds on the north, were opened and dedicated 
under the name before referred to, namely The Cas- 
sadaga Lake Free Association. Good speakers were 
present, and much enthusiasm manifested. The first 
tree felled in the clearing was by Mr. A. S. Cobb. The 
first cottage on the new grounds was built by the 
Misses May and Inez Huntington. The first stock- 
holder to respond to roll call on assessment was N. N. 
Whitaker. The following year, 1881, the Children's 
Lyceum was started by Thomas Lees and his sister. 



Tilla, of Cleveland, and it has since been one of the 
most important features of the assembly. This season 
was one of the most trying years of the association, so 
much remained to be done. Some of the obstacles 
seemed insurmountable to those whose enthusiasm was 
at low ebb. But effort still continued; plans for further 
clearing the grounds were formulated, and the winter 
of 1881-82 saw much improvement along this line. The 
season of 1882 opened auspiciously with the following 
well-known speakers: Hudson Tuttle, Professor Brad- 
ford (who was United States Minister to China under 
the Lincoln administration), Mrs. Amelia Colby, Miss 
Clara Field, Mrs. Clara Watson, J. F. Baxter, O. P. 
Kellogg, Giles B. Stebbins, George W. Tavlor, Mrs. 
R. S. Lillie, Lyman C. Howe, and Judge R. S. Mc- 
Cormick. Thomas Lees was assisted in the lyceum work 
this year by Miss Harriet Myers (now Mrs. O. F. 
Chase). The A. Grattan Smith family furnished fine 
vocal music for the season. This year marked one of 
the most critical in the history of the assembly, and yet 
a live board of directors, consisting of J. B. Champlin, 
T. J. Skidmore, Linus Sage, O. G. Chase, C. B. Turner, 
George C. Rood, and M. R. Rouse, went forward with 
a will to make success the watchword. Plans were for- 
mulated to build an auditorium, Mr. Champlin originat- 
ing the plans and superintending the construction of 
the building, which was ready for occupancy the com- 
ing season, 1883. This meeting continued from August 
4 to September 2, with a fine array of talent as speak- 
ers. Miss Harriet Myers had charge of the lyceum. 
The camp meeting of 1884 was from July 26 to August 
31. O. P. Kellogg, who had presided as chairman four 
years, served his last term this year. This year's meet- 
ing closed with a prevalent feeling of harmony and 
hopefulness, and the enterprise from that time on has 
no longer been a constant struggle against adverse cir- 
cumstances, but rather a series of marked successes. 
At this year's meeting the trustees elected were T. J. 
Skidmore, Mrs. Marion Skidmore, C. B. Turner, M. R. 
Rouse, A. Gaston, E. W. Bond, and A. H. Frank, and 
this board of earnest workers proved a tower of 
strength to Lily Dale. 

The meeting of 1885 continued from August I to 
August 30, Lyman C. Howe, chairman. Mrs. M. E. 
Sperry of Dunkirk had charge of the children's depart- 
ment this year. Music was made more of a feature this 
year, Mrs. Olie Dinslow, John T. Lillie and the A. 
Gratton Smith family furnishing vocal music of won- 
derful sweetness and power. Damon's orchestra of 
Dunkirk was engaged for the entire season. 

The meeting of 1886 proved a great success, and 
marked the founding of the library by Mrs. M. H. 
Skidmore, who was nobly aided by many other interest- 
ed ones. The library was first started in a tent with a 
small beginning, but soon moved to more commodious 
quarters, and at the present writing plans are under 
way for a fine library building of modern design. Be- 
cause of the great interest in and aid to this enterprise 
by Mrs. Skidmore. it was named in her honor the 
Marion Skidmore Library, and at this writing contains 
nearly four thousand volumes. 

The library has been a source of great benefit, enter- 
tainment and instruction, for it contains, among many 
choice miscellaneous works, many volumes from the 
brightest minds in spiritualism, also ancient and modern 
historical works, fiction, and children's books. This 
year marked the engagement of the Meadville orchestra, 
under the efficient leadership of B. F. Nichols, which 
continued its service many succeeding years. 

The year 1890 found Lily Dale Assembly established 
on a firm and enduring basis, since which time success 






LILY DALE SPIRITUALIST ASSEMBLY 



4-3 



has marked the enterprise, which had strong opposition 
to contend with from the popular religion of the age at 
its inception, and to-day, 1920, from a small beginning, 
this beautiful summer school has grown to an institu- 
tion of importance and wide influence, with greater 
possibilities for the future. Lily Dale camp is owned 
and controlled by an incorporated association. The 
property consists of sixty-seven acres bordering on 
the North and Middle Cassadaga Lakes. These lakes 
cover several hundred acres, and afford good boating, 
bathing and fishing, and also yield a generous supply 
of ice for summer use. Additions to the original pur- 
chase of ground have been made at various times, in- 
cluding a plot of low-land, known as "The Flats," also 
the purchase of the former Alden estate, now the 
Leolyn grounds, with the famous Leolyn grove of 
twenty-three acres, said to be the finest tract of virgin 
timber in the State, wherein may be found many mam- 
moth trees bearing the age of centuries. There are two 
hotels, the Leolyn Inn, accommodating 200, and the 
Hotel Maplewood 300 guests. The fine new Auditorium 
has a seating capacity of two thousand people. New 
cottages have been added from time to time, ranging 
in cost from five hundred to five thousand dollars. 
There are now several hundred cottages owned and 
occupied largely by private families who are stock- 
holders in the assembly. The association property and 
the privately owned property have increased in value 
as improvement following improvement has been car- 
ried forward. The association owns and operates the 
water-works, has an up-to-date sewerage system, and is 
equipped with gas and electric power, the latter from 
Niagara Falls. A bath house and bowling alley add 
their attractiveness to the comfort and interest of visit- 
ants ; also express office, telegraph and telephone. Lily 
Dale is also noted for its superior quality of drinking 
water. 

The Ladies' Auxiliary is an organization which 
promotes many social features of the season, and their 
efforts have proven of great financial assistance to the 
assembly, as well as adding much to the interest and 
pleasure of the campers. 

The Citizens' Club, primarily composed of the resi- 
dents of Lily Dale, was organized in the interest of 
beautifying the grounds, and has proved most ef- 
ficient. 

Lily Dale Fire Department is composed of perman- 
ent residents upon the camp grounds, and is equipped 
with efficient fire fighting apparatus, and a fine engine 
house on First street forms one of the substantial build- 
ings on the grounds. 

The Lily Dale Library Association is a new organi- 
zation, whose purpose is to set forth the teachings of 
the distinguished workers in spiritualism, and to erect 
a fire-proof building to safely house the large library 
of books, and that shall be an ornament to the 
grounds, as well as of great benefit. This Society has 
become identified with the Federation of Clubs. Many 
features combining fun, and frolic, amusement and 
recreation are also staged to the delight of the camp- 

Melrose Park, at the entrance of the enclosed 
grounds, contains many of the finest residences ; also 
the Auditorium, the drinking water pavilion, ticket of- 
fice, post office, association headquarters, grocery stores, 
restaurants, flower-beds, and beautifully bordered 
walks, with their over-arching, stately trees. 

Lincoln Park, bordering on the lake front of the 
upper lake, extending north from the Auditorium to 
the water-works and bowling alley, includes many nice 
cottages ; Maplewood Hotel, band stand, sunflower 



pagoda equipped with stationery, souvenirs, books, 
curios, etc., contributes to a popular communication 
center. Lincoln Park with its stately trees also offers 
an ideal parking place for the multitudes of automo- 
biles congregated there, the new modern cafeteria and 
the Colonial building being in close proximity. 

Cadwell Park includes the section bordering on the 
north and eastern part of the grounds, including the 
beauteous Forest Temple, the rustic drinking pavilion, 
the Hydesville cottage, picnic grounds, tennis court, 
children's playground. Octagon Building, and many 
beautiful cottages with flowers and ferns in profusion. 

The fourth park includes the Leolyn grounds border- 
ing on the middle lake front, including Leolyn Hotel, 
garage, beauty grounds, the famous Leolyn grove, and 
the wonderful mineral well. 

Lily Dale "Special Day" features has included wo- 
men's day, man's day, children's day, temperance day, 
grange day, Labor day, firemen's day, patriotic day, 
Memorial day, peace day, flag day, pioneers day, Ca- 
nadian day, National day, and special State days. 

The Forest Temple meeting place, out in the open, 
with the overshadowing canopy of Nature's grand old 
trees, is a popular daily meeting place for conference 
and message work, and with its pure white Memorial 
Temple rostrum and pews forms a most beautiful and 
picturesque meeting place. In close proximity to For- 
est Temple, and forming an object of attraction and 
interest, is located Hydesville cottage, the birthplace 
of modern spiritualism, purchased and moved from 
Hydesville, New York, by Mr. B. F. Bartlett of Cam- 
bridge Springs. This quaint structure is of interest to 
spiritualists and all visitors as the original cottage 
where were first heard through the Fox sisters the 
tiny "raps" that heralded the dawn of a new era in 
human history that today has reverberated around the 
world, and serves also as a memorial to spiritualism 
and to the Fox Sisters. 

Music — Lily Dale Assembly band and orchestra, an 
organization of high class artists is in attendance 
throughout the season furnishing programs of classical 
and popular music and with three free concerts daily 
adds greatly to the interest and attractiveness of the 
Assembly; and its rendering of artistic selections as a 
prelude to all public rostrum work never fails to at- 
tract an audience of those musically inclined. Many 
fine pianists, vocalists and gifted musicians, including 
the Boston Ladies' Schubert Quartette have from time 
to time greatly aided in the musical programs at Lily 
Dale. Mention too should be made of the genial chairman 
John T. Lillie, whose voice of sweetness and power 
is ever welcome and much enjoyed. Refined dancing 
parties are a marked social feature of each season and 
are given Wednesday and Saturday evenings in the 
main auditorium, and with fine music from the Lily 
Dale Orchestra, many years in the past under the lead- 
ership of George S. Humphrey — are most popular, al- 
ways the best decorum being maintained. 

The Woman's Movement has been another feature 
of Lily Dale camp, and Woman's Day has many years 
been a prominent attraction. Dating back to 1887. Mrs. 
Marion Skidmore, as vice-president, invited the women 
suffragists to meet at Lily Dale Assembly, and all the 
years since then. Woman's Day has been the day 
of all days at Lily Dale. Spiritualism has ever recog- 
nized the equality of the sexes. In all the workings 
of the movement woman has ever stood the equal of her 
brother man. 

Many noted speakers and lecturers have occupied the 
rostrum at Lily Dale. The best talent available has 
been secured from year to year from all parts of this 



424 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



country, and Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, 
New Zealand, and Eastern India have also been rep- 
resented. 

While Lily Dale is primarily a spiritualist summer 
school, yet spiritualism is cosmopolitan in its workings, 
and its platform is open to Free Thought Speakers, to 
New Thought Exponents, to the Higher Thought Ad- 
herents, to Theosophists and Reincarnationists, the 
Agnostic, the Pantheist, the Quaker, the Christian, and 
the American Indian — all have been welcomed to the 
Lily Dale platform, and all have had a helpful message 
to humanity. 

Among the many spiritualists that have spoken from 
Lily Dale rostrum may be cited Dr. J. M. Peebles, at 
this writing ninety-eight years of age, with mental 
vigor unimpaired, and who has five times circum- 
navigated the globe; Dr. B. F. Austin, publisher of 
"Reason Magazine;" Dr. George B. Warne, president 
National Spiritualist Association, and editor "National 
Spiritualist;" Mrs. M. E. Cadwallader, editor "Pro- 
gressive Thinker," and Lyceum Workers, Mrs. Cora 
Richmond, Mrs. R. S. Lillie, Mr. and Mrs. Kates, Mrs. 
E. L. Watson, Prof. W. M. Lockwood, Mrs. Clara Wat- 
son, George W. Taylor, Hudson Tuttle, Lyman Howe, 
Mrs. Colby Luther, A. B. French, Harry M. Wright, 
Mrs. Tillie Reynolds, J. Clegg Wright, Mrs. Carrie 
Twing, Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Sprague, Mrs. Harlow 
Goetz, Hon. A. B. Richmond, Mr. Grimshaw, Moses 
Hull, George Brooks, Dr. Wiggin, Mr. Erwood, Jen- 
nie Hagan, Walter Howell, A. B. French, and many 
others. Among the message mediums may be cited 
Margarette Gaule, Maggie Waite, Edgar Emerson, J. 
Frank Baxter, Mrs. Maggie Turner, Mrs. J. J. Whitney, 
Mrs. Etta Wriedt, John Slater, Mrs. Maria Carpenter. 

Some wonderful phenomena have occurred at Lily 
Dale, including writing within closed slates, notablv 
through P. L. O. Keeler under test conditions, slate 
writing and marvelous portrait painting through the 
Bangs sisters, mediums, without the touch of human 
hands. 

Among the noted outside celebrities who have spoken 
at Lily Dale may be mentioned Robert J. Ingersol, the 
late eminent Agnostic in thought ; Elbert Hubbard, of 
East Aurora, Roycroft fame; Virchard R. Gandhi, rep- 
resentative from the Jain community of India, and dele- 
gate to the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago 
in 1883. The following year Mr. Gandhi spent the en- 
tire season at Lily Dale introducing in lectures and 
class work, for the first time, Oriental Thought, which 
was instrumental in establishing an entirely different 
idea of the Orient, whom we of the Occident had 
characterized as "heathen." 

Other prominent outsiders who may be cited are 
Professor William Denton, African explorer; Frank 
Caldwell, Alaskan explorer; Rev. Thomas Byrnes, Uni- 
tarian minister; Rev. Henry Frank, Free Thought 
speaker; Mrs. Marie C. Breme, State president of the 
Illinois Women's Christian Temperance Union; the 
late universally revered Rev Anna Howard Shaw, and 
the beloved Susan B. Anthony; Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, and others of Wo- 
man Suffrage fame; Countess Wichmister; Mrs. Bes- 
sant, and Madame Blauvetschey of Theosophic propa- 
ganda. Thus the humanitarian principles of spiritualism 
are maintained. 

Among the many beautiful rostrum and amphitheatre 
decorations the American flag is generously and con- 
spicuously displayed and with its graceful folds, its 
beauty, symmetry, significance and power, is ever an 
inspiration and a challenge to true patriotism. 

"Old Glory"— the Starry Banner— the Red, White 



and Blue — emblem of American principles waves its 
glad welcome to all and proves the loyalty of Lily 
Dale Assembly to true Americanism — which to the 
thinking mind embraces the principles of human broth- 
erhood and sisterhood. 

Lily Dale Assembly, carrying its principles of equality 
into practice many years ago, gave womankind rights 
and privileges no doubt then unknown to any other 
school of thought, in according to woman the presi- 
dency of the assembly. In 1900, Mrs. Abby Louise Pet- 
tengill was president, acceptably filling a short term of 
years. Succeeding her, Mrs. Esther Humphrey was 
elected to this important office, filling the same many 
consecutive years with dignity, honor, and ability. Mrs. 
Humphrey, retiring at the close of her long and suc- 
cessful term of office, was vested with the rank of 
"President Emeritus," undoubtedly an honor never be- 
fore conferred upon womankind. Thus Lily Dale As- 
sembly scores another progressive step. Also at the 
Forest Temple meetings woman, equally with man, has 
had supervision there, among many others Mrs. A. J. 
Devereaux of Jamestown — now an octogenarian — who 
served a successful leadership a number of years. 

Among several others who have acceptably served in 
the responsible position of chairman for the summer 
meeting we may mention Harrison D. Barrett, speaker, 
and for many years president of the National Spiritual- 
ist Association; George Brooks, lecturer and message 
bearer; but no incumbent of this important position 
has been more successful and more popular than the 
present presiding official, John T. Lillie, who has held 
the position many successive years. 

Forty-one years ago Lily Dale was dedicated to the 
upliftment of mankind — physically, mentally, morally 
and spiritually, and from year to year it has broadened 
its scope of endeavor until to-day it stands in the lead 
of all the summer schools and assemblies and even 
Chautauquas, in the breadth and scope of its teachings, 
including science, religion, philosophy, metaphysics, or 
the science of being; the molecular hypothesis of na- 
ture ; natural selection ; thought, mind, and conscious- 
ness, and their relation each to the other ; ethical or 
moral training, psychic or spiritual teaching, including 
the one important line of instruction ignored by all other 
schools of thought and propaganda — that of spirit re- 
turn, or communion of mortals with the so-called Im- 
mortals, and Lily Dale Assembly has been the open 
door to thousands of people through which knowledge, 
light, truth, wisdom, culture, unfoldment and refinement 
have enriched their lives. Lily Dale Assembly — the 
leading mid-summer camp of a score of others of sim- 
ilar nature situated throughout the country — has been 
the means of bringing to the notice of the public the 
wonderful spiritual phenomena of nature which to-day 
more fully than ever before is attracting the attention 
of thinking minds. Also the vital questions of the ever 
present "Now," pertaining to life's great problems along 
lines of governmental, civic, educational, social, eco- 
nomic, hygenic, national and international welfare of 
the human race are discussed from Lily Dale platform. 

The purpose of Lily Dale Assembly is to train the 
plastic mind of the young along lines of nature study; 
teach them about the wondrous universe in which we 
live ; teach them about themselves ; teach them the 
naturalness of life — that there is nothing unnatural or 
supernatural in this mighty universe. Spirit, the vital 
force, the animating principle of all life, permeates all 
nature's marvelous productions, and can, on the mortal 
plain, only be perceived through matter, and human 
life works in as the crowning glory of nature's handi- 
work, with the brain forces of intellectual vigor and 



LILY DALE SPIRITUALIST ASSEMBLY 



+25 



power — the mind— illuminating the wondrous works of 
Nature — God. 

Lily Dale Assembly has broadminded men and women 
interested in its welfare, and the platform speakers can 
not be excelled by any church in the world in the high 
moral and spiritual tone of the discourses, in eloquence 
of diction, and in depth of thought. 

Mental and spiritual healing is a prominent factor 
at Lily Dale, and spiritualism was first in the field of 
modern thought along this line of endeavor. Among 
the leading healers may be noted Dr. C. A. Burgess, 
who conducts healing classes at Library Hall daily. Dr. 
and Mrs. C. A. Beverly, both mental and spiritual 
healers living in the "White Kingdom Realm," are 
workers in the healing art. Frank Casebeer and Mrs. 
Mattie Lane are also devotees of this method of healing. 

Dr. E. A. Hyde of the old school practice, a long- 
time resident and practicing physician of Lily Dale, has 
done much to promote health conditions. Other healers 
of more or less note help to keep the healing vibrations 
in healthful motion. 

Aside from Lily Dale's large, fine library ; aside from 
its able lecture platform work; aside from its various 
class studies; aside from important information im- 
parted through mediumship — apart from all this, two 
publications of prominence have been issued at Lily 
Dale in the past, that proved a strong factor in its 
propaganda work. In 1892, Hon. A. B. Gaston, of 
Meadville, commenced the publication of "The Cas- 
sadagan," a monthly magazine devoted to the interests 
of the camp, which was ably conducted and nobly sus- 
tained for a series of years. Lster a publishing house 
was established on the grounds by W. H. Bach, and the 
publishing of "The Sunflower" paper commenced its 
weekly visits to the campers, which later came under 
the able management of Frank Walker, of Hamburg, 
New York, under the more comprehensive name "The 
Science of Life." For many years this bright, newsy, 
helpful paper aided Lily Dale Assembly, closing its 
effort only when the World War, forced upon us, com- 
menced its destructive work. 

Another interesting feature of the assembly is the 
psychic class held at Library Hall, where the ablest 
teachers along a line of thought unknown to theologians 
or university professors is dilated upon, which pertains 
to the psychic or spiritual nature of life, explaining the 
mysteries of the spirit spheres and spirit zones of the 
ethereal world. What the conditions? Where located? 
What its opportunities? — These and kindred subjects 
are discoursed upon at Lily Dale Assembly. 

Spiritualism stands for all that is true and good, and 
the lives of its many adherents testify to the benefits 
and uplifting and educational tendencies, and the un- 
foldment of latent powers of mind and soul. 

Physical culture classes have also been a prominent 
feature at Lily Dale, recognizing the fact that a sound 
and healthy body is conducive to a vigorous mental and 



spiritual development. Thought exchange meetings are 
held in the library and are always of deep interest as 
live questions of the day are discussed. 

Very many of the noble souls have passed to their 
reward out in the sunshine of the higher spirit spheres, 
for spiritualism has no spacious Hell nor limited 
Heaven. This mighty universe is unlimited, embodying 
all time, all space, all substance, all life, and in spirit 
spheres there is room for all of Earth's children to find 
a dwelling place where progress and higher develop- 
ment is the watchword. Only a few of the Old Guard 
are left, and we honor the memory of all and bless their 
noble work in launching Lily Dale Assembly upon the 
tide of Life. Brave hearts and willing hands were 
theirs, and Lily Dale Assembly stands to-day a more 
lasting monument to their memory than any sculptured 
bronze or chiselled marble. Brave souls are still at the 
helm, and Lily Dale Assembly, and the future of this 
organization, looms higher as gradually ignorance and 
prejudice fade away under the clearer light of knowl- 
edge and the brighter torch of reason. 

Present board of directors: President emeritus, Mrs. 
Esther Humphrey; honorary president, Abraham Ras- 
ner. Active officers — George B. Warne, C. A. Burgess, 
M. H. Van Buskirk, H. T. Litchfield, C. L. Meyler, G. 
Montgomery, George W. Way. 

Spirit communion is an established fact sustained by 
many eminent scientists, clergymen, philosophers, states- 
men, and multitudes of the common folk from all 
walks of life; all the opposition from the unbelieving 
mind cannot stay the onward march of this great truth, 
and Lily Dale Assembly has been the mecca to thou- 
sands of inquiring souls that has led them out of dark- 
ness into light. 

Lily Dale Assembly as an exponent of a modern 
school of thought stands for progress, for self unfold- 
ment, for right living, for religious development, for 
spiritual upliftment, for freedom of thought in accord 
with modern times rather than holding to ancient tradi- 
tions formulated in the "Dark Ages" of the past. 

The reader is invited to a fair and impartial consider- 
ation of the claims of spiritualism, as set forth in these 
pages, and as carried into effect at Lily Dale Spiritualist 
Assembly. 



In submitting the foregoing to the public the writer 
is fully aware of the fact that it has been practically 
Impossible to narrate all incidents or give names of 
all willing workers who have contributed to the es- 
tablishment of Lily Dale Assembly. The aim has been 
to note general features and prominent details lead- 
ing to its present day importance. The memory of 
the writer has been keenly alert having been identi- 
fied with the movement since its inception, and aided 
by a few published statistics this summary is given 
to the public, hoping it may lead to a clearer under- 
standing of the aims and efforts of this widely known 
Summer School of Spiritualistic propaganda as record- 
ed in the annals of history. 



BENCH AND BAR OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 



The pioneer judiciary of what is now Chautauqua 
county was composed of three justices of the peace — 
Perry G. Ellsworth, David Kincaid, and Peter Kane. 
The word "pioneer" is here used in its strictest sense, for 
the Chautauqua settlement, then known as the town of 
Chautauqua, with boundaries practically those of the 
present county, was established in 1804, and early in the 
year 1805 Governor Morgan Lewis and his Council of 
Appointment at Albany named these men as the arbiters 
of justice in this section of the State. In April of that 
year, at the first town meeting (held at the Cross Roads, 



now Westfield), officers were elected by the people, 
John McMahan being chosen supervisor. The remain- 
ing offices were practically those of our modern town. 
Supervisor McMahan was one of the leaders in the 
early days, and became colonel of the first regiment of 
this county, which he commanded at the battle of Black 
Rock and' Buffalo in the War of 1812. 

In the early courts, parties frequently conducted their 
own cases without the assistance of attorneys, the pro- 
ceedings being of the most informal character, and the 
judgments often of a nature that brings substantial jus- 



426 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



tice without much legal formality. Our ideas of the 
solemnity of a judicial record are somewhat shattered 
when we read of Justice of the Peace Thomas Aiken, 
who "sometimes rendered judgment on a shingle with 
red chalk, and kept record thereof in a crevice in his 
log dwelling," and yet we venture the opinion that the 
judgments of Squire Aiken were executed and enforced 
as thoroughly as the judgments of our own day, care- 
fully engrossed on ponderous records, preserved in fire- 
proof vaults. Again we read of a judgment specifically 
just, which Samuel A. Brown, at one time a leading 
attorney of the county, rendered while a justice of the 
peace, in these words: "I find for the plaintiff nine- 
teen thousand forty-three feet of white pine boards." 

What is known as the Act of 1808 provided for the 
formation of the county, and designated its boundaries, 
but stipulated that Chautauqua and Cattaraugus should 
act in conjunction with Niagara until they respectively 
contained five hundred taxable inhabitants. The assess- 
ment rolls of 181 showing that Chautauqua contained 
the required number of voters, the county was formally 
organized and the appointment of county officers was 
made in February. 181 1, by the Council of Appoint- 
ment, which had the power of appointing all county 
officers, including justices of the peace. 

In 181 1, with the organization of Chautauqua county, 
came the establishment of the Court of Common Pleas, 
convening at Mayville on June 25 of that year, where 
Commissioners Williams, Sutherland, and Ransom had 
"erected a large hemlock post" to indicate their choice of 
a county seat, with Judge Zattu Cushing on the bench. 
The session continued four days. Zattu Cushing had 
been appointed First Judge by Governor Daniel D. 
Tompkins. He was a man of rugged personality and 
courage, by trade a shipbuilder, who had toiled across 
the State in the winter of 1805 with his wife and five 
children, bringing two yoke of oxen, household goods, 
four cows, and the unusual contribution of a bushel of 
salt and half a bushel of apple seeds; with the latter he 
planted the first orchard in this region. One of the 
judge's grandsons, William B. Cushing, became famous 
as the destroyer of the "Albemarle" in the Civil War. 
With Judge Cushing there served as associate judges. 
Matthew Prendergast, Philo Orton, Jonathan Thomp- 
son, and William Alexander; while Henry Abell, Wil- 
liam Gould, John Dexter, and Abiram Orton were ap- 
pointed Associate Justices. John E. Marshall, a physi- 
cian, was chosen clerk; David Eason, sheriff; and 
Squire White, surrogate. In 1818 the office of Associate 
Justice was abolished, and the number of judges reduced 
to five, including the First Judge. 

The Court of Common Pleas, although a court of 
record, was composed almost entirely of men recog- 
nized for their integrity of character, clear thinking, 
and sound common sense, rather than their legal train- 
ing; for during only two of the thirty-six years of the 
life of this court was the First Judge a lawyer, and 
only four of the twenty-three Associate Judges serving 
during this time could qualify in this regard. Notwith- 
standing the "layman" nature of this court, it had the 
respect of the legal profession and the confidence of the 
people it served. Judge Cushing was for thirteen suc- 
cessive years First Judge, being succeeded in 1824 by 
Elial T. Foote, who in turn was succeeded in 1843 by 
Thomas A. Osborne. Mr. Osborne occupied this office 
until 1845, when Thomas B. Campbell was appointed, 
serving for two years. By the constitution of 1846. this 
court was superseded by the present County Court, the 
judges then becoming known as County Judges, elected 
by the people. To this position have been elected Abner 
Lewis, Selden Marvin, Abner Hazeltine, Orsell Cook, 
Emory F. Warren, Thomas P. Grosvenor, H. O. Lakin, 
John S. Lambert, Almon A. Van Dusen Cnotable as the 



only Democrat ever holding this office), and Jerome B. 
Fisher. Judge Arthur B. Ottaway. a lawyer of promi- 
nence and ability, and to whom this county is indebted 
for its Juvenile Court, is the present incumbent, having 
been reelected in 1917. 

The attention of the first session of the Court of 
Common Pleas was given over to adopting rules of 
court and selecting the device for the court seal — an 
eagle surrounded by the words "Chautauqua Common 
Pleas ;" designing and surveying the jail liberties ; 
granting a license to Thomas Bemus to operate a ferry 
at the Narrows, now Bemus Point; and admitting at- 
torneys to practice. 

In 1810, the town of Chautauqua boasted two lawyers, 
Anselm Potter and Dennis Brackett. while Jacob 
Houghton, A. M., arrived in 181 1, Potter being the first 
resident attorney. Mr. Potter had studied at Yale Col- 
lege, while Houghton was a Greek and Latin scholar, 
and his law training enabled him to practice in all the 
courts of the State. 

The Court of Common Pleas, at the November 181 1 
term, conducted the first trial of which we have record. 
Attorney Brackett appeared for the plaintiff and Wil- 
liam Spear for the defendant, the plaintiff winning the 
case. Mr. Brackett, who lived at Mayville, appears to 
have been a very energetic young man. Admitted in 
June, he immediately set to work to establish a law office, 
apparently the first in the county; a chatty letter from 
William Peacock to John Ellicott tells us that "Brackett 
built a small office nigh Mrs. Peacock's; a dead tree fell 
on it and dashed it to pieces." The primitive stage of 
civilization in Chautauqua county at this period is 
recalled by the fate of young Brackett, who, soon after 
finishing his work at the fall term of court in 1813. was 
killed and scalped bv the Indians during the retreat from 
Black Rock, near Buffalo. 

In 1807, Captain John Scott opened a log tavern, 
located on the east side of Main street, between the 
present site of the Episcopal Church and the Mayville 
House. In 181 1, the county having become fully organ- 
ized. Captain Scott enlarged his log tavern by a plank 
frame addition of green timber for a court house, and 
until 1815 both courts convened at that place. The Act 
of 1808 specified the supervisors should raise $1,500 to 
cover the cost of a suitable court house, and, with the 
establishment of the courts, plans were formulated for 
the court house and jail, but the work was interrupted 
by the War of 1812. In 1814, although still unplastered, 
the June term was held in the new building and the two 
succeeding terms, in November and February, were con- 
vened there but adjourned to the tavern because of the 
cold. The court house was a very modest, two-story 
frame building, and occupied the bit of ground just in 
front of the 1834 structure. The lower floor toward the 
east contained three prison cells, two for criminals and 
one for debtors. In front of the cells and divided by 
only a narrow hall were the living rooms of the jailor 
and his family. The upper story was used for court, 
jury, and other purposes. This building served its pur- 
pose until 1834, when it was replaced by a new build- 
ing, which, in time, gave way to the present edifice, 
erected in 1907. 

In 1S17, six years after the establishment of the first 
courts, the Circuit Court of Oyer and Terminer was 
opened in Mayville, Judge Ambrose Spencer, a man of 
considerable distinction in the State, presiding. This 
court corresponded to the circuit term of our present 
Supreme Court, and was the highest court held in the 
county. It was presided over by circuit judges, usually 
"strangers from a distance." Evidently Judge Spencer 
enjoyed the pomp and display in vogue in certain court 
circles, for we read that he opened his court with con- 
siderable ceremony: "The judge, escorted by the sheriff. 



BENCH AND BAR 



427 



his deputies and the constables, armed with staves of 
office, marched to the court house, where the escort 
opened to the right and left and the judge, preceded by 
the sheriff, entered the court room." 

In 1820, when Judge Van Ness, of decidedly demo- 
cratic tendencies, ascended the bench, he announced that 
he preferred to enter the court room without parade, 
and the only possible reminder of the "parade" left to 
us is the constables with their staves, who still act as 
escort to the jury. The effect of the judicial ceremony 
of 1817 was immediately evidenced by the appointment 
in the Court of Common Pleas of a regular crier to 
open and adjourn court. 

The last term of the Circuit Court of Oyer and 
Terminer under the old constitution was held in June, 
i8_>2. Under the new constitution the court was re- 
sumed in September. 1823, and continued until the con- 
stitution of 1846 became effective, when it was replaced 
by our present Supreme Court. 

Prior to 1846, the office of Circuit Judge, which cor- 
responds to our present Supreme Court Judge, was an 
appointive office, being designated by the Governor, with 
the advice of the Council, or the Senate. Chautauqua 
was represented on this bench by John Birdsall. who was 
appointed in 1826. 

In the early days, the local attorneys were often as- 
sisted in the trial of their cases by out-of-town lawyers 
possessing experience and unusual ability, who "rode 
the circuit," often following the judge from court to 
court. Prominent among these was Jonas Harrison, 
who had read law with Aaron Burr. The manner of 
life of this time was much more leisurely than that of 
to-day, and the attorneys were largely allowed their 
own time in setting forth the merits of the matters at 
issue, thus being afforded ample opportunity for the dis- 
play of whatever oratorical ability they possessed ; and 
tradition tells us that those early trials were occasions 
of much interest. The court, too, was not so jealous of 
its dignity. A young attorney, upon receiving an adverse 
decision, feelingly exclaimed that he "was astonished at 
the judgment of the court." For this he was at once 
arraigned for contempt, and sought the aid of an older 
lawyer, John Root, often called the "Old Counselor," 
who answered the court in a very solemn and dignified 
manner, saying, "I know our brother is in fault, but he 
is young, quite young. Had he practiced at this bar as 
long as I have, Your Honor, he would have long since 
ceased to be astonished at any ruling that it might 
make." 

The criminal courts of the county consisted of a 
court of Oyer and Terminer held at the time of the 
Circuit, a court of General Sessions held with the Com- 
mon Pleas, and courts of Special Sessions held by the 
justices of the peace. Prior to 1818, there existed an 
appointive office similar to that of our present district 
attorney, but with the title of assistant attorney-general, 
the jurisdiction of which embraced several counties. 
One Polydorus B. Wisner held the position in 1813, and 
was succeeded by John C. Spencer. A statute was en- 
acted in 1818. which provided for a district attorney in 
each county to prosecute cases for the people, and Dan- 
iel G. Garnsey was then chosen to preside over Chau- 
tauqua county. Since 1846 the office has been elective. 
Following Garnsey were: James Mullett, Jr.. Samuel 
A. Brown, Joseph Waite, David Mann, Abner Hazeltine, 
Daniel Sherman, George Barker, John F. Smith, Wil- 
liam O. Stevens, Nahum S. Scott, Benjamin S. Skinner, 
Edward R. Bootey, Abner Hazeltine, Jr., C. B. Brad- 
ley, Arthur B. Ottaway, Lester F. Stearns, John Wood- 
ward, Eleazer Green, John K. Patterson, Jr., Edward 
J. Green, and William S. Stearns, who is at present 
capably administering the duties of this important office. 



Although the constitution of 1821 does not notice the 
Surrogate's Court, nevertheless this court exercised 
authority in Chautauqua county from its earliest organ- 
ization. The office of judge was first an appointive one, 
but soon became elective. Squire White served as first 
surrogate. Succeeding him were Daniel G. Garnsey, 
Albert Richmond. William Smith, George A. Green, 
William Smith, Tr., Theodore Brown, Austm Smith, 
Henry O. Lakin, Orsell Cook, Charles G. Maples, Orton 
Clarke. Daniel Sherman, Emory F. Warren, E. E. 
Woodbury, and Harley N. Crosby, who is serving his 
sixteenth year as judge of this court. 

Chautauqua county may well be proud of the men 
elected from within her boundaries to preside over the 
Supreme Court. Richard P. Marvin, elected in 1847, 
was a man distinguished throughout the State of New 
York and even beyond its borders. He was admitted to 
practice in the Supreme Court of New York in 1829, 
and ten years later was on motion of Daniel Webster 
admitted in the Supreme Court of the United States. 
He was a brilliant advocate and an ideal judge. He held 
his judicial position for twenty-four years, "having been 
originally elected with James Mullett in 1847. Horace 
Greeley, who opposed an elective judiciary, once said: 
"It was no wonder the Eighth District favored it when 
it had such pure and able judges as Marvin and his 
associates." 

James Mullett, elected in 1851, was for many years the 
most conspicuous member of the county bar. He was 
examined by Judge Zattu Cushing at the November 
term of 1814, and admitted to practice. He served in 
the State Assembly, was district attorney and justice of 
the Supreme Court, a man of keenest intellect, and a 
brilliant orator. The most famous case in which he was 
engaged as counsel was the trial of Joseph Damon for 
the murder of his wife, in 1834, one of the last cases 
tried in the old court house. Mr. Mullett's summing up 
for the defense ranks as one of the greatest forensic 
efforts ever made in this State, unavailing as it was ; 
Damon was convicted, and publicly executed on the 
western slope of the hill not far from the Mayville 
Union School building. 

Benjamin F. Green was elected to the Supreme Court 
in 1857 ; George Barker in 1867, reelected in 1875. hav- 
ing been district attorney in 1853 and again in 1862: also 
a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867. The 
law reports bear record of his learning and wisdom as 
a judge. 

John Woodward was appointed a justice of the Su- 
preme Court to fill a vacancy in 1896, and was that 
year elected for the full term of fourteen years. He 
was soon assigned by the Governor to the Appellate 
Division of the Second Department. Judge Woodward 
was one of the youngest and most talented men holding 
a judicial position in this State, and several of his opin- 
ions received the marked approval of the highest court. 
Prior to his election to the Supreme Court he was Dis- 
trict Attorney of the county. He is now (1921) a member 
of the Appellate Division of the Third Department. 

Warren B. Hooker was elected to the Supreme Court 
in 1809, after service in the National House of Repre- 
sentatives since 1S90. 

John S. Lambert was county judge 1882-1889; and 
since January 1, 1890, a justice of the Supreme Court, 
a man whose accurate learning, polished wit, practical 
and pointed elocution, have given him high position and 
the esteem and confidence of the people. 

Madison Burnell must be mentioned, though briefly, 
as belonging to the elect of our early judiciary. He 
studied law under Judge Marvin, and soon came to be 
known as a lawyer of unusual legal ability, excelling 
as a criminal lawyer, with persuasive oratorical powers 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



so effective that Judge Mullett felt it necessary to warn 
the jurors lest thev should fall a prey to his eloquence. 
In justice to Mr. Burnell it may be said that he was a 
man of a very high degree of honor, and despised all 
trickery. 

John C. Spencer, son of Judge Ambrose Spencer, was 
a practicing attorney of this county, and became Secre- 
tary of War in 1841 and Secretary of the Treasury in 
1843, in the cabinet of President Tyler. He was a grad- 
uate of Union College in 1806, lawyer, postmaster, As- 
semblyman, brigade judge advocate of the army, Assist- 
ant Attorney General, Speaker, State Senator, Secretary 
of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction (all New 
York State offices) before being called to national posi- 
tion, a man who put many useful things in the laws of 
the State of New York and served well. 

Emory F. Warren began his career as a lawyer, prac- 
ticing ten years in Jamestown, but later becoming edi- 
tor of the "Jamestown Journal." He was interested in 
preserving the early life of the county, and wrote a 
history of Chautauqua which was published in 1846. 

There are others of the past of whom much could be 
written — "some had fame, some had fortune, some had 
disappointment— all had death." Among the many may 
be mentioned Abram Dixon, first lawyer of Westfield ; 
Tohn Birdsall, once justice of the Supreme Court of the 
Eighth Judicial District and afterwards Chief Justice 
and Attorney-General of the Republic of Texas ; James 
D. Strang, of Mormon fame ; Elisha Ward, whose fav- 
orite pastime was reading the Greek Testament ; Wil- 
liam H. Seward, who was admitted to practice in 1836; 
William M. Newton, the memory of whose powerful 
eloquence still lingers with the profession ; Oscar John- 
son, a student and man of letters and a wise counsellor; 
Walter L. Sessions, distinguished in the halls of the 
National Congress, where he served for many years; 
John G. Record, who stood very high in the esteem of 
his professional brethren and in the community in which 
he lived. 

The patriarch of the Chautauqua County Bar was 
Austin Smith, of Westfield. He was for m3ny years 
principal of the Fredonia Academy, and among his 
students was Madison Burnell. He was a contemporary 
of James Mullett, Abner Hazeltine, and Samuel A. 
Brown. In Young's "History of Chautauqua County," 
published in 1875. it is stated "he is the oldest member 
of the Bar in this county now living, except Hon. Abner 
Hazeltine of Jamestown." Far back in 1843, when Judge 
Elial T. Foote retired from the bench, we find the name 
of Austin Smith signed, with other members of the Bar, 
to a memorial rehearsing the virtues of that distin- 
guished judge. During this marvelous career he was 
universally esteemed an able lawyer. 

Some not already referred to constitute a group of 
divergently illustrious men : Clark R. Lockwood, of 
Jamestown, who for almost half a century was in active 
practice; Lorenzo Morris, of Fredonia, a Jeffersonian 
Democrat of the old school, once State Senator, after 
1844 holding a commanding position at the Bar ; 
Charles D. Murray, of Dunkirk, admitted to practice in 
i860, whose dignified and stately manner, grace and 
elegance of diction and deep learning made him a 
leader in the profession. Obed Edson successfully fol- 
lowed the practice of law for nearly fifty years; he was 
undoubtedly the best equipped historian of this county. 
James I. Fowler was for many years associated with 
Edward R. Bootey, and then with James L. Weeks ; he 
never sought the trial of causes, but was a close student 
of the law and one of the safest of counsellors, a man of 
absolute honesty and a hater of shams. Alonzo C. 
Pickard served with distinction during the Civil War, 
and for many years was one of the most active and suc- 



cessful practitioners. Winfield S. Cameron also devoted 
some of his best years to the service of his country dur- 
ing the Rebellion. Frank W. Stevens had an enviable 
standing for ability and uprightness throughout West- 
ern New York, and the confidence of the judiciary. He 
served as District Attorney of Cattaraugus county. He 
was grave, reserved and dignified, endowed with pro- 
found learning and a high order of eloquence. Arthur 
C. Wade had an established reputation for professional 
and business ability extending far beyond the borders 
of our State. He was associated with Mayne R. Steven- 
son in his law business, and occupied responsible posi- 
tions in many of the largest corporations in this vicinity. 
He successfuly defended the accused in many impor- 
tant criminal trials ; but in none that so attracted the 
attention of the whole country for its brilliancy as in 
the second trial of Howard C. Benham for the murder 
of his wife. When Mr. Wade was called into the case 
the defendant's conviction had been affirmed by the 
Court of Appeals. Within a few hours before the time 
fixed for his client's execution, he procured an order 
for a new trial. With his unrivalled powers of bewitch- 
ing juries and convincing courts, he secured an acquittal. 

The Constitutional Convention of 1846 marked an 
important departure in the judicial system of the State. 
The courts were entirely reorganized, and the people 
were given the privilege and responsibility of electing 
the judges. In April, 1S48, a statute was enacted known 
as the "Code of Procedure," which became operative in 
July, 1S48. "This enactment," says Hon. Obed Edson, "en- 
tirely revolutionized the practice of the various courts. 
It abolished the distinction between suits at law and 
suits of equity, the whole system of pleading was re- 
formed, and many other changes were made of radical 
and important character respecting procedure in civil 
actions. The changes made by the code in practice' and 
pleading much affected the legal profession. Lawyers 
who had mastered the settled principles that had gov- 
erened the practice were now obliged to devote much 
study to the perplexing questions that arose under the 
new system. Attorneys then past their prime were 
naturally disinclined to renew their studies, and many 
of the older lawyers ceased to take as active a part in 
the profession as before, and some entirely retired from 
it." And so we come to the close of the first period in 
the life of the Bar of Chautauqua county. Xow at the 
close of the second decade of the second century of the 
county's history, the Bar was never more vigorous and 
never was more thoughly equipped with men of talent, 
close reasoners and effective advocates. 

The Bar of Chautauqua county in 1820 numbered thir- 
teen members; in 1830 sixteen; in 1840, forty-three; in 
1894, ninety, and in 1921, one hundred twenty-seven. 
The following is the legal roster: 

Brocton — John L Campbell, Franz C. Lewis, Orrie A. 

Cherry Creek— Edgar W. Curtis, Richard A. Hall. 

Celoron — Cyrus B. Wilson. 

Dunkirk — Charles E. Anglim, Robert J. Cooper, 
Tin. n as J. Cummings, Samuel P. Fox. John LeRoy 
IIuiil.iTt. Simon J. Kaiin. Lyman A. Kilburn. Thomas 
H. Larkins, Nugent & Heffernan (Albert E. Nugent, 

Th as P. Heffernan). Palmer & Rowe (Nelson J. 

Palmer. Muiie L. Rowe). John K. Patterson, Jr.. Leslie 
A. Ptase, Daniel A. Reed, Rollin W. Snow. Lester F. 
Stearns. Francis S. Stegelske. John L. Sullivan, War- 
ner & Wooilin (Elton D. Warner. Glenn W. Woodin), 
Joseph C. White. Fred G. Wyman. 

Ellington — Theodore A. Case. 

Falconer— Crosby & Crosby (Harley N. Crosby, Carl 
Rex Crosby). Archie D. Falconer. 

Forestvill. — Walter Record. Herbert P. White. 

Fredonia— Herbert P. Bishop, Henry A. Clark. S. Ray 
Fairbanks, Hon. John S. Lambert. Louis 
Arthur R. Moore, William S. Stearns, Clinl 

Jamestown — Royal M. Bates. George R. Butts, D. 



Tar- 



BENCH AND BAR 



429 



Lawn nee Carlson. Cawcroft & Guinnane (Ernest Caw- 
croft. Patrick S. Guinnane). J. Delevan Curtiss, Frank 
G. Curtis. Dean, Edwin ,V Jackson (Benjamin S. Dean, 
Walter II. Edson. Robert H. Jackson), Love T. Durand, 
Leon L. Fancher. Marion H. Fisher. Fowler .v Hunt (J. 
Samuel Fowler, Herbert L. Hunt), Glenn A. Frank, 
Alfred L. Furlow. Frederick Garfield. Edward J. Green. 
Eleazer Green, Charles S. Grover, Arthur H. Hitchcock, 
A. Frank Jenks, Clayton M. Jones, Jude, Blackmon & 
Johnson (George W. Jude, George M. Blackmon, 
Adolph F. Johnson.), Arthur W. Kettle. Arthur E. Lau- 
deiislagor. John S. Leonard. Harry R. Lewis. .Michael D. 
Loml.ardo. Henry S. .Manley. Mott & ottaway (Frank 
H. Mott, Lee L. Ottaway). lirant E. Neil. Augustus C. 
X.-lson. Olof A. Olson. Pickard & Bodine (Clare A. 
Piekard. Hush V. X. Bodine), Ray F. Pickard. John H. 
Prath.r. Cheston A. Price. Wilson C. Price. Orsel C. 
Price. Rice & Ross (Joseph F. Rice. Emmet II. Ross). 
J. Russell Rogerson. James P. Stafford, Frank W. Ste- 
vens, Mayne R. Stevenson. Emmons G. Swift. Thrasher. 
Cole &- Clapp (Louis L. Thrasher, Marvin L. Clapp), 
Van Vlack, Peterson & Bargar (Lynn R. Van Vlack, A. 
Rarthoidi Peterson. Allen A. Bargar), Wheeler & 
Bootey (Frank S. Wheeler, Edward R. Bootey), Charles 



H. Wiliorg, Wicks & Rex ford (John G. Wicks. Warner 
S. Rexford). Lawrence W. Wiltsie. 

Lakewood — Nathan D. Lewis. 

May ville— William G. Martin, A. Rov Perkins, Harry 
M. Young. 

Parama— T. W. Schiller. 

Sherman — Freeman L. Morris, David H. Stanton. 

Silver Creek — Carlton B. Livermore. 

Sinclairville— Charles M. Reed, Fred H. Sylvester. 

Watts Flats — Arthur L. Richardson. 

Westfleld — James R. Douglass. Gibbs & Williamson 
(Gerald G. Gihhs. Henry C. Williamson). Silas W. Ma- 
son. George A. Newbury, Ottaway & Munson (Arthur 
I., ottaway, Harlan L. Munson). James H. Prendergast, 
Wilson Rood, William Russell, Arthur S. Tennant. 

The Police Justice Court of Dunkirk was discontinued 
December 31, 1909, by the adoption of a new city charter, 
and the Municipal Court began on January 1, 1910. The 
judges of this court have been Albert E. Nugent, Samuel 
P. Fox, Charles E. Anglin. Their official term was four 
years. 



CHAUTAUQUA LAKE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
By W. A. Bradshaw. 



That the beauties of Chautauqua Lake have long been 
extolled by pen, brush and camera, goes without saying, 
but its actual physical features, although well known to 
its habitues, have never been extensively dwelt upon in 
print. Nor is the subject one of great interest either to 
writer or reader, yet a history of Chautauqua county 
without some detailed information regarding its famous 
lake would seem to be incomplete. 

The utilitarian purposes of the lake as a navigable 
waterway, from the days of Indian canoe to those of 
modern steamboat, have become matters of historical 
record, as have also its geological features, therefore lit- 
tle remains for this chapter to deal with other than a 
brief statement of commonplace facts. 

Before the year 1902 no accurate contour map of 
Chautauqua Lake existed, and distances from point to 
point on its surface were for the most part matters of 
opinion, but in that year a joint survey by the United 
States Government and the State of New York pro- 
duced a contour map of the lake and surrounding region 
that is practically accurate. Prior to that time, in fact, 
as long ago as 1875, a civil engineer with a party of 
assistants chained the distance from Jamestown to May- 
ville on the ice, and at various other times in later days 
the boating organizations of the lake have made many 
other measurements on the ice between various points, 
so that information on this subject is now practically 
complete and accurate. 

The length of the lake as measured along the shortest 
navigable channel between the steamboat piers at Celo- 
ron and Mayville is 14.7 miles. A measurement taken 
from the first bend of Chadakoin river to the inlet 
beyond Mayville adds 1.3 miles to this distance, making 
the extreme over all length 16 miles. Adding the length 
of the Chadakoin river, the navigable distance from 
Jamestown to the Mayville pier is 17.7 miles. The wid- 
est part of the lake lies between Belleview and Sher- 
man's Bay, two miles. Next in width is the part lying 
between Chautauqua and Dewittville Bay, 1.8 miles, 
which width is pretty nearly attained between Maple 
Springs and Whitney's Bay. 

The surface area of that part of the lake lying above 
Bemus ferry is 11.07 square miles and that of the lower 
portion 9.28 square miles. The mean elevation of the 
lake is 1,308 feet above sea level, being 700 feet greater 
than that of Lake Erie, eight and one-half miles distant. 

Of the two portions of the lake, the upper is much the 
deeper, its depth ranging from twenty feet near May- 



ville to more than eighty feet as Long Point is ap- 
proached. The surveying party of 1875, who also made 
soundings, reported a depth of 93 feet at a point lying 
somewhere between Maple Springs and Victoria, but 
this depression in the bottom is evidently of small area, 
as subsequent soundings have thus far failed to locate 
it. The depth of the lower lake ranges from about 
thirty feet near the narrows to about ten feet at the 
entrance to the Chadakoin river. All of the lake lying 
below Belleview is shallow, and appears to be gradually 
filling up with silt. 

Chautauqua Lake lies between ranges of hills rising 
from 200 to 300 feet above its surface, and of its shore 
line of fifty or more miles comparatively few miles are 
marshland, and much of this has been reclaimed for 
cottage sites. 

Half a century ago the shores of the lake were given 
over entirely to farm and woodlands, the summer cot- 
tages being as yet an undeveloped factor. But summer 
hotels had already made their appearance and began to 
multiply rapidly. They did a flourishing business for 
a time, but finally a period of decadence set in and most 
of the large hostelries faded from the map, saving only 
those located at Bemus Point, which have prospered 
continuously since their beginnings from twenty-five to 
fifty years ago. The old pioneer Whittemore House at 
Fluvanna was among the first to retire, being sold and 
cut up into farm houses. The hotel at Greenhurst has 
been abandoned for some years, while its neighbor at 
Griffith's Point has been torn down. That at Belleview 
has been turned into a club house, and the old Barnes 
Hotel at Maple Springs has been transformed into a pri- 
vate residence. The mammoth Grand Hotel at Point 
Chautauqua went up in smoke years ago, as did also the 
hotel at Point Wooglin, the Chautauqua and Mayville 
Houses, and that at Wahmeda. The Kent House and 
the Sterlingworth Inn, the two great hotels that were 
once the glory of Lakewood, finally gave up the ghost 
and went the way of the others, the "former falling under 
the axe of the wrecker, and the latter going up in flames. 
None of these hostelries has ever been replaced. 

A variety of causes contributed to the downfall of 
these hotels, but probably a leading one was the fact 
that people preferred home life in cottages or camps to 
that in the confined quarters of a summer hotel. At 
all events, with the decline of hotels the growth of cot- 
tages rapidly increased, and such of the farmers as are 
willing to part with their water-front lands have no dif- 



43° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



ficulty in doing so. Indeed, cottage life has so enor- 
mously increased around the lake of late years that most 
of the desirable sites in the market have been taken up 
and good ones difficult to secure, while would-be pur- 
chasers are besieging farmers to release the remaining 
undeveloped shore-lands. These summer colonies nearly 
surround the lake, and the interuban trolley stations 
indicating the location of a summer hamlet are in many 
cases less than a mile apart. The State highways around 
the lake, the immediate presence of splendid fruit, vege- 
table and dairy farms, and the limitless supply of pure 
cnld drinking water, all contribute to the comfort and 
pleasure of the cottagers, many of whom come from far 
distant States to enjoy their annual health-giving out- 
ing on the shores of old Chautauqua. 

Of the lesser lakes in the county, Cassadaga is the 
foremost, lying at the base of a steep hill towering 400 



feet above it, ten miles northeast of Chautauqua Lake. 
This lake is more properly a chain of three ponds ex- 
tending about two miles in length. 

Lily Dale, with its host of summer cottages, lies on 
the eastern shore, but aside from this portion much of 
its borders are marshy. 

Findley Lake lies between two hills overtopping it by 
two hundred feet, at a distance of sixteen miles south- 
west of Chautauqua. It is two miles long, with a max- 
imum breadth of one-half a mile, and has an elevation 
more than one hundred feet greater than that of Chau- 
tauqua Lake. It is an attractive sheet of water, but its 
remoteness from transportation lines impairs its avail- 
ability for cottagers. The same is true of Bear Lake, 
laying about eight miles northeast of Chautauqua. It is 
one mile in length and one-fourth of a mile in width. 
Much of its shore line is marshy. 



IRON AND STEEL. 



The manufacture of iron and steel is one of the most 
ancient of the arts and sciences known in history. There 
is indisputable evidence that this is so ; as there are in. 
existence even today implements, crude tools and other 
work done in iron and steel dating back well toward the 
beginning of history. Probably the best example of a 
large and impressive nature is the "Iron Column of 
Delphi," which was melted, formed and erected many 
centuries before the birth of Christ. And of particular 
interest is this shaft of ancient iron-craft in that it is 
practically rust proof — a subject which has baffled the 
metallurgists of our own iron age. 

Chautauqua county, while it has immense plants de- 
voted to the manufacture of machines and machinery and 
other products made from iron and steel, has but one 
plant where steel itself is made, the Atlas Crucible Steel 
Company of Dunkirk, their specialty being tool steel. 
According to F. B. Lounsberry, metallurgical engineer 
at the Atlas plant, tool steel includes all steel capable of 
being made into tools, and as such and after suitable treat- 
ment, capable of doing work upon other steels, metals, or 
substances. This will include the simple carbon tool steels 
and alloy tool steels. These Mr. Lounsberry thus defines : 
"By simple carbon tool steels is meant steels which contain 
no elements other than silicon, manganese, phosphorus, and 
sulphur, and whose physical properties depend upon the 
carbon content only, the carbon content varying from 
0.50% to 2.20%, depending on the use, but for most pur- 
poses between .75% and 1.35%. By alloy tool steels is 
meant steels which contain all of the above elements, and 
in addition varying percentages of one or more of the 
following elements: Tungsten, chromium, vanadium, 
cobalt, molybdenum, etc., in sufficient quantities to affect 
the physical properties of the steel. 

The Atlas Crucible Steel Company manufactures both 
carbon and alloy steels made under the crucible and 
electric furnace processes of making tool steel, which 
have proven the best to produce that perfect uniformity 
absolutely essential to a perfect alloy tool steel. As in 
most other manufacturing processes, what are termed its 
raw materials are the finished products of some other 
industry. So in the manufacture of tool steel very few 
virgin materials are used, but rather the finished products 
of some other process. Thus are used various kinds of 
scrap steel, the products of the crucible, electric, and 
open-hearth steels processes ; wash-metal, the product of 
a special open-hearth process ; pig-iron, the product of 
the blast furnace; melting or muck bar, the product of 
the puddling furnace ; ferro-tungsten, ferro-chrome, 
ferro-vanadium, ferro-manganese, ferro-silicon, etc., all 



finished products of still other processes. At the Atlas 
plant ferro-tungsten is produced by the reduction of 
tungsten ore concentrates under the influence of the elec- 
tric arc in small electric furnaces. 

From the time of the beginning of the steel compound- 
ing and melting operation, when the various materials 
which constitute the base of the mix for the charge are 
carefully weighed out, during the melting process in the 
graphite crucibles in the fiery furnaces, through the 
pouring, casting, hammering, rolling, and annealing, 
every process is carefully watched by experts, tests being 
frequently made, and at the finish the annealed bars go 
to a final inspection department. Here each individual 
bar is carefully gone over for size and surface conditions, 
a portion from each end is broken off so that the condi- 
tion of the grain can be examined. From this examina- 
tion can be learned whether or not the annealing has 
been correct, whether the bars have been decarbonized 
in the mill or in the annealing, and whether the bars 
have any minute pipes or other internal imperfections. 
The man doing this inspection work becomes highly 
skilled, and can pick out small pipes and imperfections 
which the ordinary person could not see. Here also sev- 
eral ends from every different lot of bars from each 
heat are taken and tested for hardness. Certain limits 
of hardness are established for the different grades and 
tempers of steel, and unless the tests come within these 
limits the material is rejected for reannealing. After 
the bars have passed this final inspection, they are sawed, 
straightened, stamped and bundled ready for shipment. 
While the entire process requires constant vigilance and 
attention in order to produce quality material, which every 
tool steel manufacturer should desire, by far the great- 
est part of the task of maintaining the quality of the 
product falls to the metallurgist, who usually has at his 
disposal a well equipped physical or metallurgical lab- 
oratory and capable assistants. One of his most useful 
friends in this work is the microscope. By the proper 
application of this instrument he is able to control the 
internal structure of his product, and is able to tell when 
things are not going right, and by making frequent ob- 
servations of the ingots, billets, and finished product he 
is able to keep the entire lineup on a good basis. Another 
instrument of value is the transformation point apparatus 
with which he is able to accurately determine the critical 
ranges. Another apparatus which up to the present time 
has not received very much attention, but which will in 
the future development of testings, is the permeameter 
for measuring the magnetic properties of steel. 

The Atlas Crucible Steel Company is firmly estab- 



IRON AND STEEL 



431 



lished in the tool and special steel industry, but their 
plans for the future include vast plant additions and a 
new department in which structural steel shall be manu- 
factured, such as may be used in axles for automobiles 
and for kindred purposes. The company not only stands 
high in the industrial world as manufacturers of high 
grade tool steel, but from time to time the management 
has taken progressive steps to promote the personal inter- 
ests of the employees associated with them in the opera- 
tion of the property. Perhaps the most important step 
of all was announced by Arthur H. Hunter, president 
of the company, at the annual meeting in January, 1920 — 
a carefully considered plan of profit sharing which in- 
cluded all employees who have been continuously on the 
payroll of the company for a period of two or more 
years. After presenting the plan to the meeting, Presi- 
dent Hunter said: 



(and I am confident that 
lished an industrial democracy within this organiza- 
tion of the most ideal sort — a democracy that makes 
real partners of capital and labor and yet preserves 
the right of private property; that preserves and pro- 
motes the great business asset that comes from indi- 
vidual initiative; that retains the capitalist's incentive 
to enterprise while giving the worker a new inspira- 
tion for effort; that humanizes large organizations of 
men: that promotes a lasting industrial peace. All 
these things his country of ours needs today as never 
before. 



In the biographical volume of this work the career of 
Edward Burgess, founder of the Atlas Crucible Steel 
Company, is carefully traced. Herewith is an apprecia- 
tion printed in "High Speed," the house paper published 
by the company under date of March 5, 1919: 

Edward Burgess, 1846-1918 — The true epic of our times 
is not "Arms and the Man." but "Tools and the 
Man," an infinitely wider kind of epic— Carlyle. 

Edward Burgess, the founder of the Atlas Crucible 
Steel Company, was a Man. In all the wide world 
there is no one to dispute the fact. And there are 
thousands who knew and loved him. He played the 
great game of business according to the rules. He 
never speculated. He was no gambler. He bought no 
stock on margin. The only thing he ever bet on was 
his knowledge of his field and his ability to execute. 
He was a builder and a creator. 

Edward Burgess knew that he could benefit himself 
only as he benefited humanity. He abhored the slug- 
gard who would not plow by reason of the cold and 
therefore begged in harvest. His was an active, vet 
gentle life. Sensitive and tender was the heart of this 
bus> man. and precious to him was human fellowship. 

Edward Burgess climbed with unwearied step the 
ladder from whose height he beheld the dawn of a 
radiant day— his beloved Atlas respected for its true 
worth in a field where competition had been so sharp 
and keen. He gloried in Atlas growth and prosperity, 
but modestly disclaimed the credit. The loyalty of 
"the boys" and of his friends, he said, was the secret 
of Atlas success. 

Edward Burgess passed to the Greater Life on Sep- 
tember 1, 1918. and flags are half-masted in Atlas 



JAMESTOWN BUSINESS COLLEGE. 



The Jamestown Business College, the only business 
college in Chautauqua county, was organized in October, 
1886. Mr. E. J. Coburn, the founder, possessed in a 
marked degree the essential qualities for arousing public 
interest in a new enterprise. After several months of 
arduous labor, the services of an experienced educator, W. 
A. Warriner, Jr., were secured, and in December, 1887, a 
partnership was effected between E. J. Coburn, W. A. 
Warriner, Fred P. Hall and Frank E. Sessions, Messrs. 
Hall and Sessions adding financial strength, and Messrs. 
Coburn and Warriner remaining in charge of the insti- 
tution as business manager and principal respectively. 
In reorganizing the school, H. E. V. Porter, of Dickin- 
son College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was induced to take 
charge of the advanced department of the business course, 
and Miss K. A. Lambert, a teacher of Arnprior, Canada, 
was engaged for the preparatory department. A class in 
shorthand was also organized under the direction of 
Charles M. Brown, a practical stenographer of the city. 
Messrs. Coburn and Sessions soon retired, and in July, 
1888, J. E. McLean, an alumnus of Eastman National 
Business College, was engaged to organize and perfect a 
school of phonography. Later J. P. Byrne, an expert 
in pen art, was engaged as an instructor in penmanship. 
For about a year all departments of the school work 
progressed smoothly. 

In the meantime the financing of the institution had 
become a serious problem, which together with the un- 
certainty of business management prompted Messrs. Por- 
ter and Byrne to resign. This crisis in the history of 
the school was met by leading business men of the city, 
who realized the importance of a reliable and permanent 
institution, where business principles and business methods 
could and would be taught in an able and efficient man- 
ner to meet the growing demand for office help. With 
this purpose in view, they took over the private enter- 
prise in August, 1889, and incorporated it as a college, 
under the corporate name of the Jamestown Business 
College Association, Limited. The original incorporators 
were Robert N. Marvin, Edgar P. Putnam, W. H. Proud- 



fit, William A. Hallock, Elliot C. Hall, John J. Aldrich, 
Eleazer Green, W. A. Warriner and Fred P. Hall, all of 
whom were elected directors for the first year. 

Regardless of the limited income from tuition for sev- 
eral years, these men continued to employ the best in- 
structors obtainable, in order to maintain the high stand- 
ards of business efficiency they had attempted to establish. 
Thus the reputation of the college for thorough work 
became known and the patronage of the school increased. 
W. A. Warriner was the first president of the corpora- 
tion, and F. P. Hall the first secretary-treasurer. In 
March, 1890, Mr. Warriner resigned, and was suc- 
ceeded in office by J. J. Crandall, a former school com- 
missioner and member of the New York State bar. F. 
W. Crossneld, a high school principal, was employed as 
assistant. H. E. V. Porter was recalled to his former 
position as director in the school of business, and O. J. 
Penrose was engaged as penman. Mr. Crandall re- 
mained with the school but one year, and, Mr. Penrose 
having resigned, J. P. Byrne returned to his former post 
of duty. 

In May, 1802, the school removed from East Third 
street to the New Gokey building on West Third street, 
where with new equipment and enlarged facilities re- 
newed effort was made to build up the school. The 
annual meeting of that year resulted in a new board of 
directors, which was followed by the unanimous election 
of H. E. V. Porter as president of the corporation and 
principal of the school. At the same time J. E. Mc- 
Lean was elected secretary-treasurer of the corporation 
and associate principal. The faculty was further 
strengthened by the employment of Mahlon H. Penrose, 
an experienced educator in schools East and West; Miss 
Minnie Peterson, a former student of the school, and 
Arthur J. Porter, of Pennington Collegiate Institute and 
the Zanerian Art College. The new management faced 
a heavy burden of accumulated obligations sufficient to 
have thrown the enterprise into immediate insolvency 
except for the personal guarantee of Elliot C. Hall and 
the business standing of his associates. 



432 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



In 1894 President Porter was reelected chief execu- 
tive of the company and of the school, which relation 
he has continued to hold by annual reelection down to 
the present time. During his administration he has been 
ably supported by instructors of force and character, 
some of whom have been identified with the institution 
for long periods of years — Effie E. Chase, for fifteen 
years in the business department, is now in high school 
work in the city of Des Moines ; John T. Yates, seven 
years in the school of shorthand, now with the Fisher 
Schools of Boston ; O. O. Gates, recognized as an 
accountant of rare ability, after five years of service 
resumed his profession as supervising accountant in the 
city. Captain Richard Humphrey Vipan, still identified 
with the institution, has directed the shorthand depart- 
ment for fifteen years. 

In March, 191 0, a disastrous fire swept through the 
heart of the city, destroying the building in which the 
school was located, with its entire contents. While the 
firemen were still battling the conflagration, new supplies 
and new equipment were ordered by wire, and in three 
days the school was running regularly in temporary quar- 
ters secured in the Young Men's Christian Association. 
The board of directors immediately authorized the con- 
struction of a new fireproof building on land in the 
center of the city, previously purchased as an ideal loca- 
tion for a business college building. 

Ground was broken by the contractors in the latter 
part of May, and the building was occupied in part the 
following November, although not formally opened to 
the public till the 28th of the following April, 191 1. On 
that date the building was dedicated with impressive cere- 
monies, embodying the general statement : "This build- 
ing, erected for the definite purpose of effectually aiding 
young men and young women to qualify themselves for 
usefulness in commercial pursuits, is hereby dedicated in 
all the educational departments and agencies of influence 
to honor, integrity and efficiency." The public press of 
the city referred to this statement as a "classic declara- 
tion of the inspiring principles and motives clearly indi- 
cative of the high purpose and policy by which the insti- 



tution is conducted." The entire building is devoted to 
the requirements of the college. It is a handsome three- 
story structure, having on the ground floor an auditorium 
and gymnasium, with seating capacity for six hundred. 
The increased attendance at the college in recent years 
has congested some of the departments, on account of 
which an annex to accommodate a class of fifty or sixty 
students was built on during the fall of 1920. The prin- 
cipal athletic sport of the school centers in basketball, 
participated in by both boys and girls under competent 
leadership. 

During the World War, 128 students and former stu- 
dents were enlisted for active service, six of whom made 
the supreme sacrifice for their country. A bronze memo- 
rial tablet, on which is inscribed the name of each, occu- 
pies a conspicuous position in the main lobby. Lifesize 
portraits in natural colors of Corporal William H. An- 
gove, who fell in battle on the Hindenburg line, Sep- 
tember 29, 1917, and Lieutenant Rudolph E. Peterson, 
who was killed in action November 4, 1917, are also a 
perpetual reminder of the sacrifices made to defend the 
rights of humanity. 

The officers of the company at present are H. E. V. 
Porter, president and principal ; R. H. Vipan, vice-presi- 
dent ; A. J. Porter, secretary-treasurer. The faculty is 
composed of H. E. V. Porter, principal ; Richard Vipan, 
C. G. Davis, Miss Maine Hamilton, Miss Sara McMahon, 
Miss Anna Greenleaf, Miss Lucy Huggler, and office 
clerk, Miss Ethel A. Eddy. 

President Porter has been identified with many inter- 
ests in the city of Jamestown. As president of the Dahl- 
strom Metallic Door Company, one of the large local 
manufacturing industries, he is brought in contact with 
extensive commercial affairs. He is a director in the 
Board of Commerce, and for eight years has served the 
city as alderman, being three times elected as president 
of the board. For nine years he has been president of 
the local Young Men's Christian Association, and he is 
now serving his eighth annual term as secretary of the 
National Association of Accredited Commercial Schools. 



THE PUBLIC UTILITIES OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 



The progressiveness and development of any community 
or region is largely attributed to well organized trans- 
portation, electric light and power, gas, telephone, and 
other utilities. Chautauqua county has shared largely 
from these advantages, which place its agricultural dis- 
tricts, manufacturing centers and summer resorts in a 
prominent and commanding position throughout the coun- 
try. 

Railroads — A number of the largest carriers in the 
United States traverse the county's area, and for many 
years points in Chautauqua county have been amongst 
the important stopping places en route. It is interesting 
to note that the longest railroad in the world in 1851 and 
the first great trunk line in America was the Erie, and 
further that it was the first railroad to join the Great 
Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, and the first to enter 
Chautauqua county. After the completion of its line to 
Dunkirk from New York City, on May 16, 1851, the first 
train arrived at Dunkirk, then the terminus, with a num- 
ber of distinguished guests on board, among them being 
Daniel Webster, Stephen A. Douglas, William H. Sew- 
ard, and Millard Fillmore, and notable speeches were 
made by them in compliment to this great railroad 
achievement. Since that time more great trunk lines and 
their branches have sought Chautauqua county as a field 
of enterprise. 



The main line of the New York Central Lines west 
from Buffalo runs through the county, starting at Irving 
and leaving at State Line, and among its most impor- 
tant stops are Silver Creek, Dunkirk, Brocton, Westfield 
and Ripley. The New York Central also owns the Dun- 
kirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittburgh railroad, which 
starts at Dunkirk and stops at important towns along its 
line, as follows : Fredonia, Laona, Lillydale, Cassadaga. 
Sinclairville, Gerry, Falconer, Frewsburg, Fentonville 
and from there on to Titusville, Pa. The main line of 
the Erie railroad over the Meadville Division, recently 
named the Ohio Division, enters Chautauqua county at 
Waterboro and stops at Kennedy, Falconer Junction, 
Jamestown, Lakewood, and passes out of the county near 
Niobe, and from there west to Corry, Pa., and other 
points. The first train to arrive in Jamestown on this 
line was on August 23, i860. The Erie also owns the 
old Buffalo & Southwestern railroad, which runs from 
Jamestown to Buffalo, and stops at Falconer Junction, 
Kennedy (Randolph, Cattaraugus county), Conewango 
Valley, and leaves the county at Cherry Creek, going 
from there to Buffalo. The Pennsylvania System owns 
the old Western New York & Pennsylvania railroad, 
which is now the Allegheny Division. It enters Chau- 
tauqua county at Irving and passes through Silver Creek, 
Dunkirk, Brocton, Mayville, Sherman, North Clymer, 



THE PUBLIC UTILITIES OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



433 



and leaves the county at Clymer, where it continues on to 
Pittsburgh. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis rail- 
road, perhaps better known as the Nickle Plate, runs 
parallel with the New York Central Line and touches all 
points from Irving to State Line. 

Electric Cars — The coming of electric cars was pre- 
ceded by the old horse cars which started to run June 20, 
1884, in Jamestown, this being the advent of first street 
railway transportation in Chautauqua county. On June 
II, i8qo, the first electrically driven street cars in the 
county were put in operation by the Jamestown Street 
Railway Company in Jamestown. Following this, lines 
were extended to Falconer, Lakewood and Celoron by 
this company. 

With rapid stride on came the interurban trolley lines 
as follows : The Chautauqua Traction Line on the west 
side of Chautauqua Lake from Jamestown through Lake- 
wood, Ashville, Chautauqua, Mayville, and to Westfield ; 
the Warren and Jamestown street railway from War- 
ren, Pa., to Jamestown, coming through Fentonville and 
Frewsburg ; the Dunkirk and Fredonia car line and the 
Buffalo and Lake Erie Traction line running from Buf- 
falo to Erie, which runs through the towns of Irving, 
Silver Creek, Sheridan, Dunkirk, Fredonia, Brocton, 
Portland, Westfield, Ripley and State Line. The James- 
town, Chautauqua and Lake Erie steam railroad was 
later changed to electric and operated under the new 
name of the Jamestown, Westfield and Northwestern 
railroad, which starts at Jamestown and passes through 
the towns of Fluvanna, Greenhurst, Bemus Point, Maple 
Springs, Dewittville, Point Chautauqua, Mayville and 
terminates at Westfield. 

Marixe — While Chautauqua county is bounded on the 
north by Lake Erie and has within its bounds Lake 
Chautauqua, it has not to any considerable degree en- 
gaged in maritime commerce. Some shipping was done 
in and out of Dunkirk and Barcelona in early days, but 
most of the commerce was discontinued with the coming 
of the railroads. Dunkirk has a fine harbor and break- 
water constructed by the government in recent years, 
which offers a refuge for boats during stormy weather 
and there still is a little shipping done in and out of this 
harbor. In early days a large portion of the merchan- 
dise used in Jamestown and vicinity was brought in by 
boat to Barcelona on Lake Erie, then transported by oxen 
and horse to Mayville ; thence by water on Lake Chau- 
tauqua from Mayville to Jamestown. A great deal of 
logging and other cargoes were shipped over the lake in 
early days to Jamestown ; many cargoes were made up at 
Jamestown and rafted down the Chadakoin creek to the 
Conewango and from there by the Allegheny and Ohio 
rivers to various southern points. 

The boats that ply Lake Chautauqua have in the past 
carried much freight, but since the coming of trolley 
transportation and good roads this has lessened the 
freight traffic. However, the passenger service is in- 
creasing from year to year, due to the large expansion 
of excursion and summer population trade along Chau- 
tauqua Lake. The Chautauqua Lake Navigation Com- 
pany run several large steamers up and down the Lake 
stopping at Celoron, Lakewood, Bemus Point, Maple 
Spring, Midway Park, Chautauqua, Point Chautauqua 
and Mayville. A ferry boat which operates across the 
lake from Bemus Point to Stow, in the course of a year 
carries many vehicles and passengers. 

Electricity — The electric lighting and power industry 
for Chautauqua county began in 1881, when Mr. Thomas 
Henry Smith, of Jamestown, purchased and installed in 
his mill, known as the Jamestown Cotton Mills, the first 
dynamo for electric lighting. This dynamo was received 
October 4, 1881, and was known as the Brush Arc Light- 
ing Machine No. 7, and was capable of lighting about 
Chau— 28 



thirty-two old-style open arc lamps. On January 26, 
1885, Mr. Smith received a permit from the village coun- 
cil of Jamestown to set poles, and on January 30, 1885, 
the first load of poles was received and one pole was set 
on that day. About this time the arc lights which were 
purchased to light the streets were all hung up on one 
floor of the Cotton Mills and were on exhibition to the 
public, and on February 27, 1885, Main street and Brook- 
lyn square, together with several stores, were illuminated 
by electricity for the first time. Shortly after this a 
representative of the Thompson Houston Electric Com- 
pany installed a demonstrating plant in the basement of 
Allen's Opera House on First street, and connected this 
to the steam boiler, which was already installed in the 
Opera House basement, and demonstrated this plant for 
sixty days. Frederick Fuller's store and other places 
were lighted up during this demonstration. 

In 1887 the Jamestown Electric Lighting and Power 
Company was formed, and the power house was built on 
Race alley, just west of Brooklyn square. From that 
time on it has been a matter of invention, improvement, 
installment, development and organization of the large 
electrical interests in Chautauqua county, which have 
risen high in efficiency in the great electrical world. 
Much of the power consumed in the county is developed 
by steam and water in private or public owned plants, 
and other power comes from outside, especially from the 
great Niagara source. 

The Niagara and Erie Power Company transmission 
line extends from its starting point into Chautauqua 
county at Irving and parallels the New York Central 
and Nickle Plate railroads, running through the north- 
ern end of the county to the New York and Pennsyl- 
vania State Line. This power comes from Niagara Falls, 
and renders its service to various consumers along the 
line from Buffalo to Erie, and in Chautauqua county to 
the towns of Irving, Silver Creek, Sheridan, Pomfret, 
Stockton, Brocton, Fredonia, Dunkirk, and to Mr. Alfred 
Huntington of the town of Ripley, who operates the 
lighting and power business there. Dunkirk has a mu- 
nicipal plant developing part of its own power, and buy- 
ing the balance from the Niagara and Erie Power Com- 
pany, likewise the Chautauqua Traction Company buys 
part of its power from the Niagara Company. The 
Chautauqua Traction Company sells electricity to the 
village of Mayville for light and pumping water. The 
power house of the Jamestown Street Railway Com- 
pany generates electric power by the use of boilers and 
steam turbines, and sells electricity for power and light 
to the following corporations : Jamestown Street Rail- 
way Company ; Chautauqua Traction Company : James- 
town, Westfield and Northwestern Railway Company, 
and the Jamestown Lighting and Power Company, which 
in turn furnishes electricity to Jamestown, the village 
of Falconer, Celoron, and towns of Ellicott, and Busti. 
The Jamestown Street Railway Company also sells power 
to the Western New York Electric Company, who sup- 
plies electricity to the villages of Lakewood and Bemus 
Point, and the towns of Busti, Harmony, Chautauqua, 
and Ellery. 

The city of Jamestown generates its own electricity, 
and the village of Sherman also generates its own power. 
The Carroll Electric Light and Power Company supplies 
electricity to the village of Frewsburg, and towns of Car- 
roll and Kiantone. This electricity is supplied from the 
Warren and Jamestown Street Railway Company lines, 
whose power house is located below Warren, Pa. The 
electric light plant at Sinclairville is owned by William 
Huntington, and operated by water power and gasoline 
engines. The Clymer Power Corporation is owned and 
operated by Mr. G. H. Tempest, the electricity being 
generated by water power. The Panama Power Com- 



434 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



pany is owned and operated by Mr. Walter Tanner, who 
supplies electricity for the village of Panama; this cur- 
rent is generated also by water power. The towns of 
Ellington, Conewango and Cherry Creek are supplied 
with electricity from the Iroquois Utilities Company 
power lines, whose generating plants are located at Ran- 
dolph and Gowanda in Cattaraugus county. 

Telephone and Telegraph — The telephone situation 
of Chautauqua county dates back to 1880, when the first 
license was granted to Robert Marvin to install a tele- 
phone exchange in Jamestown. About the same time a 
license was also granted to W. D. Wann to install the 
Dunkirk Exchange. The Bell Telephone System was 
the leading interest in the inception of the first tele- 
phone lines in the county, and it was not until about 
twenty years later that the independent companies started 
their activities. George W. Appleby, a successful lumber 
dealer, established the first independent telephone system 
in the town of Harmony in the spring of 1902. To-day 
there are a large number of prosperous independent tele- 
phone companies within the county, and they have built 
up a large and efficient service under such individual 
management. These companies do a substantial town and 
large rural business and have an interchange service be- 
tween all companies. 

The Bell Telephone Company still operates in the 
northeast portion of Chautauqua county, in Dunkirk, 
Silver Creek, Forestville and Cherry Creek, but the inde- 
pendent lines have established themselves elsewhere. 
Among the independent lines are the Dunkirk and Fre- 
donia Telephone Company of Fredonia, Portland Tele- 
phone Company of Brocton, Westfield Telephone Com- 
pany of Westfield, Ripley Telephone Company of Ripley, 
Sherman Telephone Company of Sherman, Mayville 
Telephone Company of Mayville, Chautauqua Telephone 
Exchange at Chautauqua, Stockton Telephone Company 
of Stockton, South Stockton Telephone Company of 
South Stockton, Central Chautauqua Telephone Com- 
pany of Sinclairville, Sinclairville Independent Telephone 
Company of Sinclairville, Jamestown Telephone Com- 
pany of Jamestown, which covers Jamestown, Falconer, 
Kennedy, Ellington, Frewsburg, Lakewood and (Ran- 
dolph, Cattaraugus county), Ashville and Panama Tele- 
phone Company of Ashville; Findley Lake Telephone 
Company of Findley Lake, and the Cylmer Telephone 
Company of Clymer. 

On account of the nature of its service the telegraph 
business is necessarily confined to the management of 
two large concerns, rather than divided in small com- 
panies as in the case of the telephone. The two great 
companies which cover Chautauqua county are the West- 
ern Union Telegraph Company and the Postal Telegraph 
Cable Company. They are both essentially domestic tele- 
graph and foreign cable service companies. 

The Western Union is the pioneer line of this coun- 
try, having been merged by the consolidation of a few 
smaller companies in Civil War days. They extended 
their lines into Chautauqua county more than sixty years 
ago. This company has service stations in Jamestown, 
Chautauqua, Westfield, Brocton, Dunkirk, Fredonia and 
Silver Creek ; besides these, every railroad station in the 
county has Western Union Telegraph connections. There 
are telegraph agents in other towns where there are no 
railroad or other service stations. 



The Postal Telegraph Cable Company first entered 
Chautauqua county about thirty years ago, locating its 
local offices in Jamestown and Dunkirk, where they re- 
main to the present. It will be of interest to the readers 
to know that this company has a direct cable line west 
from New York City to San Francisco; thence to the 
Hawaiian Islands, the Philippine Islands, Japan and 
China, running right through the heart of Jamestown on 
East and West Second streets. 

Miscellaneous — Chautauqua county has been very 
fortunate in having natural gas fields of its own and 
being next door to the great gas producing area of north- 
western Pennsylvania. In the northern part of the 
county bordering on Lake Erie there is an underlying 
pool of gas that produces a substantial volume for use 
in the nearby towns. In the southern part of the county 
it might be mentioned that some oil has been found, but 
not in the great quantities such as the gas volume of the 
north. The following gas companies are located in Chau- 
tauqua county : South Shore Natural Gas and Fuel 
Company gets its gas from Erie and Chautauqua county, 
and supplies Dunkirk, Forestville, Mayville, Silver Creek, 
Westfield and Chautauqua. The Frost Gas Company gets 
its gas from northern Chautauqua county and supplies 
Fredonia, Dunkirk, Hanover, Pomfret, Sheridan, Lilly- 
dale and Stockton. The Silver Creek Gas and Improve- 
ment Company gets its gas near Silver Creek, and sup- 
plies part of the town and confines. The Pennsylvania 
Gas Company gets its gas in northern Pennsylvania and 
supplies Jamestown, the village of Falconer, and the 
town of Ellicott. There are a number of small users of 
gas who generate it by different inventive means, gaso- 
line, etc., and some also develop electric power. These 
consumers are principally located in the countryside and 
small settlements outside the reach of modern conven- 
iences. 

Most of the cities and towns of Chautauqua county 
have up-to-date high-pressure water systems, supplied 
principally by artesian wells. Some water comes from 
the lakes, but the wells are the main source. Several of 
the towns own their water plants and some are privately 
owned. The good old-fashioned well is still in vogue 
in a number of places. 

While improved roads do not come under the scope of 
public utilities, they are appreciated as one of the great- 
est public benefits of modern times. The great amount 
of automobile traffic, auto trucking and auto bus service 
from town to town, means much in the saving of time 
and money, as well as the great enjoyment to be found 
in touring a country which has so many beautiful spots 
as Chautauqua county. The State and county have built 
and completed roads in different parts of the county 
from Jamestown to Westfield, Jamestown to Randolph, 
Jamestown to Frewsburg, Jamestown almost to Gerry, 
Jamestown almost to Chautauqua, and Ellington to 
Waterboro, Findley Lake to Cutting, Ripley for a few 
miles south over the hill on the way to Sherman, Broc- 
ton to Stockton, Fredonia to Cassadaga, Fredonia to a 
few miles eastward, Dunkirk, for a few miles south- 
eastward to meet the above-mentioned Fredonia road; 
Irving to Silver Creek, Silver Creek to Forestville and 
Balcom Corners to Smith Mills, Bemus Point to almost 
Ellery, and from Frewsburg to Onoville. 



THE POPULATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 



The population of Chautauqua county, numbering about 
100,000, is principally made up of the descendants of the 
original pioneers who came into this county in the early 
part of 1800 from the New England States and other 



parts of the East. These people still retain the charac- 
teristics and sturdiness of their forbears, and they are 
represented in the leading business, professional, agri- 
cultural, and social activities of the county. 



THE POPULATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY 



435 



The Swedish population of Jamestown and surround- 
ing country has been described in another part of this 
work by Charles Alfred Okerlind, of Jamestown. 

In Jamestown and Falconer there is a large number of 
English, and they have became very prominent in some 
lines of business, especially the textile industries. Many 
of their nationality are at the head of the different mill- 
ing companies which have played such an important part 
in the industrial life of Chautauqua county. At one time 
a number of English families lived on the south side of 
Jamestown in a section called English Hill. Falconer 
has a good number of English residents as well as 
Jamestown. 

Dunkirk has a good percentage of Irish and those of 
Irish descent, and Jamestown has a substantial portion 
of people descended from the Irish and Scotch. There 
are a considerable number of Greeks, Armenians and 
Southern Europeans in Jamestown also. 

Jamestown and Falconer have Italian colonies, and in 
these two towns it is estimated that there are about six 
thousand substantial and thrifty people of this nationality. 
All through the Grape Belt in the towns of Silver Creek, 
Dunkirk, Fredonia, Brocton, Westfield and Ripley and 



in the rural sections, the Italian population is growing 
very rapidly. These people have taken to their natural 
inclinations and have become extensive vineyardists, 
makers of grape juice, and are engaged in the canning 
industry. A number of small canning factories are 
owned by them. They have many farms, and in the 
towns they have a good number represented in the busi- 
ness and professional life of the community. 

The Polish population of Dunkirk is a very pro- 
nounced one, and they have asserted themselves in the 
life of the city and have a large Polish district. They 
have built up many substantial homes, churches and 
schools, and are a progressive class of people. They 
essentially find occupation in the mechanical trades in 
the shops of Dunkirk, some are business and professional 
men, and a number are farmers. 

Dunkirk is the home of a number of substantial Ger- 
man families and families of German descent, and some 
live in Fredonia and Jamestown. In early Civil War 
days Dunkirk already had some of its first German fam- 
ilies, and among them could be found their sons who 
gave their services in the great conflict between the 
North and South. 



FRATERNAL ORDERS. 



Freemasonry in Chautauqua County — Men of 
every rank and condition of life and of every religion 
are members of the Masonic fraternity. Masonry is not 
a religion. It does not profess to be anything of the 
kind. The foolish talk, if it may be called that, about 
its being coequal with the church as a means of grace 
and salvation has been harmful. It is a union of good 
and true men who believe in God and practise the sacred 
duties of morality. It has no politics and knows no sect. 
It has come down to us from remote antiquity, and in 
every age it has stood for liberty, equality and govern- 
ment. 

The American rite of Freemasonry properly dates 
from the Revolution, when all allegiance to Great Britain 
was thrown off. Most of the statesmen of the Revolu- 
tionary War period, and nearly all the officers of the 
American army, were Masons. George Washington was 
initiated into the order while at Morristown, New Jersey, 
and later was master of the lodge at Alexandria, Virginia. 

The American rite is divided into four separate organi- 
zations. The word Rite, in its application to Freema- 
sonry, is applied to the Masonry practised. Thus, we 
speak of the lodge as Symbolic Masonry ; of the chapter 
as Capitular Masonry ; of the council as Cryptic Ma- 
sonry, and of the commandery, as Templar Masonry. 

The lodge, which is called "Blue" from the color pecu- 
liar to it, has jurisdiction in its own territory over the 
first three degrees to Master Mason; the chapter con- 
trols the next four degrees to the Royal Arch ; the coun- 
cil, which exists in some States and not in others, gov- 
erns the next three degrees ; and the commandery con- 
cludes the American rite, with the orders of Red Cross, 
Knight Templar and Knight of Malta. 

There is another rite of Masonry in the United States, 
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It was first 
organized in this country at Charleston, South Carolina, 
in 1801. Its postulants must be Master Masons in good 
standing. Its degrees, conferred in a series of subordi- 
nate bodies, number from the 4th to the 326, inclusive. 
It has an honorary degree, the 33d, conferred by the 
Supreme Council upon those who may be deemed to 
merit it. The degrees from the 4th to the 14th, inclu- 
sive, are conferred in "Lodges of Perfection ;" the 15th 
and 16th in "Councils of Princes of Jerusalem ;" the 17th 



and iSth in "Chapters of Rose Croix ;" and the 19th to 
32d, inclusive, in "Consistories." 

Masonry was introduced into the State of New York 
early in the eighteenth century. In 1805 there were one 
hundred lodges in the State. None, however, existed in 
any of the western counties. It was not till 1814 that a 
lodge was instituted in Buffalo. 

A movement for the introduction of Freemasonry into 
the county of Chautauqua was begun in 181 5, when about 
twenty prominent citizens and Masons, living along the 
lake shore, petitioned the Grand Lodge for a lodge at 
Fredonia, to be known as Forest Lodge; and on June 11, 
1816, a charter was granted. A little later, a number of 
equally substantial residents of the county residing in 
and around Jamestown and the Frank Settlement in 
Busti applied for a lodge at Jamestown, to be known as 
Mount Moriah Lodge, and on September 27, 1817, a char- 
ter was granted. From the organization of lodges at 
Fredonia and Jamestown, the order rapidly increased in 
number and lodges. Up to the year 1826, besides those 
above named, lodges had been instituted at Mayville, 
Sinclairville and Forestville ; and Western Sun Chapter 
at Jamestown. Many of the best and foremost men 
among those who came hither to establish homes became 
enthusiastic Masons and encouraged its growth and influ- 
ence. It is surprising to know with what bitterness they 
were assailed a little later. 

A terrible agitation, called the "Morgan Excitement," 
raged through the United States from 1827 to 1840, and 
for a time crushed Masonry. It put every lodge in 
Chautauqua county and throughout the State out of 
existence for nearly a quarter of a century; it brought 
the Masonic fraternity everywhere into disrespect, and 
the order itself was condemned as disloyal and wicked; 
it caused dissension and trouble in the churches and 
family bickering in the homes, and in Genesee county, 
where the affair occurred, and even here in Chautauqua 
county, it aroused the people to fever heat of excitement. 

The unlawful and foolish acts of a few misguided 
Masons brought about this nation-wide agitation. It is 
doubtful if the incident would have taken on any national 
significance had it not been for the interference of the 
politicians who fostered it for their ends. An account 
of what happened, doubtless will interest most readers of 



436 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



this paper, particularly the members of the craft; for 
few of the present generation of Masons ever heard of 
the affair. The writer has read-up various histories of 
the time in question, and submits the following as the 
true and essential features of the unfortunate affair: 

In 1S26, at Batavia, it was alleged that one William 
Morgan had prepared a manuscript containing- the 
secrets of Freemasonry and intended to publish it. 
Morgan was a hard drinker, a man of no repute and 
haiassed by debt. Where he received his degrees is 
not known. He succeeded in entering the lodge at 
Batavia as a visitor, and afterwards was made a Royal 
Arch Mason in the chapter at LeRoy on May 31, 1825. 
It being in contemplation to establish a Royal Arch 
Chapter at Batavia in lS2ti, Morgan's name was 
attached to the petition. Afterward, some of the peti- 
tioners being opposed to having so dissolute a person 
as a member, a new petition was substituted, leaving 
him out entirely. He subsequently applied for affilia- 
tion and was rejected. This irritated him. and he 
originated the scheme of divulging the secrets of Ma- 
S"hi'v for tli-- puriu'St- of revenge, arid also of realizing 
untold wealth. 

Associated with Morgan was David C. Miller, editor 
of the "Republican Advocate," a weekly paper pub- 
lish, ,1 in Batavia. He had received the first degree in 
Ubai many years before, but owing to developments 
of his character had never been advanced further. 
His habits w.re in harmony with those of .Morgan. In- 
timations of tile intended publication of the book made 
by Morgan, an. I articles having reference thereto ap- 
peared in .Millet's weekly sheet. Efforts were made to 
induce Morgan to suppress the publication, and, while 
he seemed willing to do so. and did in fact deliver up 
part of the manuscript, it was found that the publi- 
cation was being published by Miller. Early in Sep- 
tember. 1S2G, it became known that the work was 
already partially in print in Miller's office, and a plan 
was set on foot to get possession of the manuscript. 
On the night of the Sth of September a party of forty- 
persons assembled with the object of sacking Miller's 
office; but the better class of citizens, as well as 
Millers friends, prevented it. Miller's office was dis- 
covered to be on fire on the 10th of September, but 
the flames were extinguished. On the 11th of Septem- 
ber, Morgan was arrested on the charge of larceny 
and carried to Canandaigua and imprisoned in jail. 
He was released from jail on the evening of Septem- 
ber 12th by the payment of the debt. On leaving the 
jail, he was seized and put into a carriage and driven 
off tow-aril Rochester. The carriage arrived at Roches- 
ter about daylight on the 13th and was driven three 
miles beyond, when the party alighted and the car- 
riage returned. The driver stated the parties were 
all strangers to him, and he did not notice any vio- 
lence. 

The people of Batavia had been for some time aware 
that Morgan was regarded with suspicion by the Ma- 
sons. When it became known, therefore, that Morgan 
had been forcibly seized and had mysteriously dis- 
appeared, they determined to investigate the case and 
vindicate the majesty of the law. At a public meeting, 
a committee was appointed which instituted an in- 
vestigation, without being able at that time to dis- 
cover any traces of the missing man, beyond the fact 
that his abductors had conveyed him rapidly toward 
Rochester. These facts being reported, the suspicion 
prevailed that Morgan's life had been sacrificed by 
his abductors. Then the whole western part of the 
State was aroused, and a determination to probe the 
mystery to the bottom prevailed among all classes of 
people. The committee could trace Morgan as far as 
Rochester, and it was a long time before the clue was 
found by which he was finally traced to Fort Niagara. 
The great body of the fraternity denounced the abduc- 
tion, but they were all equally assailed, and the insti- 
tution had to suffer for the foolishness and indiscre- 
tion of a few of its members. 

The investigation of the committee appointed at the 
Batavia meeting showed that when the parties left 
the carriage beyond Rochester, on Wednesday morning, 
September the 13th. they entered another and pro- 
ceeded west to Fort Niagara, arriving there on the 
morning of the 14th, changes of horses being pro- 
vided as if bv arrangement. For a part of the journey, 
Eli Bruce, the sheriff of Niagara county, was with 
them. Upon their arrival at Fort Niagara, the four 
occupants of the carriage, one of whom was Bruce, 
left it, dismissed the driver, and proceeded toward 
the fort, which was about eighty rods distant. This 
was the last that was seen of Morgan. 



On October 7, 1S27, the body of a drowned man was 
found on the beach at Oak Orchard Harbor, about 
forty miles from Niagara. The body was badly de- 
cayed, and it was buried with all convenient speed, but 
it was not destined to remain undisturbed; for. on the 



of Ba 

disinterred and examined. The assertion was made 
that it was Morgan's body, and that it had been 
hastily buried to prevent identification. The physical 
impossibility of an identification after the lapse of 
thirteen months was treated as of no account. It was 
announced all over the country that Morgan's body had 
been found. The body was removed with much parade 
to Batavia, where it was buried, creating a great sen- 
sation. 

The cry of vengeance was wafted on every breeze. 
But when the account of the above proceedings was 
published, it directed attention to the disappearance 
of one Timothy Monroe, of the township of Clarke, 
Upper Can ida. who left that place in a boat on Sep- 
tember 24th for Newark, on the American shore, and 
who, while returning, was upset and drowned. Accord- 
ingly-, the widow and other friends came on. and an- 
other inouest was held at Batavia; and the result 
(km mstrated conclusively that it was the body of 
Timothy Monroe, who was drowned in the Niagara 
river on September 27. 1S27. The body was taken to 
Canada and buried. The evidence adduced at the last 
inquest presented facts which proved conclusively 
that it could not have been the body of Morgan. 

Members of the fraternity were arrested on differ- 
ent charges growing out of these transactions, and the 
suits were pending for years. Eli Bruce was tried and 
convicted and sentenced to twenty-eight months in 
jail. It developed that Bruce, with his companions, 
crossed the river to Canada, having Morgan in the 
boat; but an expected arrangement for the reception 
of Morgan there had not been made, and accordingly 
he was brought back to this side of the river and put 
in the magazine in Fort Niagara, to await the com- 
pletion of the arrangements, which were to place him 
on a farm in the interior of Canada. 

The Masonic fraternity continued to be denounced, 
and the politicians seized the opportunity to advance 
terests. No question of public interest ever 



their 

gave rise to a warmer political canvass than this 
popular uprising against Masonry. The words of men 
who were Masons, although they had always main- 
tained the highest character, went for naught. Ma- 
sonry touched its lowest ebb about 1S40. when it began 
to exhibit signs of resuscitation. The Anti-Masonic 
fires had failed to establish in the public mind the 
impression that Masonry was a disloyal institution, 
for the simple reason that it was plainly untrue. 

The question which arises is. "What became of Mor- 
gan?" To this, no definite answer has ever been given. 

In 1848, when the storm and fury of Anti-Masonry 
had spent its force, and the contempt and obloquy that 
had been cast upon Freemasonry and Freemasons had 
worn itself out, a few courageous men who remained of 
the old Mount Moriah Lodge of Jamestown, petitioned 
the grand master for a dispensation to form a new lodge. 
The dispensation was granted, and at the next annual 
communication of the Grand Lodge, in June, 1849, a 
charter was granted under the number of 145. instead of 
its former number of 297. To the Masons of Jamestown 
belongs the credit of reestablishing Masonry in this 
county. (A. Hazeltine's paper). 

In 1849 Hanover Lodge at Forestville was organized 
under a dispensation. In 1850 Forest Lodge at Fredonia 
and Summit Lodge at Westfield were instituted, followed 
by Irondequoit Lodge at Dunkirk in 1852; Sylvan Lodge 
at Sinclairville in 1853; Cherry Creek Lodge at Cherry 
Creek in 1856; Olive Lodge at Sherman in 1865; Pea- 
cock Lodge at Mayville in 1869; Silver Lodge at Silver 
Creek in 1874; Dunkirk Lodge at Dunkirk in 187;'; and 
Lake Shore Lodge at Brocton in 1905. It is doubtful if 
there are any better lodges in the State than the twelve 
lodges of Chautauqua county, which form the fortieth 
Masonic district. The number of lodges in Chautauqua 
county is not likely to be increased, at least for many 
years, except in Jamestown ; for, with the rapid locomo- 



FREEMASONRY 



437 



tion of the present day, the existing lodges are within 
easy access of every part of the county. 

In respect of Mount Moriah Lodge at Jamestown, 
with its eight hundred members, the crowded condition 
of its lodge room at most of the meetings, the large 
number of candidates always waiting — necessitating the 
conferring of degrees every week the year round — and 
the laborious duties exacted of its officers, in degree 
work, in visiting the sick and in burying the dead, indi- 
cate only too clearly the need of relief and of better 
conditions. The jurisdiction of this lodge extends over 
a population in excess of 50,000, it may be nearer 60,000. 
It is perfectly obvious that two lodges with concurrent 
jurisdiction would be prosperous and relieve a congested 
condition. 

It may be of interest to state that at this time the 
number of Master Masons in the State is 225,000. 

Explanatory: Before going further, the writer de- 
sires to say what may as well be said under this heading 
as any other, that it is not his intention to write up 
laudatory sketches of individual members of the fra- 
ternity. In every town in the county, men of promi- 
nence and influence have spent the better part of their 
lives in fostering and promoting Masonry in their midst. 
Today another generation is following in their footsteps. 
They all deserve recognition and praise. The writer can- 
not mention them all — it would make this paper unduly 
lengthy; nor can he mention a few without injustice 
to the many equally deserving. 

Royal Arch Chapters — A less number of chapters 
than lodges is needed, because many members of the 
lodge never take what is called the higher degrees. The 
chapter is a step, and a necessary and important step, in 
that direction. There are three chapters in the county, 
and so located as to accommodate the greatest number 
of companions : 

Western Sun Chapter, No. 67, at Jamestown, was first 
organized in 1819, more than a century ago; but it went 
down soon after the Morgan excitement. It was revived 
in 1853, and from then to the present time has received 
the cordial and zealous support of its extensive member- 
ship. It is one of the oldest chapters of the Royal Arch 
Masons in the State. 

Dunkirk Chapter, No. 191, was organized in 1865. Like 
the rest of the Masonic bodies at Dunkirk, the chapter 
is popular and well supported. 

Westfield Chapter, No. 230, was organized in 1869, at 
Westfield. In 1879 the location was changed to Mayville. 
The chapter has a large membership, and its jurisdiction 
includes Summit, Olive and Peacock lodges. 

The number of Royal Arch Masons in the State of 
New York is 45,000. 

Royal and Select Masters — The degrees conferred 
by the council are not prerequisite to becoming a mem- 
ber of the commandery. For this reason the council has 
had a transitory existence locally and throughout the 
State. Dunkirk Council, No. 25, was organized in 1865, 
and Chautauqua Council, No. 32, was instituted in 1868, 
at Jamestown. The name was changed in 1896 to James- 
town Council. For several years the council was dor- 
mant for lack of support. Some ten years ago it was 
revived by the younger element and since then has been 
very successful. 

For the second time, the Grand Council held its annual 
meeting in Jamestown in 1919, and had the good sense 
to elect a Jamestown man as grand master — Brother 
Rollin K. Mason. It was a graceful compliment to 
Brother Mason, and gratifying to his friends. 

The number of Royal and Select Masters in the State 
is 8,000. 



Knights Templars — The commandery is the height 
and perfection of the American rite of Freemasonry. 
The Order of the Temple in our day and generation is 
a revival of the old order, and the old-time chivalry. It 
seeks to reproduce the knightly virtues, the chivalrous 
spirit, and the holy teachings, of the historic days of the 
Templars. 

Chautauqua county supports two commanderies of the 
Knights Templar — Dunkirk, No. 40, organized in 1867 ; 
and Jamestown, No. 62, instituted in 1886. These com- 
manderies are equal to the best in tactics and drill, in 
degree work, and in personnel of membership. 

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite — The only con- 
sistory in the State west of Rochester on the north, and 
Corning on the south, for the conferring of all the Scot- 
tish Rite degrees, is in the city of Buffalo. 

There are two subordinate bodies of the order located 
at Jamestown, a lodge and a chapter, which confer the 
degrees from the 4th to the 16th, inclusive. They were 
instituted in 1904, have a large membership, and are 
very prosperous. The degrees of the Scottish Rite are 
put on with a lavish display of scenery and parapher- 
nalia, and the rite is enjoying a degree of prosperity 
unexampled in its previous history. 

Order of the Eastern Star — Various systems of 
Adoptive Masonry have been practiced. In its incep- 
tion, the object of the order was merely to place in the 
hands of the female relatives of Masons means whereby 
they could make themselves known to the Masons as such. 
The wives, the widows, sisters and daughters and the 
mothers of Master Masons are among the eligibles. The 
order has become an extensive social organization, and 
wherever there is a Blue Lodge, usually there is a chapter 
of the Eastern Star. 

In these anomalous times, when everybody apparently 
is rich and the governments of the world are loaded 
down with debt, the fraternal organizations are more 
prosperous than ever before. True, the cost of living 
is doubled, and men are beginning to take $10 hats and 
$15 shoes as a matter of course. These abnormal ex- 
penses are of no concern to the endless procession of 
candidates for the degrees of Masonry. They have the 
money ; it comes easy, and there is spending on a prodigal 
scale. It was so in the time of the Civil War, as the 
writer can attest. That war gave Masonry a great 
impetus. The World War has done the same thing. It 
behooves lodges therefore to exercise judgment in the 
selection of members, and to keep the craft up to the 
high standard of the past. John B. Shaw. 

Independent Order of Odd Fellows — The city of 
Baltimore claims, and substantiates its claim, that within 
its borders Odd Fellowship had its American birth. 
Washington Lodge, No. I, was organized in that city, 
April 26, 1819, Thomas Wildey, an Englishman, being 
chosen the first noble grand. The Grand Lodge of 
Maryland was organized in February, 1821, under the 
title of "The Grand Lodge of Maryland and of the 
United States of America of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows." Five men organized this lodge, they 
electing Thomas Wildey grand master. 

The first encampment for conferring the patriarchal 
degrees was organized in Baltimore, July 6, 1827, and 
known as Encampment No. 1. The Right Worthy Grand 
Encampment of Maryland was constituted, officers elected 
and installed, in Baltimore, December 31, 1831. 

The Patriarchs Militant degree was first exemplified 
in Baltimore, September 21, 1885, by brethren of the 
order from Louisville, Kentucky, and Canton, No. I, of 
that city. The Rebekah State Assembly was instituted 



438 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



at Amsterdam, New York, May IS, 1900, and a charter 
delivered to them the same day. 

Chautauqua county has heen divided by the Grand 
Lodge of New York into two districts — Nos. 1 and 2. 

Lodges in Chautauqua District Nos. 1 and 2 by name, 
number and location, with their membership on Decem- 
ber 31, 1918. There are thirty lodges in the county : 

DISTRICT No. 1. 

Lodge. No. Location. Members 

Chadakoin 130 Falconer 231 

Ellicott 221 Jamestown 360 

Panama 272 Panama 55 

Cherrv Creek 463 Cherry Creek 146 

Kennedy 522 Kennedy 7S 

Harmony 547 Watts Flats 55 

Bemus Point 585 Bemus Point 122 

Lakewood 628 Lakewood 74 

Mt. Tabor 780 Jamestown S43 

Frewsburg 7S9 Frewsburg 117 

Ellington 915 Ellington 101 

Sinclairville 919 Sinclairville 75 

Monitor 931 Jamestown 555 

Mohock 938 Clymer 58 

Villenova 941 Hamlet 86 

2956 
DISTRICT No. 2. 

Lodge. No. Location. Members 

Forestville 99 Forestville 84 

Point Gratiot 1S1 Dunkirk 80 

Mayville 284 Mayville 119 

Chautauqua 3S2 Fredonia 231 

Westfield 591 Westfield 148 

Olvmpia 602 Dunkirk 447 

Sherman 645 Sherman 168 

Cassadaga 664 Cassadaga 61 

Findley Lake 679 Findley Lake 49 

Silver Creek 637 Silver Creek 180 

Ripley 679 Ripley 190 

Brocton 782 Brocton 130 

Helpful 838 Smith's Mills 57 

Sheridan 856 Sheridan 114 

Stockton 891 Stockton 87 

2145 

5101 

There are six encampments in Chautauqua county, 
these having a total membership of 861 for the year end- 
ing September 30, 1918 : 

Encampment. No. Location. Members 

Cherry Creek 5 Cherry Creek 67 

Star of the West 35 Fredonia 86 

Chautauqua 54 Jamestown 365 

Eagle 78 Dunkirk 94 

Jamestown 96 Jamestown 184 

Reliance 172 Westfield 65 

861 

Another encampment was instituted at Ripley in the 
fall of 1919. 

There are twenty-eight lodges of the Daughters of 
Rebekah in the county, now divided into Districts Nos. 
I, 2, 3 and 4, but formerly all in one district. 

Membership of Rebekah lodges in Chautauqua county 
for 1918: 



tauqua District No. 2. Mrs. P.eulah Abrams, D. D. 
Cassadaga Lakeside Lodge No. 381, Cassadaga. 

Sis. Bro. Tot. 
Fredonia ... 82 28 110 



Chautauqua Di 


trict 


No. 1 


Mrs. Ethel C. Miller, D. D 


P.,» Jam 




rn, Pr 


ncess Lodge No. 252. 










Sis. 


Bro. 


Tot 


Floral 




75 


Sherman ... 97 


54 


151 


Star of Hope 




233 


Watts Flats. 39 


21 


61 


Rock City- 




246 


Panama .... 25 


13 


81 


Princess 




252 


Jamestown . 273 


104 


37' 


Lady of the Lake 


450 


Lakewood .. 32 


6 


3! 


Sunset 




508 


P.emus Point. 71 


49 


i::i 


Clymer 




538 


Clymer 28 


33 


61 


Totals 






565 


•::mi 


m; 



Golden Scepter 
Queen of the Lake 
Cassadaga Lakesid 
Stockton Star 



381 Cassadaga 
395 Stockton . 
4S4 Findley La 



Chautauqua District No. 3. Mrs. Mary W 
Sunny Brook Lodge No. 507, Frev 


Pearl City 33 
Moon Brook 293 
Diamond 350 
Queen of the Meadow 362 
Maple Park 452 
Mill Brook 4S2 
Sunny Brook 507 
Hamlet Star 545 


Jamestown . 
Falconer . . . 
Kennedy . . . 
Cherry Creek 
Ellington . . . 
Sinclairville . 
Frewsburg . 
Hamlet 







uqua District No. 4. Mrs. Minnie Snow. D. D. P., 
Grape Vine Lodge No. 270, Forestville. 

Sis. Bro. Tot. 
88 53 141 
140 37 177 



Ruby- 


237 


Silver Creek 




251 


Dunkirk . . 


Grape Vine 


270 


Forestville 


Sterling 


355 


Dunkirk . . . 


True Union 


488 


Sheridan . . 


Smiths Mills 


55S 


Smiths Mills 



*D. D. P.— District Deputy President. 



Grand Total 1916 866 2782 

Canton Abraham No. I, Patriarchs Militant, of James- 
town, the only canton in the county (1920), was insti- 
tuted January 19, 1898, with twenty-three charter mem- 
bers. 

Jamestown and Dunkirk have handsome temples for 
the accommodation of the various orders of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, both being valuable addi- 
tions to the business district of these cities, as well as 
worthy monuments to a great fraternal order. Ripley 
Lodge, No. 758, is handsomely housed in a white brick 
building on Main street, erected in 1916 by the order. 
Other lodges own their own property in whole or in 
part, and a spirit of fraternity and prosperity prevails in 
all. A brief record of each lodge and encampment fol- 
lows : 

Cherry Creek — Cherry Creek Lodge, No. 463, instituted 
April 6, 1852, with six charter members; J. L. Clark 
first noble grand. The lodge has celebrated its sixty- 
eighth anniversary, and has always been an influence for 
good in the village life. 

Rebekah Lodge Queen of the Meadow, No. 362, Cherry 
Creek, meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each 
month. The charter was granted May S, 190'j, and the 
lodge instituted June 26, 1906, by Mrs. Nellie S. Fox, 
district deputy president. 

Falconer— Chadakoin Lodge, No. 130, was granted dis- 
pensation February 17, 1899; instituted March 3, 1899, by 
Mott Smith, deputy grand master. 

Moon Brook I-odge, No. 293, Daughters of Rebekah, 
a flourishing organization of the ladies of the order, was 
chartered January 14, 1903, and instituted February 3, 
1903, by Mrs. Gertrude McGill, D. D. P. 

Jamestown — Ellicott Lodge, No. 221, organized June 
10, 1847, as No. 296, and in 1852 ceased to exist. In 
September, 1867, was reconstituted as No. 221. James- 
town Lodge, No. 637, was organized June 21, 1892. and 
in November, 1903, an attempt was made to consolidate 
the two lodges, but failed. A later attempt was success- 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS 



439 



ful, and Jamestown No. 637 and Ellicott No. 221 united 
under the latter number. 

Monitor Lodge, No. 931, Jamestown, was granted dis- 
pensation March 24, 1911 ; instituted April 19 following, 
by District Deputy Grand Master L. E. Masters, and 
a charter was issued August 24, 191 1. The lodge con- 
ducted its work in the Swedish language until the Grand 
Lodge forbade ritualistic work in a foreign language. 

Mt. Tabor Lodge, No. 780, was granted dispensation 
June 17, 1897 ; instituted July 6 following, with nine- 
teen charter members, nineteen candidates presenting 
themselves for initiation on the night the lodge was insti- 
tuted. Mt. Tabor Lodge led in the preliminaries attend- 
ing the erection of the Odd Fellows' Temple in James- 
town, purchasing the lot at the corner of Main and 
Fourth streets, transferring the property a year later to 
the Mt. Tabor Building Association and giving the asso- 
ciation every assurance of the hearty support of the 
lodge membership. Mt. Tabor Lodge moved to their 
quarters in the new temple August 31, 1915, a parade 
and banquet accompanying the removal. 

Jamestown Encampment, No. 54, instituted March 14, 
1871, has had a prosperous career. Jamestown Encamp- 
ment, No. 96, was instituted November 30, 1914, thirty- 
eight candidates receiving the patriarchal degree at that 
time, starting the new body with a membership of 101. 
The occasion was honored by the presence of District 
Deputy Grand Patriarch Frank Young, of Fredonia, 
accompanied by his staff. Charter was granted by the 
Grand Lodge, May 26, 1915. 

Jamestown has two Rebekah Lodges — Pearl City, No. 
33; and Princess, No. 252, chartered February 5, 1901, 
instituted March I, 1901, by Martha E. Mitchell, district 
deputy president. Mrs. Edith L. Griffith, of Princess 
Lodge, was president of the Rebekah State Assembly, 
1919-20, and has received other high honors. 

The Grand Lodge of New York, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, met in Jamestown in 1895, the Grand En- 
campment in 1918, and the Rebekah Grand Assembly has 
also met in that city. 

Panama — Panama Lodge, No. 272, instituted October 
18, 1888, by Edward S. Moss, D. D. G. M. 

Rock City Lodge, No. 246, Daughters of Rebekah, 
meet semi-monthly, first and third Wednesday. The 
lodge chartered November 19, 1900, and instituted Janu- 
ary 13, 1901, by Miss Martha E. Mitchell, D. D. P. 

Kennedy — Kennedy Lodge, No. 522, instituted January 
2, 1885, by Frederick R. Gillett, D. D. G. M. 

Diamond Lodge, No. 350, Daughters of Rebekah, char- 
tered August 24, 1905 ; instituted September 29, 1905, by 
Jennie P. Rice, D. D. P. 

Watts Flats— Harmony Lodge, No. 547, instituted Oc- 
tober 26, 1886, by F. A. Knapp, D. D. G. M. 

Star of Hope Lodge, No. 233, Daughters of Rebekah, 
chartered March 26, 1900; instituted by Mrs. Mattie 
L. Stuart, D. D. P. 

Bemus Point— Bemus Point Lodge, No. 585, was 
granted a dispensation June 10, 1890; instituted June 14, 
1890; chartered August 21, 1890. Charter members: 
Earl C. Schofield, Frank F. Pickard, James Seymour, 
George W. Scofield, Weston H. Twitchell. 

Ellery Lodge, No. 73, Daughters of Rebekah, sur- 
rendered its charter October 24, 1904. The ladies branch 
of the order, the Daughters of Rebekah, is represented 
in Bemus Point by Sunset Lodge, No. 508, chartered 
June 11, 1913; instituted September 30, 1913, by Mrs. 
Leah W. Marsh, D. D. P. 

Lakewood — Lakewood Lodge, No. 628, instituted June 
13, 1892, by Henry J. Shepardson, district deputy grand 
master. Lady of the Lake Lodge, No. 450, Daughters of 
Rebekah, chartered June 2, 1910; instituted June 24, fol- 
lowing, by Mrs. Etta M. Ford, special deputy president. 



Frewsburg — Frewsburg Lodge, No. 789, was granted 
a dispensation June 16, 1898, and was instituted August 

4, 1898, by H. L. Olmstead, grand master. 

Kiantone Lodge, No. 393, instituted June 10, 1851, by 
District Deputy Grand Master Nelson Gorham, but later 
passed out of existence. 

Sunny Brook Lodge, No. 507, Daughters of Rebekah, 
chartered Mav 7, 1913 ; instituted by Mrs. Mary B. Buss, 
D. D. P. 

Ellington — Ellington Lodge, No. 915, was granted a 
dispensation March 14, 1908 ; March 24, 1908, was insti- 
tuted with ten charter members, A. E. Williams, district 
deputy grand master, presiding over the ceremonies. 

Maple Park Lodge, No. 452, Daughters of Rebekah, 
of Ellington, was granted a charter June 2, 1910; insti- 
tuted July 21, 1910, by Mrs. Hattie L. Button, D. D. P. 

Sinclairville — A dispensation was granted Sinclairville 
Lodge, No. 919, November 9, 1908; instituted December 

5, 1908, with about fifty members, by M. L. Gunston, 
D. D. G. M. 

A charter was granted Mill Brook Lodge, Daughters of 
Rebekah, No. 482, of Sinclairville, May 3, 1912; lodge 
was instituted May 29, 1912, by Mrs. Dollie M. Martin, 
D. D. P. 

Clymer— Mohock Lodge, No. 938, was granted a dis- 
pensation May 7, 1914, and May 22, 1914, was instituted 
with five charter members, thirty-nine new members 
being initiated the first night, which swelled the initial 
roll of membership to forty-four. District Deputy Grand 
Master George J. Kohlbacher, of Mt. Tabor Lodge, 
Jamestown, instituted the lodge. 

A charter was granted Clymer Lodge, Daughters of 
Rebekah, No. 538, February 25, 1915; lodge was insti- 
tuted March 20, 1915, by Mrs. Edith H. Griffith, D. D. P. 

Hamlet — Villenova Lodge, No. 941, was granted a dis- 
pensation, April 30, 1915; was instituted May 20, 1915, 
by Martin E. Howard, district deputy grand master. The 
ten charter members were reenforced the opening night 
by forty-one newly-initiated members. 

The village lodge of Daughters of Rebekah — Hamlet 
Star, No. 545 — chartered May 14, 1915, and instituted 
June 1, 1915, by Mrs. Edith L. Griffith, past district 
deputy president. 

Forestville — Forestville Lodge, No. 99, chartered Au- 
gust 24, 1899; instituted October 18, 1899, by Charles 
Pringle, special deputy. 

Grape Vine Lodge, No. 290, Daughters of Rebekah, 
was granted a charter February 21, 1902; instituted 
March 26, 1902, by Mrs. Mary E. Whitney, D. D. P. 

Dunkirk— Point Gratiot Lodge, No. 181, Dunkirk, 
organized September 4, 1854; Olympia Lodge, No. 602, 
Dunkirk, organized April 6, 1891. Both lodges are in 
prosperous condition, the last-named meeting in the hand- 
some Odd Fellows' Temple, 314-316 Central avenue. 

Dunkirk has two lodges of the Daughters of Rebekah- — 
Good Samaritan, No. 251, chartered January 21, 1901 ; 
instituted February 22, 1901, by Mrs. Martha Mitchell, 
district deputy president, and Sterling, No. 355, char- 
tered August 24, 1905 ; instituted October 3, 1905, by 
Mrs. Julia Cole, special district deputy president. 

Eagle Encampment, No. 78, of Dunkirk, meets second 
and fourth Monday of each month. 

Mayville — Mayville Lodge, No. 284, instituted October 
26, 1888, with nine charter members, two of whom are 
yet living, active members — August Anderson and 
Thomas Hutson. 

Chautauqua Lodge, No. 529, Daughters of Rebekah, 
was granted a charter May 7, 1914; was instituted Sep- 
tember 9, 1914, by Mrs. Emma L. Chaffee, D. D. P. 

Westfield — "Westfield Lodge, No. 591, organized Sep- 
tember 30, 1890, under dispensation granted to John 
Hatsell, L. V. Gerrard, F. H. Baker, H. S. Preston, J. L. 



440 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Waterman, Will Norton and Andrew Johnson. A char- 
ter was later granted, and the lodge instituted in Octo- 
ber, 1890, twenty-five candidates being initiated on the 
occasion of the institution ceremonies." Grand Lodge 
records show that Westfield Lodge, No. 591, was insti- 
tuted October 23, 1899, by District Deputy Grand Mas- 
ter J. C. Meredith. This would indicate that the first 
organization was a temporary one. 

Silver Crescent Lodge, No. 168, instituted in West- 
field, as was Loyal Lodge, No. 254, Daughters of Re- 
bekah, the latter instituted April 24, 1901, by Martha E. 
Mitchell, district deputy president, a charter having been 
issued by the standing committee of the Grand Lodge, 
March 5. 1901. At the annual session of the Grand 
Lodge, August 22, 1917, the petition of Loyal Rebekah 
Lodge, No. 254, and Silver Crescent Rebekah Lodge, 
No. 168, to consolidate and be known as Westfield Re- 
bekah Lodge, No. 575, to be located at Westfield and 
assigned to Chautauqua Rebekah District No. 2, was 
granted and later was carried into effect. 

Fredonia — Chautauqua Lodge, No. 382, organized in 
1845, prospered for many years, but finally was super- 
seded by a newer lodge of the same order. The lodge 
did not survive, but the charter of old No. 382 was re- 
vived and a new career of prosperity begun. In the 
olden time a large scope of territory was within the juris- 
diction of the lodge, members attending from as far 
away as Forestville. The lodge owns valuable village 
business property. 

The ladies branch of the order is Golden Sceptre 
Lodge, No. 184, Daughters of Rebekah. 

Sherman — Sherman Lodge, No. 645, instituted Sep- 
tember -'9, 1892, by Henry J. Shepardson, D. D. G. M. 

Floral Lodge, No. 75, Daughters of Rebekah, meets 
first and third Friday of each month. 

Cassadaga — Cassadaga Lodge, No. 664, instituted April 
2.5, 1893, by Henry J. Shepardson, D. D. G. M. 

Lakeside Lodge, No. 381, Daughters of Rebekah, of 
Cassadaga, chartered May 2, and instituted May 17, 1907, 
by Mrs. Sarah J. Miller, D. D. P. 

Findley Lake — Findley Lake Lodge, No. 679, insti- 
tuted March 2, 191 1, by District Deputy Grand Master 
Edward M. Button. 

Fern Lodge, No. 484, Daughters of Rebekah, of Find- 
ley Lake, chartered June 6, 1912; instituted June 28, 1912, 
by Miss Emma L. Rexford, Past D. D. P. 

Silver Creek— Silver Creek Lodge, No. 682, instituted 
October ^i, 1893, with six charter members: H. A. 
Weston, W. W. Cole, C. M. Homan, John Schmill, D. J. 
Van Vlack, H. W. Allen. 

Ruby Lodge, No. 237, Daughters of Rebekah, char- 
tered April 23, 1900, instituted June 30, following, by 
Mrs. Mattie L. Stuart, D. D. P. 

Ripley — Ripley Lodge, No. 758, is handsomely housed 
in its own white brick building, erected in 1916, on Main 
street. A portion of the first floor is used by the Gov- 
ernment as a post office, and the investment will no doubt 
return the lodge a profit. The table for 1918 shows a 
membership of 190, but this number has been increased 
to well over 200 by recent additions. This same state- 
ment applies to most of the other lodges of the county, 
1920 having been a prosperous lodge year. 

Ripley Lodge, instituted June n, 1896, by Hiram M. 
Olmstead, grand master. 

A charter was granted Ripley Lodge, No. 220, Daugh- 
ters of Rebekah, June 9, 1899, and the lodge was insti- 
tuted July 14, 1899, by Mattie L. Stuart, district deputy 
president. Several years later, February 6, 1906, the 
lodge surrendered its charter and passed out of existence. 
Brocton — Obtaining a dispensation December 10, 1895, 
Brocton Lodge, No. 782, was instituted January 18, 1898, 
by H. M. Olmstead, grand master. 



Queen of the Lake Lodge, No. 295, Daughters of 
Rebekah, chartered January 29, 1903; instituted March 
26, following, by Mrs. Gertrude McGill, D. D. P. 

Smiths Mills — Helpful Lodge, No. 838, began work 
under a dispensation granted September 6, 1901 ; was 
instituted October 19, 1901. 

Smiths Mills Lodge, No. 558, Daughters of Rebekah, 
chartered January 29, 1916; instituted March 9, 1916, by 
Mrs. Ada M. Briggs, D. D. P. 

Sheridan — Sheridan Lodge, No. 856, began under a 
dispensation granted February 2j, 1903. The following 
April 19 the lodge was instituted by Warren B. Whitney, 
D. D. G. M. 

True Union Lodge, No. 488, Daughters of Rebekah, 
of Sheridan, chartered July 17, 1912; instituted August 
14, 1912, by Miss Emma L. Rexford, Past D. D. P. 

Stockton — Stockton Lodge, No. 891, instituted July 6, 
1905, by Edward S. Moss, district deputy grand master. 

Stockton Star Lodge, No. 395, Daughters of Rebekah, 
chartered January 20, 1908; instituted February 14, 1908, 
by Mrs. Ida B. Meahan, D. D. P. 

On December 31, 1915, in Mt. Tabor Lodge, in the 
Odd Fellows' Temple, in Jamestown, an Association of 
Past Noble Grands of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus 
Counties was formed with these officers : President, 
Herman J. Westwood, of Fredonia ; vice-president, F. D. 
Eldridge, of Salamanca ; secretary, Oliver W. Bunting, 
of Mt. Tabor Lodge ; treasurer, L. W. Oehser, of Dun- 
kirk; executive committee, John A. Anderson, Fred R. 
Ford, William H. Cashmore, H. S. Sweetland and B. F. 
Steeley. 

By-laws were adopted, providing for semi-annual meet- 
ings, the first to be held the second Wednesday in Febru- 
ary and the second to be held the first Saturday in Au- 
gust. 

All past grands of lodges in the two counties and all 
past grands of lodges outside who reside in either Chau- 
tauqua or Cattaraugus counties, are eligible to member- 
ship in this organization. 

Following is a list of those who signed the membership 
roll: 

Mt. Tabor Lodge, Jamestown — C. E. Rexford, V. C. 
Johnson, John A. Anderson. George E. Fox. E. S. 
r.lak.'slev, M. M. Hubbard. M Sweet, M. II. Seaborn, 
O. W. Bunting. 

Falconer Lodge — George J. Griggs, H. C. Paplon. 

Fredonia Lodge — H. J. Westwood, Albert C. .Mann, 
J. H. Foster. 

Lakewood Lodge— J. J. Vaness, H. J. Winch, M. D. 
Dennison. E. L. Barker. 

Bemus Point Lodge — C. D. Brewster, A. T. Malloy, 
James Seymoui 

Dunkirk Lodge — L. W. Olsen. S. D. Light. 



T. J. 



Mea 



Cherry Creek Lodge — S. E. Mount, A. R. Bentley. 
Stockton Lodge — H. D. Warner, C. S. Munger. 
Salamanca Lodge — F. D. Eldridge. 
Westfield Lodge — A. R. Gallnetz. I. C. Groat. 
Frewsburg Lodge — Edward W. Scowden, B. J. Bosh, 
M. E. Howard. 

Sherman Lodge — Edward J. Hunt. W. B. Whitney. 
Sinelaii'ville Lodge — F. A. Ferguson. N. W. Landers. 
Leon Lodge— C. E. Eldridge. P. C. Peterson. 
Kennedy Lodge— C. It. Putnam. 
Gowanda Lodge— B. L. Stelly, M. A. Weir. 
Ellington Lodge— B. D. Wade. 

Dayton Lodge— Maurice Hooker, Charles Haltz. 
Pine Valley Lodge— H. J. Sweetland. 

The Odd Fellows' Temple in Jamestown had its in- 
ception in Mt. Tabor Lodge, and its true beginning dates 
from January 26, 1910, when the lodge instructed its 
trustees to complete the purchase of the Lathrop prop- 
erty, corner of Main and Fourth streets, and to make 
the first payment on the purchase price. 

Later the Mt. Tabor Building Association was formed 
and incorporated, the lodge transferring the property to 
the association. This association, composed mainly of 



BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS 



441 



members of Mt. Tabor Lodge, was capitalized at $30,000. 
The directors are Frank M. Fisk, Frank O. Anderson, 
H. E. V. Porter, F. O. Olson, E. S. Blakesley, Charles 
F. Thorman and George W. Jude, all of Jamestown. 
The association had plans prepared for a suitable temple, 
ground was broken January 11, 191 1, and on October 20, 
1014, the cornerstone was laid by Grand Master Thomas 
McKnight, in the presence of many officials and members 
of the order and a large gathering of spectators. Theo- 
dore Roosevelt, ex-President of the United States, was 
present and made a short speech, Dr. James G. Clutter- 
buck delivering the oration. The handsome temple which 
has risen on the site was completed in August, 1915, and 
on August 31, 1915, Mt. Tabor Lodge moved from its 
old hall to the spacious lodge room and quarters in the 
new temple, the occasion one of great rejoicing and fra- 
ternal spirit. 

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks — In this 
review of the history of the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, the sentiment of brotherly love and fel- 
lowship is recognized as the inspiration which has guided 
us to our present prosperous position. We are embued 
with the spirit of fraternity, with a noble desire to point 
the way whereby our Brothers can live happy and useful 
lives. We believe in saying good things of a Brother 
when he is dead, and good things to him while living. 
Ours is an order that lends a helping hand to those who 
need it, and we scatter flowers of peace and comfort 
beneath the bruised and bleeding feet of all who toil upon 
life's rugged highway. 



hand to some wayfari; 
But it we show — 
A burden lightened by the cheer we send, then do we 
hold the golden hours well spent, and lay us down 
to sleep in sweet content. 

In Chautauqua county the first lodge was instituted 
in Jamestown, Tuesday afternoon and evening, May 9, 
1893, with forty-three charter members. The work of 
institution was performed by District Deputy Grand 
Exalted Ruler Percy G. Williams, of New York City, 
the secret work being exemplified by teams from Erie 
and Meadville. There are only a few left of the charter 
members, and even they have grown gray and time has 
left its impress upon them all. Each season passes into 
succeeding ones almost unnoticed, and youth becomes old 
age with scarcely a warning. 

Laban Hazeltine was elected the first exalted ruler, 
and in 1893 he drew aside the curtain and presented 
Jamestown Lodge, No. 263, the first Elks' Lodge to be 
organized in Chautauqua county. We are also one of 
the first lodges in America, there being 13(6 Elk lodges, 
and our No. 263. 

Jerome B. Fisher was the second exalted ruler, being 
elected in 1894. He was elected grand exalted ruler of 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the 
United States of America in 1900. Brother Fisher was 
one of the giant oaks of our order. His influence was 
great, not only as a master mind, but in all the fields in 
which he labored. He exemplified in his daily life the 
principles we teach. We live in a world where solemn 
shadows arc continually following upon our path, and 
no affliction touched us more deeply than the death of 
Brother Fisher, which occurred June 18, 1919. He left 
us a heritage of an upright life, of duty well performed, 
of loyalty to home and country — a legacy better than 
that of silver and gold, even the memory and inspiration 
of a great and noble life, a life of fidelity to duty, 
obedience to God's laws, and kindliness and charity 
towards all men. His life was a benediction. May his 



memory ever be an inspiration to those who shall follow 
him. 

J. Delevan Curtiss was a faithful and efficient exalted 
ruler from 1895 to 1897, and reelected in 1903. Edwin 
A. Bradshaw, exalted ruler, 1897; George H. Corborn, 
1898; John H. Prather, 1899; John C. Mason, 1900; E. 
J. Swetland, 1901, and district deputy in 1904; Ralph E. 
Russell, 1902; James C. Peterson, 1904. 

June 17, 1904, with the authority of the grand exalted 
ruler and assisted by his officers, Brother Peterson insti- 
tuted Dunkirk Lodge, No. 922, they starting with twenty- 
seven charter members. So on June 17, 1904, the second 
lodge of Elks was organized in our county. Both lodges 
have grown, for true manhood has been their goal, mutual 
assistance their incalculated duty, brotherly love their 
ruling passion, and justice their cardinal principle. Frank 
H. Mott was exalted ruler of Jamestown Lodge in 1905, 
and appointed district deputy exalted ruler. Brother Mott 
has made many addresses, and with his voice and splen- 
did ability as an orator has done much to preserve the 
unity of our order. Rev. John Dysart, exalted ruler in 
1906 — his name will descend to posterity as a friend and 
benefactor of our order; he was appointed grand chap- 
lain of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of 
America, which position he holds today. Not only men 
of intellectual powers and eminent in science, but many 
clothed with the highest civil attributes, many Elks of 
our county have been honored by the State and Nation — 
men like Judge John Woodard, of the Supreme Court; 
Fred Nixon, a former speaker of the Assembly ; O. F. 
Price, the first mayor of Jamestown, and at one time 
member of the Assembly; A. C. Wade and Augustus F. 
Allen, members of the Assembly; Senator Tom Reed — 
these Elks believed in the brotherhood of man and gov- 
ernment by the Golden Rule. 

I will mention the names of the other brothers who 
have served Jamestown Lodge as exalted rulers, who gave 
their time and talents in bringing No. 263 to its present 
high standard of excellence: Henry Krieger, 1907; Lyn 
Johnson, 1908; H. A. Smith, 1909; Nathan Stern, 1910; 
Roland K. Mason, 191 1 ; Robert P. Stewart, 1912; Arthur 
C. Wade, 1913; Frederick Dixon, 1914; Hugo Sellvine, 
1915; Brother Sellvine was elected president of the State 
Association in 1919; Royal M. Bates, 1916; A. L. D. 
Campbell, 1917; James R. Heartley, 1918; and George 
M. Blackman, 1919. Our present exalted ruler, Rudolph 
Schultz, elected in 1920. 

The past exalted rulers of Dunkirk Lodge, No. 922, 
were men who honored the office to which they were 
elected. They were all good Elks and have been an 
honor to our lodge. 

The list of Elks in good standing in our county shows 
the number to be: Jamestown Lodge, 410; Dunkirk 
Lodge, 340. I am pleased to say that we have enjoyed 
a growth that is substantial and in line with the other 
orders in our county, and while our numbers are not as 
large as some, the quality of our membership is a source 
of pride and satisfaction. Our brothers are leaders in 
all things that pertain to good citizenship, influential in 
civic affairs, prominent in social life, and exemplary in 
their professional and business relations. The Elks of 
this county are loyal to the State and Nation, a support 
and source of strength to home, our country, and our 
flag. In the great World War you found all Elks true 
Americans, taking their places where duty called them. 
Patriotism makes every Elk respond to the call of his 
country, and we will defend with our lives the Stars and 
Stripes, which you will find always draped upon our 
altar. 

Our history would not be complete without speaking 
of a few of the rare spirits in the whole circle of Elk- 
dom. They have given many years of willing service to 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



442 

the order they love so well. Let us rejoice that the hand 
of time has not changed the hearts of Brothers Lou 
Heinemati, Abe Goldstein, Frank Merz, Louis K. Jones, 
Charles C. Wilson, Dr. Frank Hunt, Al Whiting, John 
Huttquist, Tom Snowden, E. B. Clark, Fred Bauer, 
Henrv Cooper, Will Bender, and many other old and 
faithful workers in the lodge. Time writes no wrinkles 
in them. His flight may silver the heart strings, but only 
to render their music more silvery. His touch cannot 
palsy their hands of friendship. The fairest sight is a 
friendly face, the blithest tread is a friendly pace, and 
the world is better because they are in the place. 

There are many things I would say of the Elks in our 
county. How we remember the poor children at Christ- 
mas time, our help to the Associated Charities, our lib- 
eral response to our country's call for money, our Flag 
Dav celebrations, our memorial exercises each year, our 
Big : Brother Association, our entertainments, our cele- 
bration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Jamestown 
Lodge. Admiring friends have also seen how kindly 
and carefully we have cared for the sick and unfortunate 
brothers. They have seen how tenderly and reverently 
we have borne our dead to the grave, how generously 
we have dealt with sorrowing families left behind. Thus 
they honor our order, for by our lives and deeds we have 
won their respect and esteem. 

So it is in this atmosphere of peace, prosperity and 
progress that I close this review, and I hug myself with 
the hope that it will soon be popular for every good man 
to be an Elk, and if he is not one he will not be popular. 

Charitv, justice, brotherly love and fidelity are what 

we teach. 
Are deeply graven in our hearts, and held within our 

reach. 
As Elks, as brothers and as man to man 
We will practice their virtues as best we can. 

John C. Mason. 

Knights of Pythias — There are four lodges of the 
Knights of Pythias in Chautauqua county, the first in 
point of seniority being Chautauqua Lodge, No. 188, 
which was organized in Dunkirk, July 26, 1883, by Eagle 
Lodge of Buffalo and Samuel Thompson, then deputy 
grand chancellor. The following officers were elected 
and installed : James A. Holstein, past chancellor ; Edgar 
Van Arnim, chancellor commander; John McWharf, 
vice-chancellor ; Samuel Shaw, prelate ; Charles Zimmer- 
man, keeper of records and seal ; James Eaton, master 
of finance ; Henry Gawn, master of exchequer ; Herbert 
Hines, master-at-arms ; John Anderson, inner guard ; 
Joseph E. Holstein, outer guard ; James A. Holstein, 
representative to the Grand Lodge. 

Chautauqua Lodge was instituted with thirty-seven 
charter members, has initiated 236, and now has sixty- 
nine members in good standing. At a session of the 
Grand Lodge of the State, held in Dunkirk, Chautauqua 
Lodge had the honor of conferring the rank of knight 
upon Governor Charles S. Whitman, the work being done 
by a team picked from different lodges of the State. 
That convention was also pronounced one of the best 
held by the order in many years. Officers (1920) : Wil- 
liam R. Salisbury, chancellor commander ; Charles Burk- 
holder, vice-chancellor ; Edward Trill, prelate ; James A. 
Holstein, keeper of records and seal ; Ben A. Taylor, 
master of finance ; John A. Foss, master of exchequer ; 
Henry Fick, master of work ; Harry Salesbury, master- 
at-arms ; Ernest Hoyler, inner guard; Frank Baumgart- 
ner, outer guard ; Robert Cooper, Ernest Hoyler, Ed- 
ward Trill, trustees ; James A. Holstein, representative 
to Grand Lodge. The lodge meets in Odd Fellows' Hall. 

Jamestown Lodge, No. 248, the second Knights of 
Pythias Lodge organized in Chautauqua county, was 



instituted in 1888, John A. Hultquist, chancellor com- 
mander. The first meeting place of the lodge was in the 
old Broadhead building, over the Delaney & Thorpe Com- 
pany, but for twenty-five years the lodge rooms were in 
the new Broadhead block at the corner of South Main 
and Harrison streets. The present hall is in the Smith 
& Kinne building, corner of Washington and Fourth 
streets. The present (1920) membership is 261, J. Albin 
Anderson, chancellor commander. 

Brocton Lodge, No. 284 — The records of this lodge 
were destroyed by fire in 1902, and some documentary 
history forever lost. The lodge was organized Novem- 
ber 22, 1889, with twenty charter members; B. S. Swet- 
land, chancellor commander ; Augustus Blood, vice-com- 
mander. The lodge has now eighty members, the 1920 
roster of officers being : W. J. Barber, chancellor com- 
mander ; Alvin T. Hehir, vice-chancellor; H. J. Hay- 
wood, prelate; Fred Fay, master of work; E. C. Ed- 
munds, master of exchequer; William Ogilvie, master 
of finance ; H. M. Fleming, keeper of records and seal ; 
Clarence Abrams, master-at-arms ; W. H. Martin, inner 
guard ; L. H. Skinner, outer guard. Twenty-six chan- 
cellor commanders have served Brocton Lodge since its 
organization : B. S. Swetland. Augustus Blood, Stewart 
Dean, J. J. Haight, G. I. Rossiter, George R. Pettit, C. 
F. Martin, William Ogilvie, Vernon Mathews, G. C. 
Harmon, F. C. Lewis, L. H. Fay, L. D. Sullivan, G. M. 
Mathews, W. N. Clark, C. E. Allen, C. W. Whitney, H. 
J. Russell, H. M. Fleming, G. E. McGonegal, L. A. 
Bigelow, W. H. Martin, J. E. Crandall, O. A. Ottaway, 
E. C. Harmon and Fred Fay. All of these are living 
with the exception of C. F. Martin (June 4, 1920). 

Brocton Lodge, although not having a large member- 
ship, has always been in a flourishing condition, and a 
factor in the welfare and betterment of the village. 
Practically every year since organization, the lodge has 
conducted a lecture course, a source of village entertain- 
ment highly appreciated. 

Crescent Lodge, No. 308, of Jamestown, was organ- 
ized October 31, 1891, and chartered July 28, 1892, with 
fifteen charter members: F. M. Stearns, George E. 
Case, Z. C. Reed, H. M. Smith, Fred C. Stone, C. C. 
Clark, F. G. Kibling, W. J. Loucks, W. H. Craven, F. C. 
Bush, F. H. Ribling, F. S. Marsh, W. H. Knapp, J. N. 
Westfall, D. C. Hale. Two of these, F. M. Stearns and 
H. M. Smith, are deceased, and eight of the original 
fifteen are yet active members of the lodge. 

The organization of a second lodge of the Knights of 
Pvthias in Jamestown was brought about through the 
efforts of Z. O. Reed (who was chosen the first chan- 
cellor commander), F. H. Ribling, F. G. Kibling, of 
Jamestown Lodge, No. 248, and W. J. Loucks, of June 
Valley Lodge, Bradford, Pennsylvania. The ceremonies 
of institution were conducted by June Valley Lodge in 
the rooms of Jamestown Lodge, No. 248. Quarters for 
the new lodge were found on an upper floor of the 
Lowry block, and a lease secured for a term of years. 
The arrangement of the hall was good, and Crescent 
Lodge enjoyed the reputation of having one of the largest 
and best equipped halls in the city. The lease was later 
transferred to the Maccabees, and Crescent Lodge leased 
and fitted up a hall over the Donaldson store. In 1907 
the lodge purchased the building at No. 208 Pine street, 
where they have since been located, the first fraternal 
order in Jamestown to own their own home. 

Loyal Order of Moose— The Loyal Order of Moose 
is a fraternal order organized in 1888 for mutual benefit. 
Until 1906 the organization accomplished little, but in 
that year James J. Davis became a member at Crawfords- 
ville, Indiana, being the 247th member then in good 



^IMMIIMBUHIMIM— 






MOLE 



■ ■■ . 






' ■ ' " I ■ i ' ' '■ ni X tai:ij;t OP EAGL,] i 



t 



sesi 



«1H 



LGLE Ti Ml'l E, .1 IMESTOWN, N. V. 
en .1 Orde] ol B 







LOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE 



standing in the entire order. Since 1907 he has been 
d rec of- general of the order, and has seen its member 
ship grow until in 1919 its members numbered more than 
5 SO P ooo. Like other fraternal orders, the Moose Lodge 
has a sick and funeral benefit, but Us great benevolence 
is Mooseheart, a colony, "truly a home and more, which 
welcomes to its general hospitality al dependent sonsand 
daughters of deceased members of the Loyal Order of 

briefly, the Mooseheart colony idea for the destitute 
children and wives of members of the Loyal Order of 
Moose was conceived by James J. Davis and his asso- 
ciates in 1912. An ideal location was found on tox 
river hir v-five miles west of Chicago and about five 
miles' no th of Aurora, Illinois, where 1.000 acres were 
p chased, and in July, 1913, ^ ehe ^ ^ t^Moi 
Since the opening of the school in 1913 and to the fall of 
1010 nearly 1.000 bovs and girls have been students at 
Mooseheart. Twenty-two vocational and full academ.c 
and commercial courses are features Wnitahle 

Mooseheart maintains today within its ™ s P»tabIe 
borders, 760 orphans who are housed, clothed, fed and 
trained by the order, each member wherever located pay- 
ing a small stated sum annua ly for the home. The 
average age of the children is nine and a half years ; the 
average a|e of graduates eighteen years. The scope of 
Mooseheart is in direct proportion to the number o 
members of the Loyal Order of Moose, its benefits 
increasing with the prosperity of the order 

Jamestown Lodge, No. 105, Loyal Order of Moose, 
was organized in April, 1909, and has enjoyed a career 
of unbroken prosperity. The lodge enjoys the distinc- 
tion of being the first lodge in Jamestown or vicinity to 
provide its members in their own building all the advan- 
tages of both a lodge and a modern country club the 
lodge purchased four acres on the outskirts of James- 
owl, overlooking Lake Chautauqua and here k 
splendid country club house for members. This marked 
a distinct departure in fraternity activities, providing as 
ft does all outdoor athletics except golf, advantages never 
before offered by any fraternal organization or city 
lod-e This feature of Moose membership has been a 
substantial success, and is now being imitated. J*™s- 
town Lodge has 600 members regular meetings being 
held weeklv in the club house and lodge room at Celoron. 
The Woman's Loyal Moose Circle also meets b.-monthly 
at the Moose Club house. . 

Officers of the lodge, 1920: Louis E. Ruden dictator 
C F Waters, secretary; Harold King, past dictator, 
Lawrence Johnson, vice-dictator; B. A. Reed, treasurer; 
William Wateridge, prelate. 

Westfield Lodge, No. 118, Loyal Order of Moose was 
organized in Westfield about 1908, J. H. Prendergast the 
first dictator, the charter members numbering over 
twenty-five. The present membership is 178. b. C. Car- 
penter, dictator; W. G. Whitwood, past dictator 

The lodge has three orphans being educated at Moose- 
heart Past Dictator Whitwood representing the odge 
as delegate to Mooseheart in June, ,92.0. The lodge 
room and club house is in the Fenner building on Fort- 
age street, the club house being the centre of Moose 
social activities. The lodge is in a prosperous condition 
and well managed. . c;i™»i- 

Silver Creek Lodge, No. 1307, was organized at Silver 
Trppk Anril 12 I9U, with fifty charter members, this 
mmber has since increased to .68, and the lodge is in a 
healthy prosperous condition. A large and commodious 
private residence has been purchased at No. 259 Central 
avenue, completely remodeled and converted into a 
modern club house and lodge room that meets the re- 
quirements of this rapidly growing order. 



443 



Dunkirk Lodge, No. 89, was organized in Dunkirk, 
March 20, 1909, with about 200 charter members. Ihe 
present membership numbers 275, and the lodge is in a 
prosperous condition. Dunkirk Lodge has a fluctuating 
number of members, as the great industries of the city 
are prosperous or otherwise. The club and lodge rooms 
at No. 337 Main street are commodious and well adapted 
to the purposes for which they are intended Arthur O. 
Gunther is the present dictator ; Paul A. Weimer, secre- 
tary. 



The Eagle Temple of Jamestown— The Eagle Tem- 
ple is the home of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and 
the acknowledged civic center of Jamestown. The story 
of the Temple and its varied activities is a record ot 
the fraternal, civic and social life of the city during the 

^Jamestow^ Aerie, No. 816, Fraternal Order of Eagles, 
was the youngest and largest fraternal body in the com- 
munity when it constructed the Eagle Temple during 
1912 "and 1913. The Brotherhood was without money, 
but it had faith, courage, enthusiasm, and a manifest dis- 
play of the cooperative spirit. Every resolution sub- 
mitted to initiate the Eagle Temple project and to carry 
it to a successful conclusion was adopted by unanimous 
vote This unanimous vote did not mean that there were 
no differences of opinion, but it did imply that, as a body 
of free men, full discussion was followed by the acquies- 
cence of every element of the Brotherhood in the decision 

rC The' charter of Jamestown Aerie was granted by the 
National Eagles, and presented in 1904 at the temporary 
headquarters" in' the Broadhead block on South Mam 
street The sixtv members of 1904 had increased to 
one thousand one hundred when the Brotherhood marched 
into the Eagle Temple in January, 1914. . During the 
interval, the Brotherhood had headquarters in the Opera 
House block, and for a number of years it occupied the 
adequate club premises on the top floor of the Arcade 
Building. The removal of Jamestown Aerie to the Arcade 
building was the beginning of its fraternal prosperity 
and it marked a widening of its civic activities. 

The response of the young men of he city to the 
attractive club rooms in the Arcade building .convinced 
the leadership that the new generation desired fully 
equipped club rooms and an auditorium for various social 
and intellectual activities. During the year 191 1 and the 
earlier part of 1912, the membership was about seven 
hundred fifty ; the president intimated that when the ro! 
was increased to one thousand members a temple project 
would be initiated. The response of the rank and file 
was so immediate that it became necessary to keep this 
prom'e by starting work on the Temple during the sum- 
mer of 1Q12, and at least two years prior to the date 
which the leaders had in mind when they authorized 
the pre ident to make the particular announcement. The 
cornerstone of the project on Washington street was laid 
on the nr"t Sunday in November in the year 1912, in the 
nre ence of a large body of citizens, following a parade 
E fi the Brotherhood from the Arcade building to the 
Temple site The work of construction continued during 
Ae year 10.3, and on January 15. 1914. the Aerie 
m rched froV'the Arcade build.ng , dub , rooms for the 
last time into its occupancy of the Temple. Ihe temple 
was opined and dedicated with appropriate ceremonial 
on the night of January .5, I9M, and since that time 
the structure has been the center, not only of the fra- 
ternal and social activities of Jamestown Aer.e, but of 
the manv local patriotic and intellectual events pivoting 

"I? if nol V tim d ely W to r trace the many financial and legal 



444 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



difficulties which Jamestown Aerie faced in the promo- 
tion and completion of this Temple project. The Fra- 
ternal Order of Eagles of that day was without financial 
and legal standing in the eyes of the laws of New York. 
Unlike the Masons, the Odd Fellows and many other his- 
toric bodies, the Brotherhood was not authorized to take 
title to real property under the laws of the State. To 
meet this legal difficulty and because the Brotherhood 
had faith but no funds, the officers were authorized to 
procure the incorporation of the Eagle Building Com- 
pany as a business corporation. Provision was made for 
the issuance of a sufficient amount of common and pre- 
ferred capital stock to provide for the commencement of 
work on the construction of the building. All of the 
common capital stock, except the individual shares neces- 
sary to qualify the officers of the Aerie as directors of 
the building corporation, were issued to the trustees of 
the Brotherhood in order to give the Aerie control of the 
corporation. Funds were provided by the issuance of 
preferred capital stock to the members. One of the first 
drives in the city, which became so common during and 
after the war, was conducted by the Eagles in order to 
effect the sale of the preferred capital stock. Within a 
year after the completion of the Temple, the benevolent 
orders law of the State of New York was amended, 
giving the subordinate bodies of the Fraternal Order of 
Eagles the right to take title to real property through 
their trustees. During the interval, a trust mortgage 
was placed upon the completed building, and the preferred 
stock held by the individual members was exchanged for 
bonds issued under this trust mortgage. Once the pre- 
ferred stock had been retired through being exchanged 
for bonds, the Aerie practically eliminated the common 
stock, and the Eagle Temple, then vested in the Eagle 
Building Company as a business corporation, was con- 
veyed to the trustees of Jamestown Aerie in accordance 
with the promise made at the time the project was initi- 
ated. The deed of conveyance by the building corpora- 
tion to the Aerie provided, among other things, that no 
liquor shall be sold upon the premises, and it created a 
board of directors having supervision of the business and 
outside activities of the Temple apart from its distinc- 
tive fraternal features. 

It required many and varied activities to utilize the 
talents and sustain the interest of the increasing member- 
ship of Jamestown Aerie. The Temple became the young 
men's club of the city. Both the Aerie and the Eagle 
Degree Team conduct dances in the auditorium from 
week to week. A Women's Auxiliary of the Eagles was 
organized, holding bi-monthly meetings with a supper 
and a dance, and becoming the nucleus of the annual 
carnival which has been a source of profit and interest 
to the organization. The Eagle Military Band has won 
a recognized place in the city. Monthly socials were held ; 
minstrel shows presented, and, in addition, an increasing 
number of outside organizations rented the spacious audi- 
torium from night to night. These outside activities were 
not only a source of interest to the particular organization 
using the auditorium, but the large membership of James- 
town Aerie found itself represented in every church, 
civic and fraternal body in the city, and thus members 
came to feel that their Temple and auditorium was a 
source of increasing usefulness to themselves and their 
fellow-citizens. 

The Eagle Temple was started and completed during 
the days that Theodore Roosevelt was leading the Pro- 
gressive movement in American politics and economics. 
While the Brotherhood can not and has not taken any 
part in politics, it has not been blind to the intellectual 
opportunities offered by that movement. During the 
early days of the Temple, the Progressive National Com- 
mittee sent Hon. Bainbridge Colby, late Secretary of 



State of the United States, to the auditorium platform 
for a lecture. The Progressive National Committee and 
its propaganda ceased, but the coming of Mr. Colby im- 
pressed upon the leadership the possibility of using the 
Temple as a forum for impartial instruction and dis- 
cussion. Thus the Eagle Temple Sunday afternoon lec- 
tures were started in 1916 and have continued since that 
time. During this period, one hundred and thirty repre- 
sentatives of the various civic, patriotic and economic 
organizations of the United States, together with the 
spokesmen of foreign embassies, have presented their 
views on the domestic and world situation from the plat- 
form of the Temple. The Fraternal Order of Eagles 
in Jamestown has become an inclusive, not an exclusive, 
organization, and all the people of the city have been 
invited to hear these lectures. The educational program 
of the Temple has become a fixed policy ; three years ago 
the program was broadened by adding a brief address on 
some timely topic at each meeting of the Aerie, and dur- 
ing the past two winters, the Eagle Temple Concert 
Course has pleased the members and their friends. 

An examination of the files of the newspapers during 
the period of the World War will show that the Temple 
was the center of those home events which sustained 
the morale of the front lines. The several Red Cross, 
Young Men's Christian Association and similar patri- 
otic drives were conducted on the auditorium floor. 
Dinners were given to the departing draft contingents 
and receptions tendered to the soldiers returning from 
France. A liberty loan banquet was held in the audi- 
torium, and the Board of Commerce membership drive 
of 1918 centered at the Temple. 

The increasing place of the Eagle Temple as a civic 
center brought many well known organizations and dis- 
tinguished men to the site. The New York State Grange 
held its annual convention at the Temple, to be followed 
by the New York State Federation of Labor. Colonel 
Theodore Roosevelt came there with Senator Frederick 
M. Davenport in October, 1914, to address his fellow- 
citizens and he was followed in March, 1920, by his son, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who made an 
address in connection with the dedication of the memo- 
rial tablet of the Aerie to those members who died in 
service during the World War. 

The entrance of the United States into the World War 
brought the conflict home to this Aerie in a definite way. 
The secretary calculated that the average age of the 
membership was twenty-seven years. The possible con- 
tinuance of the conflict meant that the entire membership, 
except the married men with dependents, would be liable 
to military service. Careful plans were made for main- 
taining the Brotherhood and the Temple project in view 
of that possibility. A special committee formulated and 
induced the Grand Aerie sitting at Buffalo to establish a 
system of insurance under which the life of every member 
entering the military service was insured in favor of his 
mother, in the sum of $1,000. A board was organized 
to assist members in the preparation of their draft ques- 
tionnaires. The Aerie led in the organization of a local 
Smoke Fund. Tobacco was provided for every depart- 
ing soldier and to the boys in the camps and in France. 

When the young soldiers returned, the Aerie tendered 
them a rousing reception and banquet, and for several 
weeks the temporary headquarters of the American 
Legion were located in the club rooms. 

The Aerie has the honor of printing in this permanent 
record of its activities the list of one hundred sixty-nine 
members called into the service of their country: 

Henning Anderson Charles D. Johnson 

Gilbert L. Anderburg Gust H. Jo.^ephson 

Albert Keefe 
Donovan Koerner 



n an , ie n„ a Anderson 
Carl Martin Anderso. 
Melvm Anderson 
Henry Anderson 
Edwin W. Anderson 
rV, ?1 " ?r Anderhmt 
Bennie M. Anderson 
Warren J. Barnes 
Harvey H. Beebe 
Ear K. Berg 
Earle F. Brookens 
J. Erne : t Heckstrand 
Sf "r y *?■ Berggren 
Hugh W. Butt. >n 
Rudolph E. Bard 
Ha^v rt T ra r? - Dri SSs 

Car7 J G . W Ber B gfl n - 
Ralph W. Benedict 
Louis G. Bosin 
£ e n n 7 «■„ Briggs 
Charles A. Boehler 
Wallace Carlson 
Prank o. Carlson 
F™ ,"\ b, Prison 
Enul A Carlson 
Oliver T. Carlson 
ANilliam J. Carlson 
George L. Clark 
Fred B. Cramer 
Charles Carlson 
Edward J. Crantz 
Sawyer W. Clark 
George Colier 

Nels E. Dickson 

Clinton E. Day 

Arthur P. Dean 

Carl E. Erickson 

Swan Elf 

Carl A. Erickson 

Clarence E. Erickson 

Gunnard Eck 

Albert Erlanson 

Be e n X F ^fd r h^se kS ° n 
Jay D. Freeman 
gharlea G. Fornell 
Paul L. Posberg 
Odysseus Ford 

Da h v'?d J Gr?e U f innane 
Prank Grimshaw 
Arthur L. Gordon 
George Gustafson 
;'!» ••;■.! L Hazeltine 
Einest O. Holmberg 

C. r ^ U H?nd?o e ^ ran 
Ea'r'fl. ^.Hubachek 

SS Hie?fe ag 

Ge U o d ,^ h E J ^rSa„ mlU " d 

Lewis R. Hendrickson 

Herbert Haglund 

C. Elwell Johnson 

p '~'V "J A- Johnson 
,- "l"l.b W. .T„l,nson 

Clayton ,,. j ohnson n 
Howard L. Johnson 
Carl A. Johnson 
Harry R. Johnson 
Allen W. Jacks, ,„ 
Roy T. Johnson 



FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES 



Died 
Harry W. Benson 
Nat Mclntyre 
Clarence R. Anderson 



>r Ki 



Knute C. Kihlstrom 
Marcus C. Kinnev 
Charles A. Lund 
Arthur C. Lotgren 

A^:[ d T R Li ^^ h o a m m 
Michael J. Lawler 
tarl J. Lunstead 

l.yence A. Lawson 
Ralph E. Larson 
" ilton A. Loun 
Ivan Larson 

Carl Lund 

Plinnie S. Larson 

'"'"■■S- «' Mclntyre 

Thomas Moore 

Alfred Miller 

Roy E. Miller 

John E. Mason 

Michael E. MeAuliffe 

Pranr^N^nn^ 611 
Pred B. Nelson 



Cai 



W. Nc 



Clarence E. Nelson 
-chibald E. Newton 



Peterson 



P. L. Not,,,. 
Geori e A i. 
Leslie E. Pov.,.,, 
S. Emil Peterson 

|r[c eS R.^ea^or° n 
Ma&San^' Reed 
Wi,?i a a r m h F ]d R a P h e m er - : 
Rugg 



Alb, 



Roi 



Carl Stenander 
• Fred J. Smith 
Carl E. Stein 
Victor B. Seaburg 

Fiiio°t n r W ^ Scharf 
iMiiot L. Swanson 
Harry J. Stuart 
William G. Swanson 
* rank L. Swanson 
Claud A. Stone 
i° s f eph E ■ Stromgren 

Lester \V. Scharf 
James h. Stake 
Cecil C. Stewart 
R;)b ,ert L. studd 
Carl Thornblad 
Clifford B. Turnev 
Andrew J. Trainor 
William M. Wright 
Harry v. Wolfe 
frank' Ware 



cker 



om 



Thomas R. Jolly 
Everett D. Gifford 
Leroy D. Norberg 
B. E. Hopson 
Arthur E. Hedberg 
Roy O. Olson 



led in S 
Clarenc 

Carl A. „ 
T. Clvde McG 



'. Leuthe 



It has been found hat men (L has „ retJU ' red leader *ip. 
contribute their rnite t maki, £ Thi I ^'H ° f Hfe ma - v 
fraternal center a ilk n ? g IS type of a civl 'c and 
not been selected fo"worhy Sent l"^^^ have 
standing in any particular walk ob/e uTu ° f their 
the conviction of the ^tC^^-of 



445 

Lundquis • I9 o8 Vni a t r Wallace ^ W, Arvid N. 

Callum, ElmerTwade Ar^HM I 6 " "' J - ames S - M< > 
John Jenkins ' ' Fred Helgran > Sam »el Saxe, 

Jat tr^Jr^^A^. oi A foI, T 

Pres.dent, Elmer J. Wade : Zthv &eS VfSi 
Helgran; worthy vice-president R K res A aent - A - F ^ed 



446 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



affairs of the brotherhood. Many groups of citizens 
have enjoyed the use of the dining room for dinners 
and discussions, and the parlors of the Temple as a forum 
for debate. During the early days of 1915 the Saturday 
Night Club, composed of Eagles and non-Eagles, was 
organized, and since that time this group, which meets 
in the parlors of the Temple during the winter time and 
which journeys by automobile to the Chautauqua Institu- 
tion, Point Van Buren, Lily Dale Assembly, and other 
points in Chautauqua county in the summer time, has pro- 
voked many incisive discussions of public problems. The 
Art Metal Fire Brigade, the printers of the city, and 
many groups interested in welcoming to their home city 
distinguished war correspondents like Frederick Palmer 
and S. Miles Bouton, have enjoyed the hospitality of the 
club rooms. 

The development of the Eagle Temple project is due 
to the fact that the leadership has convinced the member- 
ship that service is the law of collective success. An ex- 
clusive policy will be ruinous to the true purposes of the 
Eagle Temple. It has thriven and will continue to thrive 
by inviting a hundred young men every year to join its 
ranks. These young men prevent the creation of that 
intellectual and social rut so common to many organiza- 
tions. They give vigor and vision to the plans of the 
organization. Once the day comes that the Eagle 
Brotherhood fails to give an urgent invitation to the on- 
coming young man, however humble, to join its ranks, 
this civic project will have passed from a thing of spirit 
and purpose into planless bricks and mortar. 

The Dunkirk Eagles — Lake Erie Aerie, No. 1378, 
Fraternal Order of Eagles, was organized luly 19, 1906. 
Charter members : Frank F. Stapf . Charles Nagle, H. L. 
Fox, S. E. Levandowski, P. E. Wade, H. H. Droege, A. 
Walton Damon, L. J. Haman, Leo Pfleger, A. K. Loeb, 
H. C. Stegman, George Ellis, E. M. Toomey, O. R. 
Naetzker, L. J. Schnour, Charles D. Loeb, C. H. Crisp- 
man, John J. Kane, William F. Frank, George Duem- 
sen, John C. Burton, F. W. Krohn, F. D. Driscoll, C. L. 
Schultz, Oscar Comenisch, James Stewart, Valentine 
Reading, George E. Hudson, Luke Reddv, L. Medler, 
William Ward, John Ward, Philip Ryan, George Delby, 
H. M. Brooks, George Shaler, Alfred Nelson, E. W. 
Walters, George H. Jones, Robert J. Datterweich, C. E. 
Merrick, R. H. Chisholm, Edward Clarke, J. F. Ahrens, 
K. J. Stickler, John J. Walters, William F. Barnes, Wil- 
liam Couhig, Chester Gawronski and B. F. Barnard. 

The presidents from past to present : Charles Nagle, 
Leslie A. Pease, James P. Morrissey, Louis W. Foley, 
Fred M. Edmonds, William A. Husband, Burt Hopkins, 
Victor Rider and Thomas D. Jackie. 

The membership is 200. The Aerie moved into their 
residence club house in 1908, having purchased it from 
the Madigan estate. It is situated at 418 Eagle street, 
and is one of the finest lodge and club rooms in Dunkirk. 
During the World's War, the Aerie had eighteen men in 
the service, but lost none of that number. 

Knights of Columbus, Jamestown Council — There 
are two active chapters of the Knights of Columbus in 
Chautauqua county — Council No. 926, located at James- 
town, and Council No. 929, located at Dunkirk. 

The Jamestown Council was chartered October 30, 
1904, with the following charter members: Michael Bar- 
rett, James P. Calahane, Joseph A. Chiado, Rev. Richard 
R. Coyle, William M. Fay, John Crowe, Albert Harris, 
William H. Harrison, Jr., G. C. Harrison, John H. 
Hays, E. T. Hopkins, Louis J. Isbell, Richard Laverv, 
M. L. Badhorn, E. B. Bergholtz, T. F. Bolton, Nicholas 
Folland, H. W. Boyd, C. M. Harrison, T. L. Lucey, Ed- 
ward J. McGee, Richard Mahoney, John J. Mahoney, 



Joseph F. Thompson, Frank J. McCormick, Peter Mc- 
Kee, Thomas McNamara, A. J. Maharon, J. J. Ryan 
John Mahoney, J. G. Moynihan, J. P. Mulhall, M. J. 
Murray, Rev. Luke F. Sharkey, F. E .Shearman, Michael 
Slavin, Bert Whatford, Charles Buckley, L. J. Dunn, J. 
A. Breen, A. H. Harrison, Martin Kinney, Thomas Ma- 
honey, Edward J. Marsh, John F. Moynihan, Edward F 
Murphy, Robert Straughen, Joseph Trainor. 

C. M, Harrison, formerly of Jamestown, New York, 
and now a resident of Dunkirk, was the first grand 
knight, being succeeded by Frank E. Sheaman and E. B. 
Bergholtz, who held office several terms each. Other 
members who have held the distinction of grand knight 
are: J. P. Thompson, F. J. McCormick, William H 
Harrison, P. H. Garrity, A. J. Hurley, H. W. Boyd, G. 
M. Blackmon, Andrew Green, Dr. J. J. Mahoney. 

Dunkirk Council, No. 929, received its charter Decem- 
ber 4, 1904. Frank E. Murphy was the first grand 
knight, and Mark F. Lally is the present grand knight. 
Dunkirk Council has purchased a large tract of land in 
a central location and intends to commence building 
operations immediately. 

The Knights of Columbus in Chautauqua county were 
particularly active during the recent World War on the 
many drives conducted by the cooperating fraternal and 
other societies for the benefit of the soldiers at the front. 

The following members of the Jamestown Council 
served in the military forces of the government during 
the war: William Garrity, John Blood, William Blood, 
George Burns, Thomas Clarke, Rev. James Carra, James 
W. Corkery, Leo Corkery, Leo F. Colwell, Arthur Dun- 
derdale, Leo Engle, Dr. John Ferrin, William Foley, 
Thomas McKee, James Lawrence Mahan, Harry Mc- 
Ginn, Daniel Rogers, John VanKirk, Edward Welshofer, 
Gordon Woods, Leland Fox, James H. Gerrity, James 
Gilroy, Dr. Walter Girvin, John J. Guinnane, Jr., Domi- 
nic F. Guinnane, Rev. James Howley, Harry Irwin, 
Robert Illig, Andrew B. Johnson, Herman Marsh, James 
Moran, John W. Moynihan, Dr. James J. McCulla, 
Arthur Mullen, George Paul, Earl Stahley, Henry 
Weiser, Wayne Thayer. 

The following made the supreme sacrifice : John 
Blood, Robert Illig, William Foley. 

Patrick S. Guinnane. 

Daughters of Isabella' — Court St. Gertrude, No. 92, 
National Order of the Daughters of Isabella, of James- 
town, is, as its name implies, a branch of an organiza- 
tion nation-wide in its scope, one of the most prominent 
among women's societies in the country. 

The Daughters of Isabella was founded some sixteen 
years ago by the Knights of Columbus of Utica, New 
York, as an auxiliary to that council. However, the 
Knights who instituted it were men of vision who soon 
came to a realization of the need for a national organiza- 
tion of Catholic women. So taking the Utica society as 
a nucleus, an independent national organization was per- 
fected, other courts were established, the name was 
changed to the National Order of the Daughters of Isa- 
bella, and today, from that modest beginning with but a 
handful of Catholic women enrolled, the order is repre- 
sented in nearly every State in the Union, with a mem- 
bership of many thousands. The national headquarters 
are still maintained at Utica, New York. Mrs. Genevieve 
H. Walsh, of New York City, is the supreme regent of 
the order, and Mr. M. F. Kelly, of Utica, one of its 
founders, the national secretary. 

The objects of the organization are the same for 
Catholic womanhood as those of the Knights of Colum- 
bus for Catholic manhood — namely, the advancement of 
Catholic interests, the betterment of its members, spiritu- 




< ; i:xi: I ; a i . .mux m.'AU.istki: schc >ki ki.i> 



KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS— DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA 



447 



ally and intellectually, and the practice of charity in its 
broadest sense; in fact every need of Catholic women's 
organizations throughout the world. 

There is no insurance connected with the order, merely 
a small death benefit, and any practical Catholic woman 
between the ages of eighteen and sixty is eligible for 
membership. The advantage of this wide range of ages 
will be quickly seen, as the experience of the older mem- 
bers is invaluable in the conduct of the business of the 
organization, while the younger members, with their 
enthusiasm and necessarily somewhat different view- 
point, act as an excellent balance. 

Court St. Gertrude was organized November II, 1908, 
through the efforts of Mrs. E. B. Bergholtz, Mrs. R. E. 
Caskey, Miss Elizabeth D. Calahane, Miss Margaret T. 
Calahane, Miss Mary B. McCormick and Miss Mary H. 
Isbell. These women had some years before joined the 
order at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and were so impressed 
with its worth that they determined to bring it into their 
heme city. The court was instituted with a membership 
of thirty, which has since increased to 250. The officers 
elected on the night of its organization were : Rev. 
Father Coyle, chaplain ; Mrs. M. L. Barrett, grand 
regent ; Mrs. J. A. Hughes, vice-regent ; Miss Margaret 
M. Moynihan, prophetess; Miss Mary M. Woods, his- 
torian ; Miss Gertrude L. Davis, financial secretary ; 
Miss Mary A. Maharon, treasurer; Miss Anna F. 
Whalen, monitor ; Miss Bertha Marsh, sentinel ; Miss 
Margaret M. Moynihan, pianist ; Miss Mary B. McCor- 
mick, lecturer. Trustees : Mrs. J. P. Buckley, Mrs. W. 
H. Tyler, Mrs. J. W. Briggs, Mrs. C. J. Harrison, Mrs. 
E. M. Schlaudecker, Mrs. M. Kinney. 

So faithfully did these women discharge their duties 
and such harmony has prevailed in the court, that changes 
in the personnel of the officers have occurred only through 
resignation, removal from the city, or death. The woman 
who on that first night was prevailed upon to accept the 
office of grand regent, Mrs. M. L. Barrett, has never 
been allowed to resign her office, and under her leader- 
ship Court St. Gertrude maintains a standing second to 
none in the order. Mrs. Barrett represents the Court 
at State conventions, and from there has frequently been 
elected delegate to the national convention, where her 
opinions and suggestions carry great weight. 

During the late war (1917-18) the efforts of the court 
were directed almost entirely to raising money for war 
purposes and providing articles for the comfort of the 
soldiers. Three chaplains were outfited for overseas 
service ; $200 donated to the drive of the local council of 
the Knights of Columbus ; $700 to the fund raised by 
the National Council of the Knights in its "Everybody 
Welcome, Everything Free" war service, in addition to 
generous contributions to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, 
Young Men's Christian Association, and other organiza- 
tions engaged in war relief work. 

The charity committee of this court is very active. 
Cooperating with the Associated Charities of the city, 
under the leadership of Mrs. Elizabeth Buckley, splendid 
results are accomplished. The court is also interested in 
civic matters, and is always ready to take part in any 
movement which has for its object the betterment of the 
city. 



One warm June evening in 1919 the famous Paulist 
Choir, brought to Jamestown through the efforts of this 
organization, delighted a capacity house at The Samuels. 
The court has also staged several amateur plays in a 
very creditable manner. Nor are the members unmind- 
ful of their own social needs as a court family. Once a 
month a social meeting is held, which takes the form of 
a literary, musical, or dramatic evening, or is spent in 
the enjoyment of games. 

The officers for 1920 are : Rev. David J. Ryan, chap- 
lain ; Mrs. M. L. Barrett, grand regent ; Mrs. J. A. Fox, 
vice-regent; Miss Cecilia Garrity, prophetess; Miss Eliz- 
abeth A. Gibson, historian; Miss Cecilia J. Harrison, 
financial secretary; Mrs. E. Margaret Blood, treasurer; 
Miss A. Marie Briggs, monitor ; Miss Elizabeth D. Cala- 
hane, sentinel; Miss Elizabeth G. Corkery, pianist; Miss 
Mary M. Woods, lecturer. Trustees: Mrs. N. J. Foland, 
Mrs. Roy Hambleton, Mrs. E. M. Schlaudecker, Miss 
Alice Scallon, Mrs. J. P. Moynihan, Mrs. P. H. Garrity. 
Charity committee: Mrs. Elizabeth Buckley, Mrs. Mark 
Berry, Miss Ella Crowe. Program committee : Miss 
Gertrude L. Davis, chairman; Mrs. J. A. Fox, Miss 
Mary M. Woods. 

Knights of Columbus, Dunkirk Council — Dunkirk 
Council, No. 929, was instituted December 4, 1904, with 
the following charter members : H. G. Wagner, P. E. 
Wade, J. J. Sullivan, M. D., Jeremiah J. Sullivan, T. E. 
Sheehe, William J. Sheehan, J. D. Murphy, F. E. Mur- 
phy, J. J. Mulcahy, G. B. Monroe, C. R. Monroe, P. F. 
Meister, J. T. McParland, F. J. McParland, J. McNa- 
mara, J. J. Madigan, F. S. Stegelske, A. J. Langan, N. 
L. Kinn, Harry A. Imber, H. G. Hayes, William J. 
Graff, T. Fitzgerald, Jr., William Egan, D. Schmatz, 
M. J. O'Donnell, J. W. O'Brien, Rev. Paul Nussbaum, 
C. P., R. Mulholland, J. Meehan, C. J. McCarthy, J. G. 
Maidel, Jr., W. J. Madigan, M. J. Lennertz, D. F. Madi- 
gan, M. F. Lally, J. T. Kornprobst, E. J. Keehn, G. M. 
Hoefier, A. M. Connelly, D. F. Ganey, E. H. Fernandez, 
T. B. Donovan, Michael J. Donovan, John Dean, M. A. 
Callagee and W. H. Brophy. 

Past grand knights to the present time have been : F. 
E. Murphy, T. J. Cummings, J. M. Hoefler, Dr. W. T. 
Sullivan, S. J. Karin, George J. Till, H. J. Hayes, R. H. 
Galbraith, C. M. Henderson, P. J. Schwartz, M. F. Lally. 
The council numbers 531 members; to the present time, 
there have been thirty deaths. The council was repre- 
sented by 141 men in service during the World War. 

The council rooms are at present at the corner of 
Main and Third streets. A land site was purchased last 
year, and a new edifice will soon be erected. It will be 
one of the most modern in the country, planned to 
accommodate its large and growing membership for 
years to come, comprising council chambers, reception 
rooms, auditorium, library, gynasium, swimming pool, 
bath rooms, bowling alleys, billiard rooms, etc. 

District Organization, Knights of Columbus — The 
Fiftieth New York District of the Knights of Columbus 
comprises the councils of Jamestown, Dunkirk, Sala- 
manca and Allegany. District deputies have been : Wil- 
liam Fitzgerald, of Olean ; Thomas P. Heffernan, of 
Dunkirk; Michael J. Enwright, of Allegany; and H. J. 
Haves, of Dunkirk. 



MILITARY HISTORY. 

Chautauqua county was settled in 1802, and was made county was at first a part of Genesee county and then a 

a county in 1808. As fast as the settlers came in they part of Niagara county for nearly all purposes until 

were required to report at New Amsterdam, now Buf- 181 1. It was an enormous task, and the project of form- 

falo, for military drill, at least twice a year, as this ing a new military company, independent of Niagara 



448 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



county, was earnestly discussed for one or two years 
when the settlers were few, but did not culminate until 
1808, after the bounds of the county became defined. 

Immediately after the bill was passed forming the 
county, March 11, 1808, in answer to a petition, an order 
was made for the formation of a military company for 
the county, the bounds of the county being the same as 
at present. Each man by law was to be personally 
"warned out," necessitating more than a hundred miles 
travel by those designated for that duty, and largely 
through an unbroken forest. The point designated for 
the meeting was the ancient Cross-roads, now Westfield, 
at the log tavern of Mrs. Perry, formerly Mrs. Mc- 
Henry, on the west side of the creek, near the monu- 
mental stone now standing there. This was in May. 
Cross-roads was then the hub of he county, while James- 
town was several miles down the creek, and Fredonia 
was well scattered over a wilderness territory. There was 
a general attendance ; hardly a man liable to do military 
duty was absent. Under the direction of a major of a 
regiment east of Buffalo, the company was legally formed 
with ninety men and a full set of officers. The names of 
some of the officers are not distinctly remembered, though 
it was the opinion of David Eaton, of Portland, who was 
present and was elected a sergeant, that the first captain 
was William Prendergast, of Mayville, who was already 
a captain of a company in the Niagara militia. He was 
a medical student with an uncle in Canada, but returned 
to this country for permanent residence in 181 1. He was 
made a major probably in the fall of 1812 or the spring 
of 1813. Major Prendergast was specially efficient as an 
officer at the battle of Black Rock later on, and was a 
conspicuous target for British soldiers on account of the 
white horse he rode, but though his clothing was literally 
riddled by bullets, he was not wounded. He was made 
lieutenant-colonel, March 22, 1816. 

The first lieutenant of this company it seems certain 
was James Atkins, a merchant recently settled in town and 
a very popular man. James McMahan was second lieu- 
tenant, and rose to the command of a regiment. The 
ensign has fairly escaped this bit of notoriety. David 
Eaton was elected a sergeant, and Joseph Thayer a fifer. 
A letter from the Adjutant-General's office says that no 
scrap of evidence exists in that office in regard to this 
early military move in Chautauqua county, and later 
gives as a reason for this that all military records up to 
1812 were sent to Washington and have never been re- 
turned, and that they were destroyed by fire when the 
capital was burned in 1814. 

John McMahan was made a lieutenant-colonel in 1809 
or 1810. James McMahan was made a captain in the 
fall of 1809 or the spring of 1810, and David Eaton a 
first lieutenant at the same date. John McMahan was 
made a colonel in the spring of 1814, and was lieutenant- 
colonel to that date, and was made a brigadier-general 
March 22, 1816. James McMahan was made a major on 
April 6, 1815, and a colonel in 1816. 

Of this first company, John and James McMahan were 
competent officers and discharged well every duty. Lieu- 
tenant Eaton in speaking of the men of this first company 
said : "They came to the meeting on horseback or on 
foot, mostly on foot, over the few almost impassable 
roads, and many of them through the forest with no 
roads at all. Most of them appeared in the homespun of 
the early settler, with hats, boots or shoes that served 
them in tasks of every-day life, or with such boots or 
shoes only as nature provided, and with a musket that 
came down to them from their Revolutionary sires, possi- 
bly a rifle, one or more of a very early date, or a huge 
staff, the nearest to a weapon that they possessed, and 
a hat of straw of homemake." 



So scattered were the settlers, that for the next two 
years drills were ordered to be held by squads or bat- 
talions after the second meeting which was held at the 
Cross-roads within a few days after the formation of 
the company. The squad meetings were held at the 
Cross-roads, Bemus Point and Canadaway in 1809; one 
at Mayville in 1810; and one or two at other points, but 
these drills were not satisfactory, and on consultation, 
in 1 S 1 1 , Lieutenant-Colonel John McMahan issued an 
order for a regimental muster to be held within the 
present town of Portland, on the farm of Captain Dunn, 
the first settler of the town. The population had very 
largely increased, the number of settlers liable to do mili- 
tary duty had increased to about four hundred, and in- 
stead of a single company, four companies appeared, 
very nearly or quite full and fully officered. The meet- 
ing took place in October, in a field still pointed out, now 
covered with vines of the Concord and Niagara grapes. 
The gathering was accompanied by all the insignia and 
trappings of war capable of being gathered together, 
with the usual accompaniment. It was an epoch in the 
military affairs of the county, and Portland especially, 
as that town had the honor of the first military review 
of the kind in the county, though Portland as now seen 
was not a town until 1829. 

War of 1812 — On June 18, 1812, war was declared with 
England, and from the security of the home parade the 
settlers were introduced to the scenes, dangers and hor- 
rors of actual military strife. Four military companies 
had thus far been formed under the provisionary laws 
of the State, and but a few months previous to the first 
general muster had been formed into a regiment under the 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel John McMahan and num- 
bered 162 men. Early in June of 1812, Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel McMahan received an order from Governor Tomp- 
kins to detach from his regiment a full company to con- 
sist of one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, four ser- 
geants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, and one 
hundred privates. Colonel McMahan immediately 
issued an order calling the officers of the regiment to- 
gether at Dunn's Tavern, in the town of Portland. After 
an address from a large stump as a rostrum, he read the 
order for the call, and expressed the hope that the whole 
number would be obtained without resort to extreme 
measures, the idea of a draft being extremely repulsive 
to freemen. War was not yet declared, but the govern- 
ment was desirous that an army should be ready. In 
calling for volunteer officers, Jehial Moore, of Forest- 
ville, Lieutenant David Eaton, of Portland, and Ensign 
Burritt, of Canadaway, now Fredonia, offered their serv- 
ices. An order was issued for one battalion to meet at 
Mayville, and one at Canadaway on a certain day, to 
"beat up" for volunteers. On the day of the meeting, 
the whole number assigned to each battalion "turned out" 
and within a few days the ranks were filled. Very soon 
news came that war was declared. Captain Moore was 
ordered to call out his company, march to Lewiston and 
join the 18th Regiment of detached militia under Colonel 
Hugh W. Dobbins, of Geneva. A part of this company 
was assembled at the Cross-roads, now Westfield, and 
the remainder at Canadaway, now Fredonia. After the 
two parts of the company were united at Fredonia and 
roll call was made, it was found that every man was 
present, 113 in all. They reached Lewiston on the 9th 
of July, but not until the 13th of October was a descent 
upon Canada deemed advisable. The battle of Queens- 
town Heights was fought on that date by the volunteers 
of the American army under General Van Rensselaer. 
In this action the Chautauqua men were engaged and 
largely to their credit, not one refusing to volunteer for 
the movement. The question had been raised as to the 






MILITARY HISTORY 



449 



power of the United States to remove State troops to 
foreign soil, the men not yet having been mustered into 
the United States service, and about twelve to fifteen 
hundred refused to cross the river, falling back upon 
their supposed constitutional rights. These men re- 
mained idle spectators of the bloody strife. The consti- 
tutional question had occupied the attention of the militia 
for several days, especially the regiment of Colonel Dob- 
bin, to which the Chautauqua men belonged, and it was 
found that no reliance could be placed upon a consider- 
able portion of the regiment, many of them being out- 
spoken in their opposition to the movement. The outlook 
was decidedly unfavorable for an attack upon the enemy's 
works on the heights, and the 1 8th was liable to be 
placed in the same class. To test the matter, Major 
Morrison, of Niagara, who was then in command, Colo- 
nel Dobbin being away, ordered the regiment to be 
paraded early on the morning of the battle, in fact be- 
fore light, when he made a flaming address in which he 
sought to inspire them with enthusiasm and zeal, and 
expressed the hope that the whole regiment would volun- 
teer for the enterprise and show their devotion to their 
country and their willingness to defend its honor. He 
did not ask them to jeopardize their lives unnecessarily, 
but hoped they would go as far as he did, and he would 
ask them to go no farther. All those willing to volun- 
teer in the enterprise were requested to advance eight 
paces, and with the exception of fifty or sixty the whole 
regiment advanced and formed a new line. Those who 
refused were formed into a company under a lieutenant, 
one of their own number, and called the "Coward Com- 
pany," and became a part, as to members, of the "Stick- 
lers' Brigade," or those claiming immunity from duty 
on account of constitutional scruples. The Chautauqua 
company, as far as known, all volunteered, and were 
among the first troops to embark, and among the first to 
land on the west side of the river. That a portion of the 
Chautauqua men were the first to scale the heights is 
true, and Captain Moore was the first to set foot on the 
field. Through the day the Chautauqua men were noted 
for their bravery and daring, and did all that men could 
do under like circumstances and in the end only yielded 
to superior numbers ! There several times were the 
Americans victorious, but as often were the British re- 
inforced, and the Americans forced to retire and finally 
to surrender. 

In this battle 60 Americans were killed and 700 were 
taken prisoners. Three only of the Chautauqua men were 
killed — Nathaniel Owen, of Villenova, Daniel Spencer, of 
Charlotte, and Ira Stevens ; one, a Mr. Winsor, died of 
his wounds. Lieutenant David Eaton, Alpheus Mcln- 
tyre, Erastus Taylor and Alexander Kelly were wounded ; 
Lieutenant Eaton by a ball through his wrist, but he 
bound it with his handkerchief and refused to leave the 
field until ordered to do so by his commanding officer. 
The wounded, beside Lieutenant Eaton, after remaining 
in the hospital at Lewiston two months, were taken by 
friends to their homes in the central part of the State, 
but did not return to their own homes in this county for 
three years. Jared Taylor and John Ingersoll were taken 
prisoners, but paroled the next day. The militia were 
paroled, but the majority of the prisoners were taken to 
Montreal. The terms of the Chautauqua men having 
expired, they returned home. This was not a favorable 
showing for the first campaign on the Niagara frontier. 
It was not the work of trained men, it was the hurry and 
dash of American freemen. 

The next call was made very soon after the battle of 

Queenstown, for the purpose of making another attempt 

that fall at an invasion of Canada. This effort was to 

be made under the command of Brigadier-General 

Chau-29 



Smythe, of the regular army. An army of forty-five 
hundred men were collected at Buffalo, preparations were 
hurried to completion, and the army was ready for em- 
barkation by the 30th of November. Chautauqua had 
sent one hundred men under Captain Jehial Moore, and 
it was said that the men of the whole army were highly 
elated at the prospect of active work, and moved with 
alacrity. On that day, the 30th, the boats were moored 
along the river and all things seemed to presage a suc- 
cessful forward movement, but when all was ready, an 
order came for the men to disembark, as the project had 
been given up for the season. Those that did not leave 
for home went into winter quarters. 

No further calls were made upon Chautauqua county 
until early in December, 1813, when the call was for the 
entire regiment of four hundred men, but only two hun- 
dred responded. Buffalo was thought to be in danger, 
in fact the entire eastern shore of the Niagara from 
Lake Ontario to Lake Erie and the southern shore of 
Lake Erie westward. The Chautauqua men were to 
meet at the Cross-roads, now Westfield, and march to 
Buffalo under Lieutenant-Colonel John McMahan. Wil- 
liam Prendergast, captain of the first company formed 
in the county, and Isaac Barnes, were majors in this 
expedition. The commanding officer at Buffalo was 
General Hall. 

The season was very inclement and the men suffered 
severely. They were without blankets, except now and 
then one brought from their homes ; were without tents, 
rations, camp equipage or transportation— in fact, had 
little for their comfort, or necessities even. Their fam- 
ilies were, many of them, left without a male adult, or 
any one but the women to cut their firewood and browse 
the cattle. 

In the march to Buffalo they were divided into four 
companies, besides a company of Silver Grays in which 
many of the Chautauqua men were placed. On the night 
of December 30 they were paraded in front of Pom- 
eroy's Tavern, in Buffalo, where they remained the 
entire night, expecting every moment an order to move. 
The battle of Black Rock, on the 30th, and the burning 
of Buffalo on the 31st, left the army in a sad condition. 
Two hundred of the Chautauqua men were there, and 
a good degree of enthusiasm existed among them until 
the march from Buffalo to Black Rock on the day of 
battle. General Hall had been at the front during early 
morning directing the movements of the troops, but later 
on was returning with his staff to Buffalo as the Chau- 
tauqua regiment was on its way to the scene of action. 
The regiment was halted, and the general and Colonel 
McMahan in an undertone held a consultation, which 
was not understood by the men, but on leaving, the gen- 
eral said sufficiently loud to be heard by the whole regi- 
ment, "Colonel, do your duty, but if you must retreat, 
the rendezvous is at Miller's." This important speech 
of General Hall, with his hurried movement away, lost 
him the confidence of the Chautauqua men. It was evi- 
dent to them that the contest was hopeless, their enthusi- 
asm went out at once and they moved on mechanically 
rather than with zeal and ardor. They were posted in 
the rear of a battery, but as in the case of those preced- 
ing them, they were soon routed and fled to the woods 
in the rear of the battery, where some of them were 
killed and scalped by the Indians, who occupied the forest 
for a mile or two on the north and east. Of the battle 
of Black Rock, participants have said that there was 
little military knowledge or skill manifest on the part 
of the commanding officer, and that the Americans were 
marched to the conflict in squads of a few hundred and 
were beaten in detail. Large numbers of the Americans 
were killed, eighty-nine being collected and buried in 



45° 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



one grave, while others lay exposed upon the ground 
through the winter and were buried in the spring. A 
good many however were exhumed in the spring and re- 
moved by friends. It was said that the Chautauqua 
troops behaved admirably until overcome by overwhelm- 
ing numbers, but the British advanced with little oppo- 
sition and the next day burned the village of Buffalo and 
destroyed the log quarters of the American troops, leaving 
most of them without shelter of any kind. A large pro- 
portion of the Chautauqua men returned home, some of 
them on furlough, but most of them without leave. 
Those of them without leave did not return, but those 
on furlough, as far as known, honored their engagement 
and at the specified time were on duty. A few were 
quartered ;it Miller's Tavern, two miles east of Buffalo, 
for several weeks. Those that did not return stand 
checked on the rolls today as deserters and very few 
stand thus checked but those of Colonel McMahan's regi- 
ment. This is a sorry record, but the government never 
made an attempt to call them to account, and no oppor- 
tunity was afforded them to clear themselves of the just, 
yet unjust, imputation. It all came about from two 
facts — the very easy defeat of raw and undisciplined 
troops by veteran soldiers, and the incompetency of the 
commanding officers. There were reasons, too, for the 
desertions that took place, if we ought to call them de- 
sertions. After the burning of Buffalo, the defeat, dis- 
organization and dispersion of the army, unorganized 
squads roamed at will. There was hardly an organized 
squad to be seen for two days. It was extremely cold, 
and the Chautauqua men had none of the comforts of the 
common soldier — not a house or tent in town for them; 
they could not procure food or lodging ; when night came 
they ate a crust, if they had one, wrapped about them 
a blanket, if they had that, lay down in the snow or on 
the frozen ground, with the keen blasts from the lake 
sweeping over them. If they had no blanket, as many 
had none, they lay down without one, but their sleep was 
light and their naps short. Action was necessary, or 
death was as certain as the bullet or the tomahawk of 
the enemy. There was not an enemy in sight, or on this 
side of the Niagara, and the Chautauqua men went home 
because they were obliged to do so. They went openly 
and boldly, with the knowledge of their officers, without 
their consent to be sure, and without their opposition. 
These men knew of the sufferings of their families in 
the forests of Chautauqua fifty miles away, and in many 
cases felt that their presence was necessary to save them 
from starvation. 

But the Chautauqua men did not bear the odium of 
desertion alone. Many of the soldiers from east of Buf- 
falo, Ontario and other counties left as speedily for home 
as the Chautauqua men, but escaped the recorded odium 
from the fact that they came to the front late and had 
not been mustered into the United States service. The 
Chautauqua men were promptly on the ground and as 
promptly mustered in. 

The Chautauqua men were singularly unfortunate as 
regards their reputation as soldiers after the battle of 
Queenstown Heights and the invasion of Canada under 
General Brown and under Generals Scott and Ripley, 
not only as to the charge of desertion, but as to their 
firmness and courage, on the field. In his report of the 
battle of Black Rock, General Hall complained bitterly 
of the Chautauqua regiment being so easily routed, and 
thought if they had manifested greater firmness and 
maintained their position as he thought they might, the 
issue of the day would have been different. 

In June, 1814, a company from this county volunteered 
under the command of Captain John Silsby for one 
month's service in Canada. This company participated 



in the taking of Fort Erie, nearly opposite Black Rock, 
by the Americans under Generals Brown, Scott and Rip- 
ley, on the 3rd of July ; in the battle of Chippewa, on 
the morning of July 5; and the battle of Lundy's Lane 
on the evening of July 25. From this the Americans 
fell back to Fort Erie, and the Chautauqua men went 
home as their time had expired. 

In July this year, 1814, two full companies were called 
for from this county. This was promptly answered, and 
the men marched to Black Rock under Colonel John Mc- 
Mahan. Occasionally, between August 4 and September 
17, a company was conveyed across the river to Fort 
Erie to assist in preparations for the defense of that 
fort, but none of the Chautauqua troop were present at 
the attempt of the enemy to storm the fort August 15, 
or at the sortie from the fort September 17. The 385 
prisoners taken at the sortie by the Americans, however, 
were placed under the care of Colonel McMahan, of 
the Chautauqua regiment, and by him marched to some 
point in the vicinity of Albany. 

The only regiment in this county at the opening of the 
War of 1812 was the 162nd, and was composed of from 
four hundred to four hundred twenty men. The men 
answering the several calls were 716, very many enlist- 
ing twice, and many three times. The companies were 
officered and sent forward as follows : 

1. From July 4 to October 4, 1S12, Capt. Jehial Moore, 
of Forestville: Lieut. David Eaton, of Portland. 

2. From October 4 to December 31, 1S12. Capt. Jehial 
Moore, of Forestville: Lieut. Samuel D. Wells. 

These two companies were placed under the com- 
mand of Col. Hugh W. Dobbin, of Geneva, of the ISth 
Detached Regiment of New York Militia. 

3. From December 20, 1S13, to February 3, 1814, 
Capt. John Silsby; Lieut. Charles Bemus. 

4. From December 20, 1S13, to February 3. 1x14. This 
was a part of the company of Capt. John Silsby, and 
Solomon Jones was appointed captain, but declined, to 
serve and Lieut. Forbes was in command. 

5. From December 20. 1S13, to February 3, 1814, 
Capt. Moses Adams; Lieut. David Eaton. 

6. From December 20, 1S13. to February 3. 1814, 
Capt. Martin B. Tubbs, Forestville; Lieut. Peter Inger- 
soll, Portland. 

7. From August 1. 1S14. to September 26. 1814. Capt. 
Martin B. Tubbs. Forestville; Lieut. Benjamin Perry. 
Pomfret. 

S. From to Aueust 1. 1814, Capt. James Mc- 
Mahan. Westfield; Lieut. Charles Bemus. 

Besides the above there was an independent com- 
pany of Silver Grays under command of Capt. Ozias 
Hart, of Pomfret. and a portion of the Chautauqua 
men went forward in this companv on the call for 
December 20, 1813. before the battle of Black Rock 
and the burning of Buffalo. 

Men furnished on the call of June. 1812. 113; October. 
1S12. 100: December 20. 1S13, 200; June. 1S14. service in 
Canada, 100; July, 1S14, 200; for the navy, 3; total. 716. 

The settlers, especially on our own northern and east- 
ern borders, lived in constant alarm, and their alarms 
were not causeless. Previous to the battle of Lake Erie 
in the fall of 1813, the British had entire command of 
the lake, but only the poverty of the settlers, it is thought, 
saved them from frequent invasions and destruction of 
their property. The British cruisers seemed satisfied with 
pilfering and preying upon the small craft of Americans 
that ventured from their hiding places. These pilferings 
and the destruction of every species of small craft effec- 
tually broke up the trade in salt and other goods by way 
of the Portage road to the Ohio valley. Late in 1812 
two or three small boats under the command of Captain 
Harmon, of Ashtabula, Ohio, laden with salt, were pass- 
ing up the lake and were driven into the mouth of Cat- 
taraugus creek by two British vessels, the "Queen Char- 
lotte" and the "Hunter." The salt boats lay in the creek 
under guard of a large body of Indians and settlers, the 
Indians lined up on either side of the creek. After 
nightfall the boats stealthily moved out, and after a hard 



MILITARY HISTORY 



451 



night's rowing reached no farther than the mouth of 
Canadaway creek, where they took refuge. The creek- 
was then deep and wide enough to float boats of several 
tons burden. Here they felt comparatively safe, as a 
few soldiers, about forty, had been stationed here at 
Widow Cole's house, under the command of a lieuten- 
ant of Captain Tubbs' company of Colonel McMahan's 
regiment. In the morning they were surprised to see a 
British armed schooner, the "Lucy Provost," anchored in 
the offing, half a mile from shore. The British had not 
discovered that the entrance to the creek was guarded 
but manned a boat with thirteen men and started for the 
salt boats, thinking their victory would be an easy one. 
As they were nearing the mouth of the creek they were 
fired upon by the soldiers and settlers in hiding behind a 
sand bank. This reception was more earnest than they 
expected, and they immediately put back to their vessel. 
The Americans were not injured, and what loss the 
British sustained is not definitely known, but the next 
year the "Lucy Provost" was captured by Commodore 
Perry, and the crew stated that their loss in the matter 
at Canadaway was three wounded and none killed. 

Seth Cole came into the county in 1805, and settled 
near the mouth of the creek. His widow still lived on 
the homestead and proved herself a heroine on this occa- 
sion. As soon as the vessel was discovered in the offing 
she at once ran to the barn, led out a horse, mounted and 
with the speed of the wind rode to Canadaway, now 
Fredonia, and in an incredibly short space of time a 
company of settlers had collected to the support of the 
soldiers, and among them Judge Zattu dishing, but the 
enemy by this time had left for their vessel. Not until 
the vessel had lifted its anchor, well along in the after- 
noon, did they relax their vigilance. Mrs. Cole was very 
nearly omnipresent — she was everywhere furnishing food 
and water to the men. At this moment she had a son 
in the army at Lewiston, under Colonel John McMahan. 
For many years, older citizens were pleased to call this 
incident "the first naval fight after the declaration of 
war." 

The boats of Captain Harmon reached their destina- 
tion, the mouth of Chautauqua creek, now Barcelona, in 
safety. Here another squad of men were stationed under 
the command of Lieutenant James McMahan for the 
protection of the settlers and the merchandise passing 
over the Portage road for the valley of the Allegheny 
and the Ohio. 

Another instance, though not so flagrant, occurred and 
served well to keep up the state of alarm. Lay's Tavern, 
west of Buffalo, near the lake, had been pillaged by the 
British and everything of value carried away, but on a 
remonstrance of the American commander, the goods 
and valuables were ordered to be restored. They were 
placed in boxes and on an armed vessel, the "British 
Queen," carrying a flag of truce, and sent to Chadwick's 
Bay, now Dunkirk. They were sent on shore in a boat 
with thirteen men and an officer. After depositing the 
goods upon the beach twelve of the men raised their 
caps and politely bade the commander adieu. Judge 
Cushing was there with a yoke of oxen to remove goods 
from a small log warehouse he had built for his own 
and the accommodation of others, and earnestly entered 
into a parley with the officer of the boat and detained 
him until the arrival of a company of men, that he felt 
sure were on the way. The men very soon came, and not 
noticing the flag of truce, fired upon the captain and his 
party of one, wounding the man, breaking a leg. The 
man with the broken leg proved of little use to his cap- 
tain in getting on board and leaving the bay. The cap- 
tain politely invited the judge to assist him in removing 
his man to the vessel, but the judge declined, saying that 
he had no need of an outing of that sort. The next year 



after the battle of Lake Erie, and while the prisoners 
were being sent east, these men again met, the judge and 
the captain, and the captain asked the judge if he re- 
membered the circumstances and on being assured that 
he did, the captain said it was well for him that he did 
not comply, as it would have been a long time before he 
would have seen home again. This was not a hostile in- 
vasion, but rather to return stolen goods. 

The battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, under 
Commodore O. H. Perry, was of course fought in con- 
nection with the War of 1812. Chautauqua county fur- 
nished men for Perry's fleet, just how many cannot now 
be told. Portland furnished one, Samuel Perry, a cousin 
of the Commodore, and as daring as the commodore 
himself. He was desperately wounded near the close of 
the battle. The next day, with four others, hopeless 
cases like himself, he was landed at the mouth of Chau- 
tauqua creek at the now village of Barcelona. He lin- 
gered until 1814, cared for by friends and a generous 
public, and died, and his remains are now resting some- 
where near the lake with those of three of his com- 
panions, one only recovering, who wandered away to his 
home in some section of Western Pennsylvania. Pom- 
fret furnished one, Abner Williams, eldest son of Rich- 
ard Williams, an early settler ; he was killed on the Law- 
rence early in the battle, and his body, with others, 
thrown into the lake. Charlotte furnished one, a young 
man by the name of Gooderich, then in the employ of 
Major Sinclear. It is said that he greatly distinguished 
himself in the engagement and in due time returned. 

The number of men from this county killed in the war 
was large in proportion to the number sent forward and 
considering the length of the conflict — two years, six 
months and five days. 

In the battle of Queenstown, the following Chautauqua 
men were killed : Daniel Spencer, of Charlotte, Nathan 
Borden, of Villenova, and Ira Stevens. A Mr. Wind- 
sor died of his wounds. Those wounded were : Lieutenant 
Eaton, by a ball through his wrist; Erastus Taylor, by 
a ball striking him in the knee, shattering the bone. He 
was in the hospital at Lewistown for two months, -when 
he was removed by friends ; but did not return to his own 
home in Portland for two years. Alpheus Mclntyre and 
Alexander Kelly were also wounded. Jared Taylor, John 
Ongersol and Hiram Burch, with the wounded and a 
few of the Chautauqua men not wounded, were taken 
prisoners. The prisoners of the militia were paroled the 
next day. The regulars were taken to Montreal. 

Those killed in the battle of Black Rock were : James 
Brackett, of Mayville; Joseph Frank, of Busti ; William 
Smiley, of Ellery; Ephraim Pease and John Lewis, of 
Pomfret; Aaron Nash, Bovee and Hub- 
bard, of Hanover, and Young says in his "History," "and 
several others." 

War With Mexico — The war with Mexico, 1846- 
1848, while a very important one, that added to the 
United States 851,590 square miles of territory, includ- 
ing Texas to the Rio Grande, New Mexico, and all of 
Northern California, costing 20,000 lives and $130,000,000, 
awakened little interest in Chautauqua county, very few 
men responding to the government's call for men. While 
no doubt each town contributed one or more men, there 
was no concerted action and no records are found of 
Chautauqua county troops. 

Notwithstanding the unsavory military status as com- 
pared with that of earlier years, military drills took place 
with more or less regularity up to the time of the Civil 
War or to 1861. At that time there were nine com- 
panies of militia in the county, well officered and under 
the command of Colonel David S. Forbes, of Fredonia. 
The following is the roster, with dates of commissions : 



452 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



David S. Forbes, colonel, Dec. 1. 1S55; Jared R. Bab- 



cock, major. Dec. 
ant-colonel. Dec 
War 22, 1860; . 

1856; Thomas D. 
K. Irwin, surgeo 
vin. quart.imasi 



I860; Henry Prendergast. lieuten- 
L851: Stephen M. Doyle, adjutant, 
s ' Mayhen, engineer, .Mar. 20, 
ng, surgeon, Dec. 22. 1855; Charles 

i.p.-. Mav ■::,. lsmi; s.-lden E. Mar- 
lav I.".. I860; Tlwnnis W. Glis: an. 
l-.'i.-,; L.-vi \V. Norton, chaplain. 



Mav 24. 1S61: James W. Ste 
24, 1861. 
am, captain. July IS, 1859; Dar- 
enant, .May 24, 1861; Alfred S. 

■diss, ' "captain. May 24, 18(31; 
t lieutenant. Dec. 2S, 1859; Wil- 
tenant. Dec. 28, 1S59. 
tevens, captain, Feb. 8. 185S; 
Apr. 6. ls-58; James Kane, see- 



S. Cottle, first 

second lieutenant. Ma: 

Co. B— James M. Brc 
win Willard, first lieu 
Mason, second lieuten: 

Co. C— Harmon J. 
Thomas W. Barker, fir 
liam Baker, second lie 

Co. D— William O. 

, first lieutenant 

ond lieutenant. IV!'. ■- r 

Co. E— 1'atrick liar,, ti. , aptain. Mar. 18. 1S5S; Wil- 
liam I. O'Neil, first lieutenant. Mar. is. 1858; David 
Donagan, second lieutenant, Mar. 18. 1858. 

CD. F— Oliver L. Swift, captain. July 27, I860; Chan- 
cey T. Talcott, first lieutenant, July 27, I860; Asa G. 
Talcott, second lieutenant. July 27, 1860. 

Co. G — Justin G. Tompson, captain. July 16, 1861; 
Hiram D. Hart, first lieutenant, July 16, 1861: Norman 
R. Tompson. second lieutenant. July 16, 1861. 

Co. H — Martin Crowell, captain. Oct. 10, 1S62; Gur- 
den L. Pierce, first lieutenant. Oct. 10, 1802; Lewis M. 
Law. second lieutenant, Oct, 10, 1S62. 

Co. K— Horace N. GrDver. captain, Dec. 4. 1S62; Sam- 
uel J. Dutton, first lieutenant. Dec. 4, 1862; Edward 
Jennings, second lieutenant. Dec. 4, 1862. 

The Civil War — The day after the surrender of Fort 
Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, April 14, 1861, Presi- 
dent Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 men for three 
months, mainly for the immediate defense of the capital. 
Twenty days after the first call, a call for 42,000 addi- 
tional was made for three-year men, and ten regiments 
for the regular army. Under these calls Chautauqua 
county furnished as its quota five companies — B, D, E, G, 
H. These were recruited mainly : Company B at James- 
town ; D and E at Dunkirk ; G at Westfield. A few 
men enlisted at Dunkirk for Company H of the 68th 
Regiment, making the five companies. A few also were 
enlisted at Sinclairville for Company L later in the sea- 
son, the balance of the company being recruited in New 
Jersey, Massachusetts, Delhi and Plattsburg. The regi- 
ment, except Companies H and L, which joined October 
25, 1861, left the State, July 24, 1861 ; served at and near 
Washington, D. C, from July, 1861 ; in Sickles's brigade, 
Hooker's division, Army Potomac, from October 15, 
1861 ; in same, Second Brigade, Second Division, Third 
Corps, Army Potomac, from March, 1862 ; in Second 
Brigade, Fourth Division, Second Corps, Army Potomac, 
from April, 1864; in Fourth Brigade, Third Division, 
Second Corps, Army Potomac, from May 13, 1864; the 
companies remaining attached to the 120th New York 
Volunteers in the Third Brigade, Third Division, Sec- 
ond Corps, Army Potomac, from July, 1864. Com- 
panies A, B, D, E, F, I and K, under command of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel John Leonard, after being ordered to the 
rear, were honorably discharged and mustered out at 
Petersburg, Virginia, June 23-24, 1864, Companies C, G 
and H remaining were mustered out July 21 and 24, 
and October 31, 1864, respectively. The regiment was 
mustered into service under the command of Colonel Nel- 
son Taylor, at Camp Scott, Staten Island, in June, July, 
August and October, 1861. The men not entitled to be 
mustered out with the regiment were formed into a de- 
tachment, which from June, 1864, served with the 120th 
New York Volunteers, to which the remaining men were 
finally transferred November, 1864; Company L, how- 
ever, had been transferred to Companies A, I and K, 
February 25, 1862. 

Captain James M. Brown, an officer of great energy 



and ability, who had been through the Mexican War of 
1846, had for some time been busy enlisting men for the 
service at Jamestown and vicinity, and by May 28 had 
secured one hundred and ten men, old Company B, and 
at that date left with his company for Camp Scott. 

Company B — James M. Brown, captain ; Darwin Wil- 
lard, Alfred S. Mason, lieutenants; 94 men. 

Company D — William O. Stevens, captain ; Casper K. 
Abell, Hugh C. Hinman, lieutenants ; 76 men. 

Company E — Patrick Barrett, captain ; William Toomey, 
G. W. Wallace, lieutenants; 87 men. 

Company G — Harmon J. Bliss, captain ; G. W. Bliss, 
J. A. Smith, lieutenants ; 72 men. 

Company H — S. M. Doyle, captain ; L. Marcus, D. 
Locb, lieutenants ; 76 men. 

Captain James M. Brown, of Company B, resigned 
November 5, 1861, and was appointed colonel of the 100th 
Regiment, then forming, and First Lieutenant Darwin 
Willard was made captain. 

Captain William O. Stevens, of Company D, was pro- 
moted to acting major, June 25, 1861, and Lieutenant 
Casper K. Abell was made captain ; Lieutenant H. C. 
Hinman was made first lieutenant ; and John Howard, 
second lieutenant. 

A very large proportion of the members of these five 
companies were already members of military companies, 
which of course ceased to exist in fact, but were not for 
some time legally disbanded, in fact not until after the 
war. As stated, the regiment reached Washington, July 
26, 1861. It was one of the first three-year regiments 
to reach the capital after the first battle of Bull Run. 
Its military attachments have already been stated. It 
had its share of hard service and ill fortune to the close 
of its term of enlistment. It was engaged in many a 
hard fought battle and among them as follows : 

1S61— Near Budd's Ferry, Md.. October 23. 

1862— Stafford Court House, Va.. April 3; siege of 
Yorktown, April 10 to May 4; Williamsburg. Mav 5; 
Fair Oaks. May 31-June 1; Fair Oaks. June 12; Seven 
Days, June 25 to July 2; Oak Grove, June 25; Glen- 
dale, June 30; Malvern Hill. July 1; Gen. Pope's cam- 
paign, Virginia, August 26-September 2; Kettle Run. 
August 26; Bristoe Station. August 27; Groveton, Au- 
gust 29; Bull Run. August 30; Fredericksburg. Decem- 
ber 11-15. 

1S63 — Chancellorsville, Va., May 1-3; Gettysburg, Pa.. 
July 1-3; Wapping Heights. Va., July 23; Kelley's 
Ford, Nov. 7; Mine Run Camp. Nov. 26-Dec. 2; Locust 
Grove. Nov. 27. 

1X1.4 — Wilderness. Va.. May 5-7; Spottsylvania Court 
House. May 8-21; Landron Farm. May 10; Salient. May 
12; North Anna. May 22-26; Totopotomoy. May 27-31; 
Odd Harbor. June 1-12; before Petersburg. June 15- 
(letober 31; assault of Petersburg. June 15-19; Weldon 
Pailroad, June 21-23; Deep Bottom, July 27-29; Straw- 
berry Plains, August 14-18; Poplar Springs Church, 
Oct. 2; Boydton Plank Road. Oct. 27-28; on Picket, 
June 21, 1862. 

Death of Officers — Col. William O. Stevens, killed 
May 3. 1863, Chancellorsville. Va. Capt. Darwin Wil- 
lard. killed May 5. 18i;2. Williamsburg, ''apt. Patrick 
Barrett, died May 6, 1S62, of wounds received at Wil- 
liamsburg. Capt. George Grecheneck. died May 17, 

1862, of wounds received at Williamsburg. Capt. Ste- 
phen M. li. .vie. killed July 1. 1862, Malvern Hill. Capt. 
Horatio B. Pennoek. died August 4. lsi;2. of disease at 
Harrison's Landing. Capt. Harmon J. Bliss, died June 
6. 1S63. of wounds received at Chancellorsville. Capt. 
Henry J. McDonough. killed Nov. 27. 1863. at Locust 
Grove. First Lieut William C. Prooks. killed May 3, 

1863, at ('hanc.llorsville. First Lieut. Charles H. Hy- 
dorn. killed May 3. 1863. at Chancellorsville. First 
Lieut. Harrison F. Ellis, killed May 3, 1863. at Chan- 
cellorsville. First Lieut. John Kiener. killed June 16, 
186 4. at Petersburg. Second Lieut. Charles A. Foss, 
died Julv 7. 1863, of wounds at Gettysburg, Pa. 

The regiment lost by death, killed in action. 9 offi- 
cers, 111 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 
:: officers. .".1 enlisted men; of disea-es and other causes, 
1 officer, H5 enlisted men; total, 13 officers. 257 enlisted 
men. in the aggregate 270, of whom ten enlisted men 
died at the hands of the enemy. 






EDGAR P. PUTNAM 



MKMAX l; TH'iJII'SiiX 




M IK' >U X )'■ 1ST. No. 



MILITARY HISTORY 



453 



Regimental Roster — Colonel Nelson Taylor; lieuten- 
ant-colonel. I. Moses; major. William (.). Stevens: sur- 
geon. C. K. Irwin: chaplain. Rev. L,. W. Norton; adju- 
tant, S. M. Doyle; quartermaster. Thomas W. G. Frey; 
quartermaster-sergeant. John McN. Grant; commissary 
sergeant. Isaac A. Brooks; sergeant-major, Samuel 
Bailey; hospital steward. Frederick M. Fincke. 

Ninth New York Cavalry — Much of the material for 
this notice of the Ninth New York Cavalry was obtained 
from a history of the regiment by Hon. Newel Cheney. 

In August and September, 1861, a volunteer cavalry 
regiment was enlisted in this county and Cattaraugus. It 
began its organization by the "volunteering of men for 
cavalry service in the Counties of Chautauqua, Catta- 
raugus and Wyoming in this State, and in the adjoining 
towns of Warren County, Pa." It had progressed so far 
that on September 9, 1861, an order was issued for the 
regiment to go into camp at Westfield. The camp was 
the old Fair Grounds south of the village, and was named 
Camp Seward in honor of William H. Seward, then 
Secretary of State in President Lincoln's Cabinet. Com- 
pany officers were at once elected, as provided by law, and 
Dr. John Spencer, of Westfield, was appointed regi- 
mental surgeon. The following companies were found 
to be in camp, about half of them quartered in barracks 
and the balance in tents : 

Company I, Westfield, Capt. H. J. Cowden ; Co. F, 
Busti, Capt. William B. Martin ; Co. C, Jamestown, Capt. 
J. R. Dinnin; Co. K, Fredonia, Capt. T. W. Glisson; Co. 
D, Portland, Capt. T. G. Weld; Co. E, Randolph, Capt. 
B. F. Chamberlain; Co. B, Little Valley, Capt. E. A. 
Anderson ; Co. A, Wyoming county company, Capt. 
Stimson ; Co. G, Wyoming county company, Capt. Tozier; 
Co. H, Wyoming county company, Capt. Bentley. A 
Sherman company, Capt. B. J. Coffin, was consolidated 
with the Randolph company, and Capt. Coffin succeeded 
to the command in July, 1862. 

A portion of Capt. Anderson's company had enlisted 
from Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, where Capt. Anderson 
had been pastor of a church before going to Little Val- 
ley. The companies were enlisted as follows : Company 
A from Warsaw, Wyoming county; Co. B, from Little 
Valley and Sugar Grove ; Co. C, from the towns of Elli- 
cott, Ellery, Ellington, Poland and Carroll, Chautauqua 
county ; Co. D, from Portland, Hanover and Stockton ; 
Co. E, from Randolph, Sherman, Harmony, Clymer and 
Napoli; Co. F, from Harmony, Busti, Farmington and 
Sugar Grove ; Companies G and H, from Wyoming 
county ; Co. I, from Westfield and Ripley, Chautauqua 
county, and Harbor Creek and North East, Pa. ; Co. K, 
from Pomf ret, Hanover and Cherry Creek ; Co. L, from 
St. Lawrence county ; Co. M, from New York City, 
Rouse's Point, Troy and Geneva. Companies L and M 
j'oined the regiment at Albany in November. 

October 10, Col. Burr Porter came from Albany and 
took command at Camp Seward. October 31, uniforms, 
clothing and canteens were distributed to most of the 
men. November 1, Col. Porter having returned to Al- 
bany, Mai. William B. Hyde took command. A single 
death occurred at Camp Seward, Amus Kellogg, of the 
Busti company; he was buried in the Westfield ceme- 
tery with military honors. 

At Albany the commander-in-chief named as regi- 
mental field officers: Col. John Beardsley; Lieut. -Col. 
William B. Hyde; Majs. William Sackett, Charles Mc- 
Lean Knox, George S. Nichols. The regiment left the 
State November 26, 1861, for Washington, having left 
Camp Seward, November 9. At Washington they went 
into camp, which they named Camp Fenton in honor of 
Hon. R. E. Fenton, then in Congress from this district. 
They were not mounted, however, until after their re- 
turn from the Peninsular campaign under Gen. McClel- 
lan, and not until the last of June, 1862. 



It is said that the regiment was well served by the 
several officers who supplied it with clothing, arms and 
ammunition, horses, horse equipments, forage and rations, 
in fact this is acknowledged to be true of all the organiza- 
tions from this county. Lieut. W. H. Knapp did active 
and efficient service in helping to organize the regiment, 
and served as its first quartermaster, and in the summer 
of 1862 in recruiting service enlisted many men for the 
regiment. Lieut. Knapp was succeeded by Lieut. E. A. 
Skinner, who entered upon his duties as quartermaster 
with the active service of the regiment in the field. 
Lieut. Skinner's business capacity and integrity added 
greatly to the credit of the department and to the effi- 
ciency of the regiment, which participated as a regiment 
or as parts of regiments in one hundred forty engage- 
ments. 

1862— Torktown, Va.. April 5-May 4; before "Wil- 
liamsburg. .May 5; near Slatersville. .May 9; Gen. Pope's 
campaign, Virginia. Julv 1 It-September 2; near Cedar 
Mountain. August 12; Freeman's Ford. August 22; 
Great Run. August 23: Sulphur Springs, August 23- 
24; Jones's Ford. August 24; I .rep Creek. August 25; 
Salem and White Plains. August 27; Groveton, August 
2H; Hull Run. August 3"; near Centervill.-. August 31; 
Chantillv. Sept. 1; near Fairfax Court House. Sept. 
2-1; Bristoe Station and Rrentsville. Sept. 24; Warren- 
ton. White Plains and Salem. Sept. 29; Aldie, Oct. 1; 
Sniokersville and Middle!. urg, Oct. 13; Paris, Oct. 17; 
Salem. Oct. 17: near New Baltimore, Oct. IS; Thorough- 
fare Gap, Oct. IS; Haymarket, Nov. IS: Warrenton. 
Oct. 19; Thoroughfare Gap, Nov. 3; New Baltimore. 
Nov. :i; Upperville. Nov. 2S; Aldie and Berryville, Nov. 
29; Snickers Gap. Nov. 30: Kell. ysville. Dee. 22. 

1SG3— Al.ock. Virginia. Jan. 21; M orrisville. Jan. 26; 
Rappahannock Station. Feb. 2; Morrisville. Feb. 5; Som- 
ersville, Feb. 9; Freeman's Ford, April 15; near "War- 
renton. Aoril 2S; Kelly's Ford. April 29; .'ulpeper, 
April 3D; Rapidan Station. May 1; Chancellorsville. 
Mix- 2; Beverly's Ford, June 9; Warrenton Junction. 
June 10; Ashby's Gap. June 20: Philomont. June 22; 
Sulphur Springs. June 24: Haymarket and Thorough- 
fare Gap. June 24-25; Gettysburg. Pa.. July 1-3; Wil- 
liamsport. Md., July 6; Downsville, Ml.. July 7; Boons- 
l.oro. Md.. Julv S: Beaver Creek. Md.. Julv 9; Frunks- 
town, Md., July 10-13: Falling Waters, Md.. July 14; 
Kmmittsburg, Md.. July IS; Manassas Gap. Virginia. 
Julv 21-22; Wapping Heights. Julv 2:'.. Barber's Cross 
Road--. Julv 25; Rixev's Ford. Julv 29; Brandy Station. 
August 1; Stafford Store, August 23; Mt. Gilead. Sept. 
1; Bramlv Station. Sept. 13; Rapidan Station. Sept. 14- 
15; Raccoon Ford. Sept. 19; Barnetfs Ford. Sept. 22- 
23; Cermanna Ford, Oct. 10; Steven-burg, and Brandy 
station, Oct. 11; Hunters Ford. Oct. 17-18: Bealt :.n 
Station. Oct. 24-2.:; Muddy Run. Nov. S; Mine Run 
campaign, Nov. 26-Dec. 2. 

1S64 — Barnetfs Ford, Va.. Feb. 6-7: Wilderness, May 
5-7: Todd's Tavern. May 7-S; Sheridan's Raid. James 
river. Mav 9-24; North Anna. May 9-10; Yellow Tav- 
ern. May 11; Meadow Bridge. May 12; Jones Bridge, 
Mav 17; Hanoverton and Cramp's Creek. May 27; Old 
Church. Mav 30; Cold Harbor, .May 31-June 1; Gaines 
Mills, June 2: Gen. Sheridan's Trevilian raid. June 7- 
24' Trevilian Station, June 11-12; White House, June 
21; Jones Bridge. June 23; Charles City Court House, 
June 24; before Petersburg, June 26-July 3; Prince 
George Court House. June 29; Prince George Court 
House. Julv 16-20; Deep Bottom. July 27-29; Shenan- 
doah campaign. August 10, 1864, to March 5, 1865; 
Berrvsville. August Up; Newtown. August 11; Berrys- 
ville." August 12; Cedar Creek. August 14; Cedarsville. 
August 16; Old Tollgate, August 17; Front Royal, 
August IS; Kearneysville, August 19; Summit Point, 
Amu I 21: Ki-arnevsville, August 2;.: Smithfield. Au- 
gust 29; l.eirysville, Sept. 3-4; Winchester. Sept. 9; 
Bunker Hill. Sept. 13; upequon. or Winchester. Sept. 
19; Fisher's Hill. Sept. 22; Mount Jackson. Sept. 23- 
21' Port Republic. Sept. 26-27; New Market. Sept. 2S; 
Mt Crawford. Oct. 1: Columbia Furnace, Oct. S; Tom's 
Brook. Oct. 9; Mt. Jackson. Oct. 10; near Strasburg. 
Oct. 14; Cedar Creek, Oct. 17; Cedar Creek, Oct. 19; 
Woodstock. Oct. 20; Middleton. Nov. 11; Rood's Hill. 
Nov 22; Snick.rsville. Nov. 30; Liberty Mills, Dec. 21; 
Gordonsville. Dec. 22; Warrenton, Dec. '2S. 

1865 — Wavnesboro, Va., March 2; Charlottesville. 
March 3; Goochland Court House. March 11; White 
House. March Is; Appomattox campaign, March 2S- 
April 9; Dinwiddle Court House. March 30-31; Five 
Forks, April 1; fall of Petersburg, April 2: Deep 
Creek, April 3; near Amelia Court House. April 4, 



454 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Sailors Creek. April 6; Appomattox Station. April S; 
Appomattox Court House, surrender of Lee's army. 
April 9. 

Col Beardsley resigned April 8, 1S63, and William 
Saekett was made colonel May 1, 1S63, but died June 
It, I Mi I. iinin wounds received near Trevilian Station, 
June 11, 1864. George Nichols was made colonel 
March 1. 1X65. ami was mustered out with the regi- 
ment. July 17. 1S65, at Clouds Mills. 

Death of Officers— Col. William Saekett, died June 
14. 1X64, of wounds received at Trevilian Station, Va„ 
June 11. MaJ. A, Mcguinn Corrigan, did May 28, I 
of w. .uu. si • , , M. ...]..« Bridge. Ma\ 12. Capt. 

Harmon J. Cowden. died May i, 1x62. of disease near 
White I \-., I: Me, nil. di. ,1 .tunc 2:1. lse, 

■■i..d v oinds i- V. d M.i'v lT,' at Yel- 
low Tavern. Va. Capt. C. W. Avers, killed Sept. 19, 
1S64. at Opequon, battle of Winchester. First Lieut. 
Lyman J. Cobb, died Sept. 6. 1862, of disease. First 
Lieut. Zei.edee Truesdalo, died Sept. 29, 1S62, of dis- 
ease at Washington, D. C. First Lieut. George B. 
Stockwell, died Oct. 3. 1863, of disease, near Falmouth, 
Va. First Lieut. Perry Bly, died May 17. 1864, of 
wounds received at Todd's Tavern, May 8, 1864. First 
Lieut. James P. Burrows, killed August 25. 1864, at 
Kearneysville Second Lieut. Judson W. Lowe, died 
Nov. 19, 1863, of wounds received at Brandy Station, 
August 1. 1X63. Surgeon W. H. Kulison. killed August 
29. 1X64. at Smithfleld, Virginia. 

The regiment lost during its service, by death, killed 
in action 3 officers and 60 enlisted men; died o 
wounds received in action, 5 officers and 29 enlisted 
men; died of disease and other causes, 5 officers and 
122 enlisted men. an aggregate of 224. of whom 16 
enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy. Wounded 
and recovered, 32 officers and 242 enlisted men. Cap- 
tured. 4 officers and 139 men. 

The Ninth had an unusually large number of Con- 
gressional Medal of Honor men — Edwin Goodrich, cap- 
tain of Co. D; John T. Rutherford, captain of Co. B; 
Edgar T. Putnam, captain Co. I; Joel H. Lyman, quar- 
termaster-sergeant Co. E; William G Hills, private 
Co. E; Jeremiah Parks, private Co. A; George Ke. - 
nolds, private Co. M. 

iooth Regiment, N. Y. Infantry— In the fall of 1861 
and the winter following, the iooth Regiment was en- 
listed at Buffalo and vicinity, it is said this county fur- 
nishing but one company. The facts are, the portion of 
the regiment furnished from this county was enlisted at 
Jamestown, Brocton, Dunkirk, Mavville, Portland, West- 
field, Arkwright, Cherry Creek, Smith Mills and Ville- 
nova. It was mustered into the United States service at 
Buffalo, and left the State, March io, 1862. It served 
in various brigades and divisions, commencing in Nagli's 
regiment, Casey's division, Fourth Corps and was mus- 
tered out under Col. George F. Danby, August 28, 1865, 
at Richmond, Virginia. It was very unfortunate as to 
losses in action and otherwise ; 8 officers killed in action 
and 115 enlisted men; died of wounds received in action, 

4. officers and 67 enlisted men ; of disease and other 
causes, one officer and 202 enlisted men; in full, 397, of 
whom 2 officers and 79 enlisted men died in the hands 
of the enemy. 

Death of Officers — Col. James M. Brown, killed Mav 
31. L862, at Fair Oaks. Va. Mai. James H. Danby, 
killed April 2, 1865, Petersburg. Capt. William Rich- 
ardson, died Juiy 27, 1864, of wounds received at Deep 
Bottom. First Lieut. Samuel S. Kellogg, killed May 31, 
1X62. at Fair Oaks. First Lieut. John Wilkevson, Jr., 
killed May 31, 1X62. at Fair Oaks, Va. First Lieut. 
Rodney B. Smith. Jr.. died June 29, 1S62, of disease, at 
Savage Station. First Lieut, and Adjutant Herbert 
H. Haddock, killed Julv IX, 1863, at Fort Wagner. S. C. 
First Lieut. James Kavanaugh. killed July 18, 1863, 
at Fort Wagner, S. C. Second Lieut. Charles S. Farnum, 
died May 12. 1862. of disease at Yorktown. Va. Second 
Lieut. Charles H. Runkle, killed Julv IS, 1S63. at Fort 
Wagner, S. C. Second Lieut. Cyrus Brown, died Au- 
gust 13. 1863, of wounds received at Fort Wagner. 

5. C. Second Lieut. Azor H. Hovt. killed May 16. 1864. 
at Drewry's Bluff. Va. Second Lieut. James H. French, 
died May 22, 1X64. at Libby Prison, of wounds received 
at Drewry's Bluff. 

The 100th Regiment is on record as having partici- 
pated in thirty-eight engagements, as follows: 



1S62— Siege of Yorktown. Va.. April 15-Mav 4; Lee's 
Mills. April 2X; Williamsburg, Max- f, ; Savage Station 
May 25; Seven Pines, Mav 29; Fair c iaks, Mav 30; Fair 
(Oaks. May 31-June 1; Seven Days' Battle. June 2." -July 
2; Railroad and Battoons Bridge. June 28-29; White 
Oak Swam,. Bridge, .lime 30; Malvern Hill. Julv 1; Car- 
ter's Hill, July 2; Wood's Cross Roads. Dec. 14. 

1863 — Cole's Island, S. C, March 31; Follv Island. 
April 10-11; Morris Island. July 10: Batterv Wagner. 
July IS; siege of Battery Wagner, July 19-Sept. 7; 
Vincent's Creek. August 4; bombardment of Fort Sum- 
ter. August 17-23; operations in Charleston Harbor, 
Sept. S-Dec. 31; bombardment of Fort Sumter. Oct. 26- 
Nov. 9. 

1861 — (.p. oations against Petersburg and Richmond, 
Va.. Mav 5-31: Fort Walthal and Chester Station. Mav 
6-7: Swift Creek. Mav 9-10; Proctor's ..'reek. .Mav 12; 
Livwr;. '.- Bluff. May 14-16; Bermuda Hundred. ' Mav 
1S-26. before Petersburg and Richmond. June 15- April 
2. 1865; assault of Petersburg, June 15-19; Glover's 

House. I |. Bottom. June 21; Pee]. Bottom. Julv 27- 

29; strawheirv Plains. August 14-18; Chaffin's Farm, 
Sept 2:'-. let. 1; Daley's Tower Road. net. 27-::. 

1S65 — Appomattox campaign. March 28-April 2: fall 
of Petersburg. April 7; Appomattox Court House, 
April 9. 

49TH Regiment, N. Y. Infantry — Four companies of 
this regiment were enlisted late in 1861 at Dunkirk, Fre- 
donia, Westfield, Forestville and Jamestown. They were 
incorporated at Buffalo with six other companies, Sep- 
tember iS, as the 49th Regiment, and placed under the 
command of Col. D. D. Bidwell, of Buffalo. Col. Bid- 
well afterward was made brigadier-general, but was 
killed at the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, October 19, 
1864. Lieut. Cluney had recruited a number of men at 
Jamestown which he took with him to Buffalo, and they 
were assigned to Company A, Capt. Marsh. 

Regimental Officers — Daniel D. Bidwell. colonel; Wil- 
liam A. Alberger, lieutenant-colonel; G. W. Johnson, 
major; H. D. Tillinghast, quartermaster; William A. 
Rullymore, adjutant; James A. Hall, surgeon; W, W. 
Potter, assistant surgeon. 

Companies enlisted in Chautauqua county — Co. A. 
H. N. Marsh, capt.; P. S. Cottle, T. T. Cluney, Iieuten- 

Co. G — J. C. Drake, captain; P. Stevens, J. G. Thomp- 
son, lieutenants. 

Co. I— Rasselaus Dickenson, captain; E. D. Holt, J. 
A. Boyd, lieutenants 

Co. K— A. J. Marsh, captain; A. J. Bo wen, E. F. Car- 

The regiment left Buffalo, September 16, 1861, and 
the State, September 20, and served at or near Wash- 
ington for a year, when it was sent to other sections. 
They were a part of the Army of the Potomac, in the 
field. In all the severe struggles through which the Army 
of the Potomac passed, from McClellan's first campaign 
toward Richmond to the final issue at Appomattox under 
Grant, the 49th had its share. While engaged in the 
Shenandoah Valley its time of enlistment expired, and 
it was honorably discharged and mustered out under Col. 
George H. Selkirk in September, 1864. The regiment 
was afterward reorganized and continued in service until 
June 27, 1865, when it was finally mustered out at Wash- 
ington, D. C. In the three years of its service the regi- 
ment lost, killed in action, 10 officers, 84 enlisted men ; 
dying of wounds received in action, 5 officers, 42 men; 
from disease and other causes, 5 officers, 175 men; a 
total of 20 officers. 301 enlisted men, or 321 in the aggre- 
gate ; 23 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy. 
Their losses were severe. 

The 49th proved their mettle on many fields, and no 
regiment performed greater prodigies of valor. At 
Spottsylvania, on the morning of May 12, 1864, they, 
with the 77th New York, charged the famous "Bloody 
Angle" and took possession of the crest commanding it, 
which they held until relieved. The relieving troops 
were unable to hold the position and the 49th and 77th, 
with a portion of the Vermont brigade, formed and re- 



MILITARY HISTORY 



455 



took the crest. During the week of fighting in the 
Wilderness and at Spottsylvania, the 49th lost 231 in 
killed and wounded out of the 384 officers and - men 
who crossed the Rapidan on May 5. 

Deaths— Lieut-Col. George W. Johnson, died July 
27. 1S64. of wounds received July 12, }Xi, 1. at W asn- 
ington. I), C Lieut. -Col. Erastus D. Holt died Apitl 
7 1x65. ..f wounds received April 2, 1X65. Maj. W .1 lam 
puis died \ugust 3. 1864, of wounds received at 
fpottsvlvalia Court House. .May 12. 18,;4. Capt.Ras- 
selaic Dickenson, died Oct. 12. 1X61. of paralysis, at 

eor-etown I I. C. ('apt. Charles H. .Moss, d.ed .March 
25. 1862, of typhoid fever, at Lockport. NY Capt. 
William T Wiggins, killed .May 5, 1S64. in Wilderness. 
,-apt Clu.rle. II link,,, oft. dual May .',. 1864. of wounds 
received in Wilderness. Capt. John F. E. Plogstei 
died May 6. 1864, of wounds received in Y\ ildei m ss 
Va. capt. Seward II. Terry, killed May 12. 1X1,4 at 
Bloody Angle. Capt. Keuben II. 1 eaeoek. killed M| 
is. lxul, al Spottsylvania Curt House. Firs Lieut 
and Adjutant William P.ullymore. died ay S - ;4 
disease, at Fortress Monroe. First Lieut, and lo'-i- 
niental Quartermaster Henry D. T.llmghast. died Max 
Ml 2. :,f disease, at Buffalo. N. Y. First Lieut. Fred- 
erick Van Oavle. died June 12. 1862. of disease, in hos- 
pital at While House. Va. First l.ieut. Henry C. Val- 

1,1 ne killed May 6, Im',4. iii Wilderness. Ya. First 
iSeut Keuben M. 'Preston, killed May 6. 1X64. in Wil- 
derness. First Lieut, and Adjutant Herman Hass. 
killed May 12, 1x64, at Spottsylvania Court House. 
Fir-t Lout David Lambert. Jr.. killed July 12. 1m, 4. 
at Washington, D. C. Second Lieut. M. L. V Tyler, 
killed May 12, 1X64, at Bloody Allele, Second Lle.lt. 
J. P. McVean, killed May 12, lsr.4, in action at Bio .id v 
Angle Second Lieut. Charles A. Sayers, killed Sept. 
19, 1S64, at Winchester, Va. 

It will be seen that the 49th was not idle during the 
term of its enlistment, as it was engaged in the following 
battles and skirmishes of greater or less importance : 



of Yorktown, April 5-May 4; 



1861— Lewinsville, Va., Oct. 13. 

1862— Waits Creek, Va ; , April 1: Watts and Youngs 

Le^s Mill"" April" 5:i6V before Yorktown, April 26 
"-" imsburg. May 5; Mechaniesville, May 24; Gold 
Pan 
?, Ji 

age Stati 



?n Hays' 



Williamsburg, May- 
ings Farm, June 5; nc 

Battle, June 25-.Iuly 2; Garnetts Farm. June 27; Sav 
lit;.. Slali.n. June 29; White Oak Swamp Bridge, .lino 
.'!„; Malvern Hill. July 1: Harrisons Landing July ..; 
I'rampton Pass, Mil., Sept. 14; Antietam, Md., Sept. 17- 
is Fredericksburg. Va., Dec. 11-15. 

1S63— Marve's Heights and Salem church. \ a.. Mav 
3-4- Deep Pun Crossing. June a; Gettysburg Pa.. July 
1-2-3; Fairfield Gap, July 6; Antietam and Marsh lain. 
Md.. July 7; Funkstown, Md., July 1 ; Williams].,,,'!. 
Md .lulv 14; Rappahannock Station, Va., Nov. 7; Mine 
Run campaign, Nov. 26-Dec. 2. 

1X64— Wilderness. Ya.. May 5-7; Spottsylvania. May 
8--L Pinev Branch Church. May X; La ndron s 1- a rni. 
Mav' in The Salient. May 12; Tntopotoni ,y. May 2,- 
31? North Anna. Mav 22-2,,; Cold Harbor May :! - 
June 1; before Petersburg. June 18. July 9. Api il - . 
assault on Petersburg. June 18-11.; Hurley House, We - 
don Railroad. June 21-2:;. Fort Stevens, I >. I . July 12- 
,■; Charles, own. W. Va., August 21; upciuon Creek. 
Va.. Se, P..; Fisher's Hill, Sept. 22; Cedar Creek, 



1865 _Petersburg. Va., March 25; Appomattox cam- 
paign. March 2X-April 1. ; fall of Petersburg. April 2; 
Sail,,rs Creek. April 6; Appomattox Court House, 
April 9. 

II2TH N. Y. Infantry— This regiment was recruited 
mainly in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties in 1862 
organized at Jamestown and mustered into the United 
States service for three years, September II, 1862 .The 
companies were recruited with few exceptions: Com- 
pany A, at Ellicott, Carroll, Poland and Gerry ; Co. B, 
at Pomfret, Stockton, Charlotte, Gerry; Co. C, at Han- 
over, Villenova, Cherry Creek and Arkwnght ; Co. D, 
at Harmony, Mina, French Creek, Clymer, Busti and 
Kiantone; Co. E, at Westfield, Ripley, Chautauqua, Sher- 
man and Ellery ; Co. F, at Ellicott, Harmony and Gerry ; 
Co. G, at Dunkirk, Portland and Sheridan ; Co. H, at 
Chautauqua ; Co. I, at Pomfret and Stockton ; and Co. K, 
at Hanover, Villenova and Cherry Creek. 



The call of the President for 300,000 volunteers for 
three years in July, 1862, followed soon by a call for a 
like number by draft for nine months, electrified the 
whole land. The answer from every Northern State 
was cheering. Notwithstanding Chautauqua had thus 
far honored every call and furnished her full quota, now 
she was called upon for 1,806 men, or one out of every 
sixty-four of the entire population, men, women and 
children. All this called for earnest work. The County 
Military Committee which had some time since been ap- 
pointed and composed of Col. A. F. Allen, Hon. G. W. 
Patterson, J. G. Hinckley, Milton Smith, John F. Phelps 
and Charles Kennedy, in agreement with a similar com- 
mittee in Cattaraugus county, resolved to raise ten com- 
panies— Chautauqua to raise six, and Cattaraugus four. 
This was accomplished by August 22, and each company 
was filled. At a meeting of the Chautauqua Committee 
on August 14, it was resolved to raise four more com- 
panies to answer the call for that month for drafted men, 
and by August 31 in many towns the required number 
was obtained. The work of recruiting resulted in raising 
in both counties thirteen full companies of one hundred 
men each. Ten of these companies constituted the 112th 
or Chautauqua Regiment. All these companies were offi- 
cered by those who had been most active in their enlist- 
ment in the localities where they were raised. Col. A. F. 
Allen, of Jamestown, was appointed provisional colonel, 
but eventually Capt. Jeremiah C. Drake, of the 49th New 
York Volunteers, a prominent minister of the Baptist 
church at Westfield, was chosen colonel. Before the 
close of August the regiment was in camp at James- 
town—the camp having been named Camp Brown in 
honor of Col James M. Brown, of the 100th New York 
Regiment, killed at the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia. 
The Chautauqua regiment was mustered into the United 
States service September 11, 1862, and the next day 
started for the seat of war. The Chautauqua regiment 
contained many more Chautauqua men than any other 
regiment, and great interest was felt in its fortunes. 

Before leaving for the front a stand of regimental 
colors was presented by the State. Judge R. P. Marvin 
made the presentation speech, and was responded to by 
Col. Drake. Several thousand people were assembled to 
see them off. Afterward they were donated by the Board 
of Supervisors, the flag belonging to the county, and it 
was sent to them while in the field. September 17 they 
landed at Fortress Monroe, and soon after marched to 
Suffolk, Virginia. 

Officers — Jeremiah Drake, colonel; F. A. Reddington. 
lieutenant-colonel; F F. Carpenter, major; S. E. Mar- 
vin adjutant- F A. Waters, quartermaster; C. E. 
Washburn, surgeon; E. Boyd, assistant surgeon; J. R. 
Th ,11111?. assistant surgeon; W. L. Hyde, chaplain. 

Non-Commissioned Staff- Sergeant-Major 
Lowrv; Quartermaster-Sergeant 
sarv Sergeant G. S. Parmentei 
stock A. S.. Hiram Vorce. 

Company A— T. F. Smith, captain; A. Dunham, first 
lieutenant; H. P. Barrows, second lieutenant. 

Co B— W. H Chad, lock, captain; J. H. Maynard, first 
lieutenant .1 O Kttss. second lieutenant. 

Co. C— N. S. Scott, captain; G. L 
tenant; G. S. Talcott, second lieutenE 

Co. D— E. A. Curtis, capts 
Thayer, lieutenants. 



1; R. A. 



-Frank Waters, captain; 
Randall, lieutenants. 

Co F — J. H. Mathews, captain; 
Hoyt. lieutenants. 

Co. G — P. Stevens, capt 



ce, first lieu- 

Corbett, A. M. 

S. N. Myrick, N. 

L. Andrews. C. W 

W. Barber, G. W. Fox, 



H. Palmeter, capta 
H. Only, captain; L. 
. A. Lud 



Dar, 



E. F. 



n; L. J. Parker, C. A. Crane, 
aptain; G. F. Mount, George 



456 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



The regiment was sent to Suffolk, Virginia, a malarious 
district, where sickness greatly thinned its ranks, and it 
was further largely depleted by batteries of artillery 
being recruited from its ranks. The record of the 1 12th 
is an honorable one ; they having a record of participat- 
ing in thirty-seven engagements : 

1SR2 — Franklin, Va., Nov. 18; Zuni, Dec. 11-12. 

1S6S — Deserted House. Va.. Jan. 3"; siege of .Suffolk. 
April 11-May 4: Somerton Road. April 13; Edenton. 
April LM ; Cawsville. May 1 5 - 1 fi : siege of Battery Wag- 
ner. S. C, August 11 -Sept. 7: bombardment of Fort 
Sumter. August 17-13; operations before Charleston. 
Sept. 8; bombardment of Fort Sumter. Oct. 27-Nov. 9. 

1864 — Johns Island, S. C, Feb. 9-11; operations 
against Petersburg and Richmond. Va.. May 5-31; Port 
Walthall and Chester Station, May 6-7; Swift Creek, 
May 9-10; Proctor's Creek. .May 12; Drewry's Bluff, 
May 14-16; Bermuda Hundred, .May 18-26; Cold Har- 
bor, June 1-12; before Petersburg and Richmond, June 
15; assault of Petersburg. June 15-19; Mine Explosion. 
July :in; I'haltin's Farm. Sept. 29-Oct. 1; Darbytown 
Road. Oct. 27-29; Fort Fisher. N. C. Dec. 25. 

1S65 — Fort Fisher. N. C Jan. 15; Cape Fear entrench- 
ments. Feb. 11-12; Fort Anderson. Feb. 1S-20; near 
Wilmington, Feb. 22; campaign of the Carolinas, March 
1-April 26; Coxe's Bridge. N. O, March 23-24; near 
Faissons, April 4; Bennett House. April 26. 

The regiment was mustered out June 13. 1S65, at 
Kaleigh. X. <'.. imd.-r Col. Ludwick. The total enroll- 
ment of the 112th was 1,481; of these there were killed 
in battle and died of wounds, officers. 9; men. 122; died 
of disease, 193; total. 324. Returned to their homes 
1.156. 

Heath of Officers— Col. Jeremiah C. Drake, died June 
2. 1864, of wound.-, at Cold Harbor, Va., June 1. 1864. 
Col. John F. Smith, died June IS. 1805. of wounds, 
Jan. 15, 1S65. Lieut. -Col. Elial F. Carpenter, died May 
is. 1861. of wounds, at Drewry's Bluff, May 16, 1864. 
Capt. John G. Palmeter, died August 1. 1864, of wounds 
recdved at Cold Harbor. June 1. 1864. First Lieut, 
and Regimental Quartermaster Frank Waters, died 
Oct. 3, 1863. of dysentery, at Beaufort, S. C. First 
Lieut. Gordon L. Pierce, killed June 1, 1864, at Col. 
Harbor. Va. First Lieut. Samuel G. Sherwin. killed 
June 28, 1864, at Petersburg. First Lieut. George F. 
Mount, killed August 2;".. 1864. at Petersburg, Va. First 
Lieut. George W. Edmunds, killed Oct. 27. 1864. at Fair 
Oaks. Second Lieut. Andre W. Mattison. died Oct. 22. 
1862, of typhoid fever. Second Lieut. Henry Hull, died 
Julv 3, 1864, of wounds, June 2, 1S64. Surgeon Charles 
E. Washam. died April 10, 1865, of typhoid fever at 
Faissons Station, N. C. 

Cattaraugus Regiment, 154TH N. Y. Infantry — 
This was in fact a Cattaraugus regiment, but two com- 
panies being enlisted in Chautauqua county : Company 
E at Portland, Westfield, Ripley and Chautauqua; Com- 
pany F at Charlotte. Arkwright, Gerry, French Creek 
and Freedom, of Cattaraugus county and a few of Com- 
pany G at Jamestown. The regiment was organized at 
Jamestown and mustered into the United States service 
for three years, September 24-25-26, 1862. 

Officers — P. H. Jones, colonel; H. C. Loomis, lieuten- 
ant-colonel; D. H. Allen, major; S. C. Noyce, adjutant; 
N. Van Aernam. surgeon; T. A. Allen, quartermaster; 
H. D. Lowing, chaplain. 

Company E — Joseph B. Fay, captain; Isaac T. Jen- 
kins, Alexander McDade, lieutenants. 

Co. F — Thomas Donnelly, captain; John C. Griswold. 
Dana P. Horton. lieutenants. 

The regiment left camp at Jamestown for Washing- 
ton, D. C, September 30, 1862. It became a part of the 
Eleventh Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, but after- 
ward was attached to the 20th Army Corps, and con- 
tinued with it to the close of the war. It was in a con- 
tinual round of duty to the muster out, June II, 1865, 
near Bladensburg, Maryland. It participated in many 
severe conflicts and among them the following : 

1863 — Chancellorsville. Va., May 1-3; Gettysburg. 
Pa., July 1-3; Wauhatchie. Tenm.'Oct. 28-29; Chatta- 
nooga and Rossville campaign, Tenn.. Nov. 23-27; Mis- 
sionary Ridge. Nov. 25. 

1S64 — Atlanta campaign, May 3-Sept. 2: Rocky Faced 
Ridge. May 8-10; Resaca. May 14-15; Dallas, May 25- 



ssault, June 27; Peach Tree Creek. July 
20; Atlanta. July 21-August 26; Gen. Sherman's Savan- 
nah campaign. Georgia, Nov. 15-Dec. 21; March to Sea, 
Nov. 15-Dec. 10; Savannah. Dec. 10-21. 

1865 — Campaign to Carolinas. Jan. 26-March 20; 
North and South Ed is to River, S. C, Feb. 12-13; Snjw 
Hill. S. C. March 27; Bennett House. N. C, April 26. 

The regiment lost, killed in action, one officer and 
54 enlisted men: died of wounds received in action, 
one officer and 30 enlisted men; of disease and other 
causes. 2 officers and 193 enlisted men; in the aggre- 
gate 2S1. One officer and 90 enlisted men died in the 
hands of the enemy. 

At Gettysburg, the captain of Company E, J. B. Fay. 
was taken prisoner, and two weeks thereafter was 
confined in l.ibby Prison, where he remained nearly ten 
month-, then released through the influence of a young 
lady living in Fredonia, who had a brother high up in 
the confidence of the Confederate government. The 
greatest loss it sustained was in the battle of Rocky 
Faced Ridge. May S-10. 1864 — 14 killed and 42 wounded. 

Death of Officers — Capt. Alanson Crosby, died July 
9, 1864. of wounds received at Petersburg. Va., June 
16, 1864. First Lieut, and Adjutant Samuel C. Noyce. 
Jr.. killed May 2, 1863. at ChancellorsvMe. First 
Lieut. Isaac T. Jenkins, died July 27, 1863. of disease. 
at Richmond. Second Lieut. John W. Badger, died 
June 2. 1S63. of disease, at Stafford Court House. 

Ellsworth Avengers — This regiment was recruited 
under the auspices of the Ellsworth Association of the 
State of New York. The plan was to enlist from every 
town and ward of the State one man, but the plan was 
not strictly adhered to, the counties of Erie and Albany 
furnishing each two companies, and Herkimer county 
one company. Chautauqua county furnished a number 
of men, but just how many cannot now be told. It was 
composed of a superior class of men, not one of them 
thirty years of age. The regiment was organized at 
Albany' under Col. Stephen W. Stryker, October 15, 1861. 
It left the State, October 21, 1861, and did efficient serv- 
ice until its muster out under Col. Freeman, October II, 
1864, at Albany. During its term of service the regi- 
ment lost in the aggregate 335 men, of whom fifteen 
enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy. The regi- 
ment took part in the following engagements: 

1862 — Siege of Yorktown, Va., April 5-May 4; Han- 
over Court House, May 27; Seven Days' Battle. June 
28-Julv 2; Gaines Mill. June 27; Malvern Cliff. June 
:;n, Malvern Hill. July 1; Gen. Pope's campaign. Vir- 
ginia. August 2, -Sept. 2; near .Manassas Junction. Au- 
gust 2:1; Bull Run, August 30; Antietam, Md., Sept. 17; 
near sh.-pha 1 alstown, Va.. Sept. 20; Fredericksburg, 
Dec. 11-15; Richard's Ford, Dec. 30-31. 

1863 — Chancellorsville. Va., May 1-4; Middleburg, 
June 21; ilettvsburg. Pa.. July 1-3; Jones Cross Roads. 
Va., Julv 12. P.risiow Station, Oct. 14; Rappahannock 
Station, Nov. 7. Mine Run campaign, Nov. 26-Dec. 2. 

1S64 — Wilderness. Va.. Mac 5-7; Spottsvl vania Court 
House. Mav 8-21; Pinev Branch Church, May 8; Lau- 
rel Hill, Mav 10; North Anna. May 22-26; Totopotonioy, 
May 27-31; Cold Harbor. June 1-12; Bethesda Church, 
June 2-3; before Petersburg. June 16-Oct. 11; assault 
of Petersburg, June 16-19; Weldon Railroad. August 
18-21; Poplar Spring Church, Sept. 30-Oct. 2. 

Death of Officers— Capt. William W. Miller, died 
April 17. 1S62. of disease, at Yorktown. Va. Capt. 



killed Ji 



Yorktown. 
2, 1863, at Gett> 
killed May 5, 1864, 



1 g. 



_ Johns . 
Wilderness. Va. First Lieut. William W. Jones, 
Mav 5, 1S62. of disease, at New York City. First 
Lieut. Eugene L. Dunham, killed July 2, 1S63, at 
Gettysburg', Pa. Second Lieut. Benjamin N. Thomas, 
died July 8. 1863, of wounds received at Gettysburg. 

7th Sharpshooters — In the summer of 1862, while 
recruiting for the army was going on, many expert rifle- 
men in the south part of the county thought that a suffi- 
cient number of accurate marksmen could be found to 
form a company of sharpshooters. Their quest was suc- 
cessful, and an organization was formed. Joseph S. 
Arnold was made captain, C. J. Hall and Clinton Perry 
lieutenants. There were originally thirteen non-commis- 



MILITARY HISTORY 



457 



sioned officers and thirty-eight privates. In October, 
1863, the company received twelve recruits. The com- 
pany was at first attached to the 112th Regiment. At 
Suffolk it was assigned to its proper army organization. 
It did good service at the siege of Suffolk, and after- 
wards with the Army of the Potomac. Its duty was full 
of peril, it was always at the front, alert and watchful 
to resist the first onset of the enemy. Its casualties were 
nine killed and eleven died of wounds or disease. 

Hancock Guards, 90TH Regular Infantry— This 
regiment was recruited, or a part of it, by Col. Louis W. 
Trunelli. It was consolidated with two or three other 
parts of regiments, and after some service a part was 
mustered out, while other companies were consolidated 
with the remainder in 1862. The companies of the sec- 
ond consolidation were raised : Company B, in Nor- 
wich ; Co. I, at Medina. Ridgway and Shelby ; and Co. 
H, in Chautauqua county; the town of Harmony fur- 
nished twenty-seven, and the town of Dunkirk, with 
scattering recruits from other towns, furnished the bal- 
ance. Its service was in the South and Southwest. It 
was an unfortunate regiment, and lost in the service two 
hundred fifty men. 

Death ot Officers — Capt. John Sullivan, died August 
16, 1862, ot vellow fever at Key West, Fla. Maj. John 
C. Smart, killed Oct. 1ft. 1SC4, at Cedar Creek. Va. 
Capt. William E. White, died Feb. 4. 1865. of disease, 
a' Madison. Wis. First Lieut. John J. Irvine, died 
August 29, 1862, of vellow fever, at Key West. Fla. 
Firs: Lieut. William K. Hill, died August 17. 1862. of 
yellow fever, at Fort Jefferson, Fla. First Lieut. T. C. 
Ferris, killed Oct. 19, 1864, at Cedar Creek. Va. Sec- 
ond Lieut. Greig H. Mulligan, died August 20. 1862, of 
vellow fever, at Key West, Fla. Second Lieut. John 
S. Newton, died Sept. 13. 1S62. of vellow fever, at Key 
West, Fla. Second Lieut. Walter L. Griffith, died Oct. 
1, 1862, of yellow fever, at Key West, Fla. 

This regiment took part in the following engage- 
ments: 

1863 — Franklin. La., May 25; siege of Port Hudson. 
May 31-July 8; second assault, June 14; Bayou L,a- 
Fourche. July 13. 

1S64 — Red River campaign. Louisiana. May 10-22; 
Man-ura. May 16; Opequon. Va.. Sept. IS; Fisher's Hill. 
Sept. 22: Cedar Creek, Oct. 19; Cedar Creek, Nov. 11-12. 

The regiment was mustered out under Col. Nelson 
Sherman, Feb. 9, 1S66, at Savannah, Ga. 

First Buffalo Regiment, 21 st Infantry, 1861 — The 
men for this regiment were enlisted principally in the 
county of Erie, a few coming from the counties of Alle- 
gany, Chautauqua, Niagara, Orleans, Oswego and Wyo- 
ming. The regiment left the State, June 18, 1861, and 
served in various brigades and divisions, and was con- 
stantly on duty to its discharge and muster out under its 
original commanding officer, Col. W. F. Rogers, May 18, 
1863, at Buffalo. Their term of service was two years. 
An effort was made to reorganize the regiment under 
Col. Charles YV". Steemburgh in May, 1863, as a three- 
year regiment, but the authority was withdrawn Sep- 
tember 30, 1863. During its term of service the regi- 
ment lost, killed in action, 2 officers and 50 enlisted men ; 
of wounds received in action, 23 enlisted men ; of disease 
and other causes, 2 officers and 40 enlisted men ; total, 
4 officers, 113 enlisted men, in the aggregate 117 men. 
It, or parts of it, took part in the following engagements : 

1862 — Pd River Crossing, Va., August 6; General 
Pope's campaign. August 16-Sept. 2; Rappahannock 
River, August 21; Sulphur Springs. August 26; near 
Gainesville, August 2S; Grovetun, August 20; Hull Run, 
August 30; Fairfax Court House, August 31; Table 
Chur.h. Md.. Sept. 8; South Mountain, Md.. Sept. 14; 
Antietam, Sept. 17; Snickers Gap, Va., Oct. 27; Fred- 
ericksburg. Dec. 11-15. 

1863 — Hartwood Church, Va., Feb. 25, on detached 
service and minor affairs. 

Officers Lost — Capt. Jeremiah P. Washburn, killed 
August 30. 1862, at Bull Run, Va. Capt. Elisha L. Hay- 



ward, died Sept. 9, 1862. of disease, at Washington. 
D. C. Second Lieut. William L. Whitney, killed Au- 
gust 30, 1862, at Bull Run. Va. Surgeon Charles H. 
Wilcox, died Nov. 7, 1862, of disease, at Buffalo, N. T. 

Rochester Cavalry, 22nd Cavalry — A few men from 
this county, from Dunkirk, Pomfret and Portland, en- 
listed in the 22nd Cavalry Regiment. This was organ- 
ized at Rochester, and was mustered into the United 
States service at several dates as from December 20, 

1863, to February 23, 1864. The men were gathered 
mostly from the central counties of the State. The term 
of service was for three years. They left the State in 
March, 1864, and served with the Ninth Corps during 
most of the time until they were mustered out. They 
participated during their short term of service in fifty- 
one engagements of greater or less magnitude. The regi- 
ment lost in officers and men 204, of whom 87 enlisted 
men died in the hands of the enemy. It was recruited 
from sixty-one different towns in the State, and from 
three towns of this county as stated. 

Death of Officers — Maj. Theodore Schlick, killed Au- 
gust 25, 1864, at Kearneysville. Va. First Lieut. Dan- 
iel Z. Layton, died June 14, 1864. of wounds received at 
White Oak Swamp, June 13, 1S64. First Lieut. Squire 
M. Yates, killed April 9, 1865. accidentally, near Win- 
chester, Va. Lieut. Patrick R. Gleman. killed June 22. 

1864, at Dinwiddie Court House, Va. 

15TH Regular New York Cavalry- — A small portion 
of this regiment was enlisted from Chautauqua county — 
YVestfield, Dunkirk and Jamestown. It was organized 
at Syracuse under the command of Col. J. J. Coppinger, 
and mustered into the service of the United States, Au- 
gust 8, 1863, to January 14, 1864, and June 17, 1865, 
and was consolidated with the Sixth Cavalry as the 
Second New York Provisional Cavalry. During its term 
of service it lost 170 men ; 44 enlisted men died in the 
hands of the enemy. 

Officers Lost — Lieut.-Col. Augustus F. Root killed 
April 8. 1865, at Appomattox Court House. Va. Capt. 
Mar-hall M. Loydeii, died Oct. 5. 1864, of disease. First 
Lieut. William P. Shearer, killed Julv s. 1864. in action 
with Guerillas. First Lieut. Ralph D. Short, died Jan. 
2a. 1S65, of disease. Second Lieut. Lorenzo W. Hatch. 
killed Nov. 1. 1864. at Green Springs, Va. Second 
Lieut. Samuel Hunter, died Feb. 26. 1S65. of disease. 
Assistant Surgeon John P. Robison, died Feb. 3, 1864, 
of disease. 

The following regiments enlisted a few men each from 
this county : 

Thirteenth Artillery — This regiment was recruited 
in 1863 by Col. William A. Howard from over one hun- 
dred thirty towns scattered over the entire State, Dun- 
kirk being the only one honored with a membership. 

Fourteenth Artillery — This regiment was recruited 
by Col. Elisha J. Marshall in 1863 for three years. This 
county furnished recruits from a single town, Dunkirk. 
Like the 13th, it was enlisted from over a hundred towns 
in the State; the artillery service seemed to be less a 
favorite than other branches. 

Miscellaneous Organizations — Chautauqua county 
furnished one or more men for the 15th Regiment of 
Engineers. But three regiments of engineers were en- 
listed in this State— the 1st, 15th and 50th. 

The 156th Regiment, or Mountain Legion Infantry, 
was recruited by Col. Erastus Cook, mostly from the 
counties in the eastern part of the State, but the town 
of Westfield in this county had the honor of furnishing 
two or more for its ranks. It was an unfortunate regi- 
ment, in that it lost 231 in battle and from disease. It 
was mustered out October 23, 1865, at Augusta, Georgia. 

The 179th Regiment, Infantry, was organized at El- 



458 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



mira, under Col. William M. Gregg, in 1864. Dunkirk 
and Clymer in this county were represented in this regi- 
ment. ' Its first service was in the 22nd Corps. While 
in service its losses were 191. It was mustered out June 
8, 18(15, near Alexandria, Virginia. 

For the 183d Regiment, New York Volunteers, men 
were recruited in Chautauqua county and Cattaraugus 
by Capt. James Curtis to the number of one hundred, 
but were transferred to the 188th New York Volunteers 
as Company A. 

The 187th Regiment, Infantry, was recruited by Col. 
James R. Chamberlain, succeeded by Col. John Mc- 
Mahan, with headquarters at Rochester, in September, 
1864. It was organized at Rochester and went into serv- 
ice as one-year men. Its first company came from the 
183rd Regiment, as before stated. Chautauqua county 
furnished one or more men from Villenova, the only 
town represented. 

The 1 88th Regiment, New York Volunteers, was re- 
cruited by Col. William F. Bevens, in September, 1864, 
and like the later regiments was composed of detach- 
ments. It was organized at Buffalo, nine companies 
only being recruited. Chautauqua county furnished men 
from Dunkirk, Harmony and Pomfret. They went into 
the service as one year men. The regiment did good 
service, and was mustered out July 1, 1865, near Wash- 
ington, D. C. It lost during its term of one year a total 
of 47 men. 

A number of independent companies being organized in 
the State were incorporated into the 194th, the 21st Inde- 
pendent Company of Westfield being represented. It 
was organized at Elmira. and mustered in at different 
times, as they were recruited. They were mustered out 
and honorably discharged where they were mustered in, 
May 3 and 10, 1865. Seven enlisted men died of disease. 

The companies and regiments sent into the field of 
course became largely depleted by death or sickness, and 
the later enlistments were for filling the ranks. In gen- 
eral terms, Chautauqua county furnished of its own citi- 
zens for the war 4,000 men. Most of these served in 
companies regularly organized within the county, a few 
here and there, possibly one hundred, enlisting outside 
our county limits. 

Drafts, 1863— Under the call for men in August, 1862, 
an enrollment of those supposed to be liable to draft was 
made by the supervisor of each town in the county, and 
a commission appointed by the Governor for the pur- 
pose. From this enrollment the draft of August, 1863, 
was made. The call was for 300,000 nine months' men, 
and the quota for the county was 903. Under act of 
Congress of March 3, 1863, the President was authorized 
after July 1 to make draft at his discretion of persons to 
serve in the national armies for not more than three 
years, any one not reporting for service to be considered 
a deserter. A commutation of $300 was to be received in 
lieu of such service, and there were exemptions provided 
for heads of executive departments ; Federal judges; Gov- 
ernors of States ; the only son of a widow or of aged or 
infirm father dependent on that son's labor for support; 
the father of dependent motherless children under twelve 
years, or the only adult brother of such children being 
orphans; or the residue of a family which has already 
two members in the service. 

The draft was in a decided sense a failure, commuta- 
tion money flowed into the coffers of the government, 
but men were not thus to be caught— the idea of con- 
scription was odious. In this county the draft was not 
interfered with— very little attention was paid to it, it 
was allowed to go through with little concern, nearly 
every man finding in some provision of the law a way of 
escape if he should be so unfortunate as to draw a prize 



in the lottery of flesh and blood. Further drafts were 
ordered until the number of men with commutations 
should reach the number required, but was delayed from 
time to time on request to allow towns to fill the require- 
ment by voluntary enlistments if they chose or could do 
so. But a second or third draft was made necessary in 
but a few of the towns in the county, most of them 
eventually filling the quota. Of the quota for this 
county, 903, but 108 were secured and reported. A 
single man out of the town of Portland out of forty- 
seven, reported for duty. The report made to the county 
committee was a sorry looking document. But a better 
spirit eventually prevailed and by the 5th of January 
following and mostly in December, the quota was filled. 

The families of soldiers were not forgotten. Citizens' 
meetings were held from time to time, always largely 
attended, and men, some of them old and gray, stood up 
and volunteered to care for the family of some son or 
daughter for the term of enlistment or for the war, if a 
son or daughter's husband would enlist as one of the 
county's defenders. Comparatively little, however, was 
called for in this direction, most families of the soldiers 
caring for themselves ; or were the recipients of private 
contributions from friends. 

The boys in blue from Chautauqua county, with grate- 
ful hearts we remember their sacrifices and "deeds of 
valor done, and will never fail to do them reverence so 
long as one lingers among us, and though few marble 
shafts have been raised to commemorate their deeds and 
keep in remembrance those who fell in the fearful con- 
flict or sickened and died away from kindred or home, 
yet their memories are faithfully enshrined in the heart 
of every citizen of the county and the heart is softened 
and made better by the kindlings that spring up as we 
stand about the graves of the fallen, or call to remem- 
brance the many virtues of our brave country's de- 
fenders." 

The following is an item of interest taken from the 
Jamestown "Journal," dated September 11, 1920: 

Forty-eight survivors of the 112th New York Volun- 
teer Infantry and the Seventh Company of Sharp- 
shooters attended the annual reunion held Saturday in 
the Grace United Brethren Church on -North Main 
street. Although the enrollment was within one of 
the registration for the 1919 reunion, Secretary L,. L. 
Hanehett announced that the death of 25 members 
of the regiment had been reported to him since the 
gathering in Predonia last year. 

The majority of the old soldiers present assembled 
at the church before noon and spent an hour or more 
in visiting and exchanging reminiscences. A sump- 
tuous dinner was served by the Philathea Class of the 
church, and there were present, in addition to the vet- 
erans, members of their families and widows of the 
112th and sharpshooters. 

The annual business meeting was called to order by 
the president, E. A. Dutcher, of Jamestown. Rev. M. 
V. Stone, chaplain, offered prayer, after which a cordial 
welcome was extended to the veterans by Rev. N. J. 
Maclntyre, pastor of Grace U. B. Church. Rev Mr. 
Stone made the response. Secretary Hanehett read the 
honor roll and also letters of regret from Rev. Lucius 
Markham. of Pasadena, Cal., formerly of Jamestown, 
Crosby B. Sweet, of Pioneer, O., and Dexter F. Allen, 
of Wisconsin. 

The election of officers resulted in the choice of A. 
H. Stafford, of Jamestown, as president; J. A. Powers, 
of Ashville. vice-president; Rev. M. V. Stone, chaplain. 
L.. L. Hanehett was elected secretary and treasurer 
for life several years ago. After brief talks by the 
new president. Mr. Stafford, and E. 10. Kels.-y, of Fal- 
coner, of the 64th New York, the meeting was ad- 
journed, the place of the next reunion being left with 
the officers to determine. Those in attendance at the 
reunion were: E. A. Dutcher, Co. H, Jamestown; L. 
L. Hanehett, Co. L. Jamestown; L. H. Grannis. Co. A, 
Jamestown; Jos. Wright, Co. A. Falconer; W. R. Skel- 
lie, Co. D. North East. Pa.; John A. Brown. Sharp- 
shooters. Jamestown; Milo J. Tripp. Co. F, Panama; 
C. C. Thompson, Co. D. Youngstown. O.; E. A. Haskins, 
Co. A, Frewsburg; Frank Fromyer, Co. K, North East, 




** ~.» 5> r. 



%w^^m 



y* 



V ■ J 4 . 



PwmFm 



MILITARY HISTORY 



459 



Pa.; Samuel C. Morse, Co. D. Corrv, Pa.; John A. 
Swnnson, Co. P, Jamestown; W. H. Sears, Co. A, 
Freivsluirs; Win. Stearns. Co. H. Panama; Daniel Wil- 
cox, Co. S, Kennedy; W. B. Sprague, Co. B, Spring- 
ville; H. B. Hollister, Co. B, Jamestown; Leon G. 
Brown, Co. P, Huntington. W. Va. ; Wm. H. Proudflt, 
Co. F, Jamestown; A. H. Stafford, Co. B, Jamestown; 
Augustus Blood. Co. G, Broeton; Alva Mathews, Co. H, 
Brocton; Chauncev E. Deland, Co. F, Jamestown; Rev. 
M. V. Stone, Co. A, Jamestown; F. K. Lyon, Co. E. 
North East. Pa.: J. A. Powers, Co. D, Ashville. Jason 
C. Smith. Co. S, Corry, Pa.; Orson R. Pease. Co. S. Long 
Beach. Cat. M. A. Arnold. Co. K, North East. Pa.; Geo. 
W. Cranston. Co. C, Fredonia; F. J. Kazer. Co. I, Lake- 
wood. Gamhol Bradley. Co. F. Russell. Pa. J. A. Kins- 
man, Co. B, Sugar Grove. Pa.; J. R. Raymond, Co. J, 
Cassadaga; E. L. Harris, Co. A, Falconer; Walter 
Strong. Co. B. Sincla irville ; Herman Sixby, Co. E. May- 
ville; Lerov Lord, Co. C, Dayton; Moses Ellis, Co. K, 
Cherry Creek; Theo. Williams, Co. I, Stockton; J. M. 
Shaw, Co. B. Falconer; R. W. Beaujean, Co. E, Mel- 
bourn Beach, Fla.; ('has. A. Arthur. Co. A, Falconer; 
Christian Fan-It. c. I. Dunkirk; C. E. P.lydenburg, Co. 
C. Hamlet. Wm. H. Winchester, Co. I, Dunkirk; D. C. 
Hotchkiss, Co. A, Kennedy; Geo. Smiley, Sharpshoot- 
ers, Fluvanna. 

There have been many reunions of veterans held in 
this county, but none perhaps such a complete success as 
the fiftieth anniversary of the departure of the 9th Regi- 
ment, New York Cavalry, which was celebrated in James- 
town, August 29-30, 191 1. Major Edgar P. Putnam 
conceived the idea of this fiftieth anniversary, and for 
six months gave himself personally to the task of mak- 
ing it a fitting celebration. He obtained the necessary 
funds without great effort, and when all was over, so 
generous had been the giving, that nearly one-third the 
amount subscribed was returned to the donors. The 
attendance of General Daniel E. Sickles was secured, 
that idol of Civil War veterans, who came at the age of 
eighty-six, attended by two nurses, to meet again with 
his old comrades. Brig.-Gen. George S. Nichols, colo- 
nel of the 9th, June 12, 1864-July 17, 1865, was also 
present, as was Col. W. G. Bentley, and about two hun- 
dred veterans of the regiment from near and far. One 
of the largest parades in the history of Jamestown was 
a principal feature of the reunion, while the campfire at 
the armory in the evening was an event never to be for- 
gotten. At that campfire, after eloquent addresses of 
welcome and response, that grim-visaged veteran of many 
battles, Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, former commander of 
the 3rd Army Corps, was introduced. When the intro- 
duction was over and the general hitched his big chair 
to the front of the platform, it was the occasion for an 
outburst of cheers and a genuine Chautauqua salute. The 
general told of some of his own experiences, of the part 
he and the men in his command played in that struggle 
at Gettysburg, of a visit and prayer of Abraham Lin- 
coln, while tears flowed down the cheeks of the white- 
haired men who listened, and when he in turn was fol- 
lowed by another distinguished leader, General George 
S. Nichols, who led the 9th in battle, the enthusiasm of 
the veterans was at its height. Col. Bentley in his 
speech brought out the fact that the New York 9th Cav- 
alry fired the first shot, lost the first man, killed the first 
Confederate, and captured the first prisoner at the battle 
of Gettysburg. The Jamestown "Journal" said edi- 
torially : 

The army records show that the Ninth New York 
Cavalry is credited with the capture of forty-five 
wagons and an ambulance, eight cassions. fifteen can- 
non, five flags, and 1.7:0; prisoners. Of the prisoners, 
1,523 were captured in action. 259 by patrols, and 14 
were deserters from the Confederate army. Where 
is there a regiment that can show a better record? 
Where is one that was more often in the thick of the 
fight, and at the danger point in so many battles'.' 
These brave men held back the enemy at Old Forge 



their intrepid leader in the Shenandoah Valley cam- 
paign, and helped to pick victory from the very jaws 
of death and defeat on a hundred battlefields. They 
man hod. they skirmished, they picketed the lines, and 
they grew into the very hearts of one another as they 
faced danger side by side. 

The Spanish-American War — This war was remark- 
able for the unanimity of sentiment that existed in the 
United States among all parties and classes in favor of 
its prosecution. The year 1898 covers the entire period 
of actual war. The Cuban insurrection beginning in 
1895 had early drawn attention to the cruelties practiced 
by the Spaniards upon the Cubans, but it was not until 
General Weyler, the Spanish commander, starved and 
slaughtered non-combatants, that the United States made 
vigorous protest. The Spanish cruelties had increased 
and sentiment against them had become very strong and 
outspoken when on February 15, 1898, the United States 
battleship "Maine" was blown up in Havana harbor with 
the loss of 260 American lives. This fanned the fire 
into a conflagration, and war between the United States 
and Spain became certain. In March both houses of 
Congress without a dissenting vote passed a bill appro- 
priating $50,000,000 for national defence, and on Thurs- 
day, April 23, 1898, war was declared. 

In Chautauqua county, sympathy for struggling Cuba 
and endorsement of the war against Spain was very 
strong and unanimous. At an early day books had been 
opened in Jamestown and elsewhere in the county for 
subscriptions to the Cuban Relief Fund, and the young 
men of the county volunteered as promptly for military 
service as did the young men in any former war. Presi- 
dent McKinley made his first call for troops April 23, 
1898, for 125,000 men, New York State being asked for 
twelve regiments of infantry and two regiments of cav- 
alry. The President, in his call on the State of New 
York, expressed a wish that the regiments of National 
Guard be used as far as their numbers would permit, for 
the reason that they were well armed, equipped and 
drilled. Of course it became a matter of necessity first 
to ascertain whether the companies and regiments of the 
National Guard would voluntarily enter the United States 
service; after an expression of willingness to do so in 
every case to be made individually, they were to be mus- 
tered in and would be subject to the orders of the gen- 
eral government. In a surprisingly short space of time 
thirty-five companies of National Guard in the State ex- 
pressed their willingness and among them the 13th Sepa- 
rate Company, located at Jamestown. Under orders, 
this company left for Camp Black at Hempstead Plains, 
Long Island, May 1, 1898, where it was mustered into 
the United States service May 17, 1898, as Company E, 
and the regiment to which it was attached was known 
as the 65th New York Volunteers. The regiment num- 
bered 50 officers and 980 enlisted men, under Col. Sam- 
uel M. Welsh, and in camp was under the command of 
Maj.-Gen. Charles F. Roe. Under orders from the War 
Department, the regiment moved from Camp Black, May 
19, with camp equipage and ten days' field rations en 
route for camp near Falls Church, Virginia, afterward 
designated as Camp Russell A. Alger. May 24 the regi- 
ment was attached to the First Brigade, First Division, 
Second Army Corps. They remained there until Septem- 
ber 4. except a slight change of location of camp, but 
moved no farther south, the exigencies of the war not 
demanding a further increase of the army in the field. 
On the date mentioned, in accordance with orders, the 
regiment left for Buffalo, arriving there the next day, 
September 5, and arriving at the armory at I o'clock p. 
m. The armory was made a military post, named Camp 
Joseph W. Plume, in honor of the commanding general. 
An order was issued granting all officers leave of absence 



460 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



and all enlisted men furloughs for thirty days. Octo- 
ber 6 the regiment assembled upon the expiration of 
leaves and furloughs. Preparations for muster out were 
begun and continued until November 19, 1898, at which 
date the regiment was mustered out of the United States 
service. A member of the 13th Separate Company, Dr. 
William M. Bemus, surgeon, was commissioned surgeon 
and major of the Third Regiment of New York State 
Volunteers, as the medical staff of the 65th was already 
appointed, and served as surgeon until the muster out 
of the regiment, Nov. 30, 1898. He was also in command 
of a division hospital at Thoroughfare, Virginia, a part 
of the time being detailed for that purpose and returned 
from duty with the 3rd Regiment. A number beside the 
13th Company left the county and entered the service, 
most if not all of them enlisting at Buffalo. A number 
of men also entered the navy from Chautauqua county. 

After the departure of the 13th Separate Company, a 
military company was organized at Jamestown to take 
its place, Daniel H. Post, captain. This company, the 
1 13th Separate Company, was never given an opportunity 
to enlist, but forty-seven men from its ranks enlisted 
in other organizations and were in the service. Upon 
the return of Company E (13th Separate Company), the 
113th disbanded. On July 22, fifty Chautauqua county 
men who had enlisted in Jamestown (about thirty of 
them from the 113th Separate Company) left Jamestown 
to join the 202nd Regiment, New York Volunteers, under 
command of Col. Ward, at Buffalo. About twenty of 
this group were organized by A. F. Allen, recruited by 
Ira C. Brown. They all became members of Company 
K, 202nd Regiment, and were absent on service until the 
spring of 1899 (nine months), returning to Jamestown, 
April 18, they having been mustered out at Savannah, 
Georgia, April 16. Three of their number had died— 
Thomas B. Lockwood, Carl A. Carlson, Arthur W. 
Hotchkiss. Company K was given a public reception 
and a warm welcome. 

Other Chautauquans who served were: Sergeant E. 
W. Bucklin, Jr., of Jamestown, joined the Rooseveltr 
"Rough Riders" at Galveston, Texas, in May, 1898, 
fought with them at Santiago, and was in the service 
until honorably discharged in September. Col. W. F. 
Endress, of Jamestown, was a member of Gen. Henry's 
staff. Maj. George R. Smith was a paymaster in the 
United States Army. Frederick W. Hyde, commissary 
of subsistence, ranking as captain, a member of the 13th 
Separate Company, who served at both Camp Alger, Vir- 
ginia, and Camp Meade, Pennsylvania. 

John T. Wagner, of Dunkirk, was a gunner on the 
United States cruiser "Brooklyn;" Clare E. Kent, of 
Jamestown, a corporal of Company A, 18th Regiment, 
United States Infantry, and saw service in the Philip- 
pines ; J. E. Berndston, of Mayville, also served in the 
Philippines. 

August 12, 1898, the peace protocol was signed, the 
war having lasted 113 days. The next day Manilla sur- 
rendered and on December 10, 1898, the treaty of peace 
was signed between the United States and Spain. 

Jamestown is now credited with the only recognized 
county military organization, Company E, 74th Regi- 
ment, New York National Guard. This company, known 
as the 13th Separate Company and by the honorary title, 
The Fenton Guards, has an honorable history. Originally 
a Swedish company, its organization is fully told in the 
work in connection with the chapter, "History of the 
Swedish People." They were called out for active service 
during the railroad strikes and riots in 1877, and during 
the switchman's strike in Buffalo in 1892. In response 
to a call for volunteers for duty in the war with Spain 
the 13th Separate Company left Jamestown, May I, 189S, 
and on May 17, 1898, was mustered into the United States 



service as Company E, 65th Regiment, New York Vol- 
unteers. The company went into camp at Camp Alger, 
Virginia, but was not ordered into active service, and 
returned to Jamestown in September, 1898. When called 
for duty on the Mexican border in 1916 the organization 
responded and as Company E, 74th Regiment, compiled 
an honorable record. The company armory built in 1892 
at a cost of $38,000 is a substantial structure of brown 
stone and brick, with drill shed, company rooms and all 
the furnishings of a complete armory. Selden Bemus 
is the present (1920) captain. 

Naval Militia— The First Division, Third Battalion, 
Naval Militia, New York, was organized in Dunkirk, 
June, 1912, with Lieut. H. B. Lyon as commanding officer. 
Sixty-four men were sworn in by Commodore R. P. 
Forshew and staff of New York in Chautauqua Hall. 
The militia was organized to train young men in the same 
line of duties as are now carried on in the United States 
Navy, on board battleships, destroyers, cruisers, sub- 
marines, etc. 

In 1913 the entire third floor of the Heyl block was 
leased by the State and remodeled as an armory and 
quarters for the division. The old power house at the 
foot of Central avenue was also leased and remodeled 
to be used as a boat house. The quarters are one of the 
best to be found in the State for a single division of the 
Naval Militia. 

In 1914 Louis Heyl was promoted from seaman to 
ensign, and later commissioned a lieutenant and assigned 
to duty with this division. 

The division has participated in the following annual 
tours of duty since its organization: In October, 1912, 
took part in the fleet review at New York in the North 
river, being detailed to the United States ship "Delaware." 
In August, 1913, detailed to the United States ship "Ala- 
bama" at New York for a ten-day cruise to the Bermuda 
Islands ; two days' shore liberty was granted to the crew, 
which gave them ample time to see the different places 
of interest throughout the islands. In July, 1914, the 
United States ship "Hawk" was assigned to the division 
for a ten-day cruise on Lake Erie, making Put-In-Bay 
the rendezvous. Lieut. Charles H. Fischer, United States 
Navy, was detailed as instructor in handling small boats 
under sails and oars, ship routine, target practice and 
signal work. In August, 1915, the division was detailed 
to the United States ship "Kearsarge" for a ten-day 
cruise in Chesapeake Bay, where battery practice was 
held. In August, 1916, the division was detailed to the 
United States ship "New Jersey" and cruised along the 
Atlantic coast and gave shore liberty at Newport, Rhode 
Island. After returning to the North river at New York, 
the men were granted two days' liberty in New York 
City before returning home. Besides he annual cruises, 
the division has had a great many week-end trips on 
board the United States ship "Hawk" to different ports 
along the north and south shores of Lake Erie. 

In January, 1917, the Naval Militia was federalized, 
and was known as the National Naval Volunteers ; the 
Navy Department realized the fact that their training 
had made them man-o-war men, and they proved it dur- 
ing the late war. The division was mobilized April 8, 
1917, and was the first to answer the call, leaving Dun- 
kirk on Easter Sunday, 1917. They were sent to the 
Federal rendezvous at Philadelphia, where the officers 
and men were detailed to different ships of the navy and 
took part in the great World War, some serving as long 
as twenty-six months. In July, 1918, the National Naval 
Volunteers were transferred to the United States Naval 
Reserve Force, putting them all under one department. 

The division today has a membership of two officers 
and fifty-six enlisted men, and known as the Naval 




MAJOR CTIAS. A. SANDBURG 



MAJOR A. r.ARTHOI.DI PETERSi iX 




COMPANY E, 74th INFANTRY, JULY, 1016 
BEFORE ENTRAINING FOR THE MEXICAX BORDER 



MILITARY HISTORY 



461 



Militia, New York and Naval Reserve Force. The De- 
partment of Naval Affairs has ordered all kinds of equip- 
ment shipped to Dunkirk for the training of young men, 
which includes uniforms, rifles, machine guns, one-and- 
three-pounders, small marine engines, boats, and boat 
gear. Instruction in wireless, engineering, navigation, 
and wireless was given. A small steamer and a ship 
of the destroyer type were loaned to this division. 

The World War — Owing to the differing conditions, 
it is impossible to present Chautauqua county's part in 
the World War in such a way as in that of the Civil 
War. In the latter, entire companies and regiments were 
made up within its borders. Their members came to- 
gether in squads and companies from their own city 
wards and country villages ; they were schoolmates and 
fellow-workmen, and when war was on, they were 
familiar associates embarking together in a new adven- 
ture. 

In the World War was an entirely different system, 
under the Selective Draft law. The men called and 
assembled under its provisions were widely distributed, 
and there were few instances where the soldier found 
in his company, perhaps not in his regiment, an old-time 
friend or even a casual acquaintance. The great majority 
of them were in various regiments in four of the splendid 
divisions that went overseas— the 27th, the 77th, the 78th 
and the 81st, and practically every other unit in the 
American army abroad included men who had known 
Chautauqua county as their home, and in addition to 
these gallant fellows, the Navy and Merchant Marine 
drew a considerable number of Chautauquan youth. As 
is remarked in "Lest We Forget," the "Record of Chau- 
tauqua County's Own," by Maj. A. Bartholdi Peterson: 

It would be impossible to write the history of each 
unit which contained a member from this region; that 
work will take years of effort to accomplish in an 
efficient manner. The military record of this county 
is one toward which its citizens can point with pride. 
Included in the various division histories and even war 
histories are recorded the deeds of personal gallantry 
and valor performed by Chautauqua county service 
men and women. Included in that roll of honor. The 
Heroic Dead, before whom every American citizen 
bows head in reverence and respect, are the names of 
many, many stalwart young Americans who went forth 
into the fight of their country and gave themselves up 
to death to preserve the liberties of our Nation. Ex- 
cept for those who loved them, their names will soon 
be forgotten, but the spirit of true Americanism is 
their monument, and it will endure forever. To them 
is honor due. and to them the Nation owes its future 
freedom, justice and democracy. 

Under its proper head will be found in this volume a 
list of American Legion Posts, formed by returning vet- 
erans of the World War. 

Nor to be forgotten are the many patriotic women 
who served as Army and Red Cross Nurses abroad as 
well as at home. Many such activities are recorded on 
other pages of this work, as are also the labors and 
sacrifices of the noble citizens, men and women, who 
aided in the Food Conservation system, both as active 
workers and cheerful submitters to economies and pri- 
vations which challenge our admiration. 

Company E, 74th Regiment, New York National 
Guard, was a distinctively Chautauqua county body. It 
had seen service on the Mexican border in 1917, as men- 
tioned elsewhere in this work, and this experience had 
well fitted its men for a part in the World War, and in 
which they acquitted themselves with soldierly pluck and 
ability. In anticipation of war, on March 28, 1917, the 
War Department summoned National Guard troops to 
service, and among them was Company E. On the day 
following the call, Capt. Charles A. Sandburg, com- 
manding, received orders to report with his company at 



Buffalo for muster into the service of the United States. 
This order was rescinded, and the company was mus- 
tered in at Jamestown, and placed on duty for the pro- 
tection of railroad bridges at important points in the 
county. In this service, the company experienced its 
first loss in the opening contest. While engaged in 
guarding the Nickle Plate railroad bridge at Silver 
Creek, on the night of May 6, or early in the morning 
of the next day, Private Frank C. Hallberg was killed 
by a passing freight train which struck his rifle barrel 
with such force that it was bent almost double around 
his neck. He had joined the company in June, 1916, and 
was highly esteemed by his officers and comrades. 

Company E, with its regiment, was in training at 
Camp Wadsworth, Spartansburg, South Carolina, dur- 
ing the winter of 1917-18. Mustered as the 108th In- 
fantry, the regiment became a part of the famous 27th 
Division, which in May of the latter year sailed for 
France. Arrived there, it was for some time attached 
to the 66th British Division, from which it was soon 
separated and assigned to the second defense line, in 
the Scharpenberg sector in Belgium, just north of Mt. 
Kemmel. The division was continually under shell fire, 
and casualties were of daily occurrence. It was now 
affiliated with the Australian Corps of the British army, 
on the immediate Hindenburg line, and took part in the 
heaviest fighting, the details of which cannot be detailed 
at length. Suffice it to say, it daily encountered all the 
dangers of its hazardous position. The 2nd Battalion 
of the 108th Regiment, of which Company E was a part, 
bore a splendid part at the Quennemont Farm, where 
with two officers and less than two hundred men it 
fought off all counter attacks, and captured 114 prisoners, 
but suffering many casualties in its encounter with 
machine guns and poison gas. It had the supreme satis- 
faction of piercing the famous Hindenburg line. An 
incident of these operations was a raid made for the 
purpose of taking prisoners in order to gain informa- 
tion. In the middle afternoon of October 14, one officer 
and fifty-four men, including several Chautauquans, ad- 
vanced under an artillery barrage to the La Selle river, 
which they forded under a smoke screen, surprised the 
enemy in their dugouts, and returned with three officers 
and twenty-seven men as prisoners, losing only one man. 
This was but an incident of the arduous service of this 
command, the effective force of the division having been 
reduced to less than a thousand rifles ; its casualties dur- 
ing its operations, closing with the Armistice, were 237 
officers and 7,978 enlisted men. 

On February 19, 1919, the division sailed for home. 
The month of March was spent in camp, and the divi- 
sion was mustered out of service, and in New York had 
a splendid homecoming greeting. On April 1 the veterans 
of Company E, with others of the same and other com- 
mands, arrived in Jamestown, and were received by the 
great populace with ardent affection and proud enthusi- 
asm. 

The 77th, 78th and 81st Divisions of the American 
army had practically similar experiences with those of 
the 27th Division, and acquitted themselves with similar 
heroism. Each of these contained a considerable num- 
ber of Chautauqua county men, but no company unit. 

One Chautauqua soldier came to the highest distinc- 
tion— Maj. -Gen. Charles J. Bailey. He was born at 
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, June 21, 1859, son of the late 
Milton and Fannie O. Bailey. When he was five years 
old his parents came with their family to Jamestown, 
and he here grew to young manhood. When approach- 
ing his eighteenth year he passed a competitive examina- 
tion for admission to the West Point Military Academy, 
was nominated, and entered. In 1880 he graduated, then 



462 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



entering the Artillery School, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1888. He was commissioned first lieutenant, Jan- 
uary 14, 1888; captain, March 2, 1889; major, June II, 
1905 ; lieutenant-colonel, coast artillery corps, Septem- 
ber 1, 1908; colonel, March II, 1911; brigadier-general, 
October 10, 1913; with the latter rank he was in com- 
mand of coast defenses at Manila, Philippine Islands, 
when the United States entered the World War, and was 
at once called home, with the rank of major-general, 
and placed in command of the 81st Division. This he 
accompanied overseas, commanding it in the final offen- 
sive and was on the Hindenburg line when the Armis- 
tice was declared. Gen. Bailey's portrait appears in con- 
nection with this narrative. Of other portraits on these 
pages, it is to be said that sketches of their subjects will 
be found in the biographical volumes of this work. 

Private Ira Lou Spring, 45th Company of Marines, 
was with his command, the first group of the famous 
Marine Corps to plant the American flag on the firing 
line in France. He made the supreme sacrifice — the first 
Chautauqua county soldier killed in action. He was a 
son of Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Spring, of Jamestown. Gen. 
Barnett cabled the following of the young hero's death : 
"He nobly gave his life in the service of his country." 
On April 1, 1919, more than one hundred veteran mem- 
bers of Company E and other units of the 108th Regi- 
ment. 27th Division, United States Army, returned from 
overseas, arrived in Jamestown and were warmly re- 
ceived. 

On Tuesday, November 11, 1919, a great crowd wit- 
nessed an Armistice Day parade of service men of Chau- 
tauqua county, who were escorted through the streets 
with great pomp and pageantry. The first division of 
the parade, led by Colonel William F. Endress, was en- 
tirely military, Major Charles A. Sandburg in command 
of Company E, 74th Regiment, New York National 
Guard; Major A. Bartholdi Peterson in command of 
service men; and staff of Ira Lou Spring Post, Ameri- 
can Legion ; service men of Jamestown, Dunkirk, Fre- 
donia, Westfield, Silver Creek, Ripley, Brocton, May- 
vine, Sherman, Bemus Point, Falconer, Kennedy, Elling- 
ton, Frewsburg, and other places, and allied service men, 
under the lead of Captain George W. Cottis. Next came 
the service flags, overseas' workers, Red Cross workers 
under the direction of Mrs. Harry P. Sheldon; Spanish 
War veterans and veterans of foreign wars; Jamestown 
Battalion, State Cadets. The second division was his- 
torical; the third, industrial; the fourth, automobile. 
The entire city caught he spirit of enthusiasm and the 
national colors were seen everywhere. On Third street 
was an imposing arch of flags and banners which was 
illuminated at night by powerful electric lights. Thou- 
sands of visitors were in the city, and enthusiasm per- 
vaded the crowds which lined the route over which the 
parade passed. About two thousand service men of the 
county marched in the procession, all parts being well 
represented. The outstanding feature of the parade, 
aside from its length and the excellence of the floats, 
was the enthusiasm with which the service men were 
received all along the line. 

The Jamestown Rotary Club erected a massive honor 
roll memorial tablet upon which is ; nscribed the follow- 
ing names : 



Harry W. Aldren 
Carl J. Anderson 
Clarence R. Anderson 
Paul YV. Anderson 
William H. Angove 
Parker Barraclough 
Rosario Belutto 
Harry W. Benson 
Nels L Benson 
John W. Blood 
Victor H. Bratt 



Carl A. Jones 
Charles A. Josephson 
Herman Kent 
Harold W. Lawson 
Clarence P. Leuthie 
Henry Lundahl 
Albert A. Lundell 
Ludwig Lundy 
T. Clyde McGraw 
Nat Mclntyre 
David Midgley 



Howard K. Brickell 
Kenneth H. Burr 
Franklin Butterfleld 
Philip E. Carling 
Carl A. G. Carlson 
Ernest H. Carlson 
Gunnard Carlson 
Howard Carpenter 
Herbert C. Clark 
Homer E. Collins 
Lawrence E. Davis 
Edward H. Eckberg 
C. Laverne Eckstrom 
Floyd H. English 
Jonas H. Erickson 
William J. Foley 
James C. Galivan 
Raymond E. Gampf 
Oscar L. Green 
Saleem G. Hadba 
Claude S. Hall 
Frank C. Hallberg 



G. Johnson 
Carl H. Johnson 
Carl M. Johnson 
Christ Johnson 
Ebba M. E. Johnson 
Fred C. Johnson 
Freedolph Johnson 
George S. Johnson 
Oscar E. Johnson 



Clayton C. Moore 
Earl A. Morley 
Leonard Napolitano 



Car 



M. ols 



Adelbert Peterson 
Otto E. Peterson 
Rudolph Peterson 
Mark M. Potter 
Joseph Prendergast 
William Sandstrom 
Delbert W. Sayres 
Carl A. E. Schold 
Gavin W. Scott 
Alton B. Shearman 
Royal A. Smith 
Stephen Socenski 
Oscar F. Spencer 
Clarence P. Spetz 
Glen W. Spetz 
Ira Lou Spring 
Samuel C. Steinburg 
Lynn K. Sturdevant 
Carl F. Swanson 
Carl L. Swanson 
C. Lawrence Swansor 
Theodore G. Treff 
John Vishnia 
Fritz Warner 
Arthur E. Winroth 
E. David Wiquist 
Ralph D. Zeh 



The Merchant Marine was a most important adjunct of 
the allied naval forces. To it was committed the larger 
part of the transportation overseas of all that entered into 
the support of troops in the field — food, clothing, war 
munitions, hospital supplies, etc. Chautauqua county con- 
tributed liberally of its high-spirited young manhood. 
The enrollment of volunteers for this service from the 
region tributary to Jamestown, embracing Chautauqua 
county and a portion of Pennsylvania adjacent thereto, 
was in the hands of Frank M. Clark, of Jamestown, one 
of the patriotic "Dollar Men," as a special enrolling 
agent ; and upon whom devolved the duty of determining 
the eligibility of those seeking service in the Merchant 
Marine Service, and of their physical ability, before for- 
warding them to the training ships. 

Dunkirk sent out over 800 men for army service, and 
many of these served in the 77th, 78th, 87th, 42nd, 27th, 
and other divisions overseas. Among the officers were : 
Capt. (afterward Major) W. H. Vosburg ; Major H. C. 
Hequembourg ; Capt. G. E. Frye ; the three brothers— 
Capt. William Shelton, Capt. M. Shelton and Lieut. A. 
Shelton ; and Lieuts. J. W. Badglev. Fleck, P. T. Nelson, 
R. W. Foley, C. W. Lunger, L. N. Vandervoort, T. 
Hequembourg. 

The Dunkirk Naval Militia performed a noble part. 
It was organized June 1, 1912, for the training of men 
for future and emergency naval service, with headquar- 
ters at No. 220 Central avenue, in the Naval Militia 
Armory. The training of the men was on Lake Erie, 
with summer tours on a government training ship on the 
high seas. When the United States entered the World 
War, the Dunkirk contingent numbered 64 men, under 
Lieuts. Harry B. Lyon and Louis Heyl, and these were 
immediately called into government service, being dis- 
patched for service to different United States naval 
branches — cruisers, battleships, destroyers, etc. The orig- 
inal members all returned safely. 

Every city, town and village in the county gave un- 
stintingly of its patriotic youth to the Great Cause, and 
scores of noble women took hospital and similar service 
both in domestic camps and overseas. The quotas for 
the various Liberty Loans, Red Cross and United War 
work, with various collateral drives, met with hearty and 
liberal response. The farmers, overburdened by reason 
of scarcity of farm helpers, worked unceasingly to sup- 
ply food needs ; and citizens generally submitted with 



MILITARY HISTORY 



463 



wonderful resignation to the deprivations called for by 
Food Conservation Boards, in order that our troops 
abroad and their Allies should be adequately provis oned. 

Fredonia sent into service 350 men and a number of 
women; seven of her sons and one of her daughters are 
named on the Honor Roll : Louis Goth, Rosario Liberty, 
Pleasant T. Christian, Fred Merchant, Kenneth Ran- 
dolph, John H. Wilder, Jay Zehnder, and Anna Williams, 
a Red Cross nurse. Among the commissioned officers in 
service were : Col. T. Moran ; Col. J. Atwood, of Gen. 
Pershing's staff; Major W. Sackett; Capts. L. B. West, 
E. J. Sandeson, H. S. Edmonds ; Lieuts. A. F. Hayward, 
G. Luke, W. Schwan, N. Aldrich, George Moran. 

Westfield contributed a noble roll, among her sons 
being Lieut. Phil Carling and Ralph Pomeroy, who fell 
on the field of honor; while others succumbed to disease 
in camp. Westfield was the home of many of consider- 
able rank, among them Cols. George E. Brewer and 
Roger S. Fitch, Lieut.-Cols. F. J. Mack and Albert E. 
Pierce, Maj. P. Jay Watson, of the army; and in the 
navy two lieutenant-commanders — W. H. Faust and John 
Schoenfeld. 

It is impossible to give a connected narrative that will 
adequately portray the conduct of both soldiers and their 
supporters at home during the strenuous days of the 
World War. The conditions become most apparent in 
the facts as narrated from day to day in the following 
excerpts from the Jamestown "Evening Journal :"* 

May I, 1917 — James Underwood left this morning for 
the Officers' Training Camp at Madison Barracks. He 
passed exceptionally high in the examinations. 

Lewis Merrill has enlisted in the Canadian Royal Fly- 
ing Corps, and is leaving for Toronto in a few days. 

Dr. George W. Cottis, who sailed with the Harvard 
Unit to do service in France, has arrived safely in Eng- 
land. 

May 3 — Miss Harriet L. Leete, now of Cleveland, for- 
merly of Jamestown, has left to do service in Northern 
France. Miss Leete is a sister of Miss Elsie Leete, Mrs. 
L zzie LaVier and Fayette and Charles Leete of this city. 
She is entering the service as a Red Cross nurse. She 
has been superintendent of Babies' Dispensary and Hos- 
pital in Cleveland. 

May 4 — Maurice Sunderland leaves to enter the Ben- 
jamin Harrison Training Camp for Officers. 

May 7 — Two Jamestown young men have passed ex- 
amination for Federal Officers' Training Camp. They 
are John S. Leonard, a young attorney, and Frank A. 
Peterson, steward at the Jamestown Club, who has had 
some training at the State camp at Plattsburg. 

Color Sergeant E. B. Briggs was one of 22 soldiers 
recommended by Colonel Kemp to go to Officers' Camp. 
He was color sergeant with the 74th Infantry, National 
Guard of New York. He goes to Madison Barracks, 
Sacketts Harbor. Jesse S. Ogden has gone to Madison 
Barracks for the same course. He is the son of Rev. 
and Mrs. Horace G. Ogden, of Rochester, formerly of 
Jamestown. 

Dr. C. K. Haynes has received word from his son, 
Glen H. Haynes, who is attending Carnegie Institute of 
Technology, that he has made application for enlistment 
in the Engineers Corps at Pittsburgh. 

Arthur E. Schobeck, Herve C. Moore, Frank T. Page 
and D. Paul Ogren have returned from Buffalo, where 



•Collated by Miss Annie Dunderdale. During the 
war, she was an active member of the Business Divi- 
sion of the Young Men's Christian Association in 
Prance, on duty at Chaumont, Gen. Pershing's head- 
quarters. Later, in the same city, she was attached to 
the Legal Division of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation in connection with the Peace Conference. 



they enlisted in the Officers' Reserve Corps. Are to be 
ordered to Madison Barracks. 

May 9 — Clifford C. Schell and Elton Burrows, of Rip- 
ley, N. Y., joined the Marine Corps at Buffalo, leaving 
for Philadelphia, where they will undertake a four 
months' course of training. Aside from George A. New- 
berry, who enlisted from Cornell, these are the first 
young men of Ripley to volunteer for service since the 
war was declared. 

May 11 — Herve Moore, Emmons G. Swift, John S. 
Leonard, William M. Bemus, Jr., and Sloane Peterson 
have been ordered to report for service at the Officers' 
Training Camp. 

Bernard M. Burns, son of Rev. and Mrs. J. P. Burns, 
leaves in a few days for Madison Barracks to enter the 
Officers' Training Camp. He is the second son of Rev. 
and Mrs. Burns to enter the service. The other is 
Harold F. Burns, who enlisted in the Marine Corps at 
Philadelphia. 

William Black, who was to have been advertising man- 
ager for the Institution at Chautauqua, writes that he 
has enlisted as an ambulance driver and is leaving for 
France. 

May 17 — Harold Robinson, of Sinclairville, Lee I. 
Spooner, of Dewittville, Harold M. Perkins, of James- 
town, enlisted in Company E, 74th Regiment. 

May 21 — Albert T. Underwood, son of Mr. and Mrs. 
F. J. Underwood, has enlisted in the Naval Reserves. 
Has left for Newport, Rhode Island, to enlist in the 
Naval Reser.ve, Fourth Class. 

May 24 — Mr. Clifford, Board of Commerce Secretary, 
ordered to report at Boston. He has received commis- 
sion as captain, and is attached to the Quartermaster's 
Department. He has not been in Jamestown but a few 
weeks, and came with the understanding that he might 
be called at any time. 

May 28 — Capt. Clifford was tendered a farewell din- 
ner at the Hotel Samuels today. 

June 6 — First Lieut. Fisher, Jamestown young man, 
receives commission in Ordnance Section of Officers' 
Reserve Corps. 

June 11 — Lieut. Hayes is commissioned assistant sur- 
geon, 3rd Field Artillery, National Guard, and to be 
called into service in a few days at Fort Benjamin Har- 
rison, Indiana. 

June 14 — Dr. George W. Cottis, Jamestown surgeon, is 
at hospital in France. He is a lieutenant in the British 
army. 

June 19— Edwin Green and Frank H. Green, of Fre- 
donia, in the service. Edwin Green is on his way to 
France, and Frank enlisted at Cleveland, Ohio, and is 
now at Eagle Pass, Texas, awaiting transportation with 
the 3rd Infantry. Dennis Reilley, of Seventh street, 
Fredonia, joined the United States Engineers at Phila- 
delphia. 

June 25 — Fred Palmer, former Jamestown man, is now 
on Pershing's staff, and given rank of major. He will 
have charge of the army's relations with the American 
press, and the staff will be able to utilize his war 
acquired knowledge in other respects. 

June 30 — Word has been received from "somewhere 
in France" that Miss Harriet L. Leete is chief assistant 
nurse in one of the base hospitals. 

July 2 — Local draft board named by the President, 
consisting of Mayor Samuel A. Carlson, City Clerk 
Clement B. Jones and Dr. John J. Mahoney. Mr. Jones 
is not sure of his acceptance. 

July 9 — Malcolm F. Jones, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed- 
ward F. Jones, has received a commission as lieutenant 
in the Officers' Reserve Corps with the United States 
army, and is to be connected with the Ordnance Depart- 
ment. 



464 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



July 14— Dr. William M. Sill and Dr. Edward L. 
Hazeltine have received from the United States War 
Department their commissions as first lieutenants in the 
Medical Section of the Officers' Reserve Corps. 

July 19 — Frank H. Mott was appointed by Governor 
Whitman as member of the Draft Board. The other 
members of the board are : Mayor Samuel A. Carlson 
and Health Superintendent J. J. Mahoney. Mr. Mott 
takes the vacancy caused by the declination of City Clerk 
Clement B. Jones. 

July 24 — A meeting of the Home Defense Council met. 
The members pledged to cooperate in organizing a new 
National Guard and will be called upon to perform the 
usual duties devolving upon the National Guard. 

July 24 — Norton Partridge, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. 
W. Partridge, of Lakewood, N. Y., has been accepted 
for enlistment in the Naval Aviation Corps. He left for 
Buffalo. Monday evening, for the training camp at Pensa- 
cola, Florida. 

July 25 — A letter has been received from Dr. George 
W. Cottis, who is in a French camp. His letter con- 
tained many things of interest. 

July 27 — Lieut. Hayes, who is in the Medical Corps 
Training Division at Camp Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, 
has been assigned to the Medical Corps of the 3rd New 
York Field Artillery of Buffalo, formerly the 65th New 
York Infantry. Lieut. Hayes is a Jamestown boy. 

August 1 — Alfred G. DeForse, of Jamestown, was on 
the torpedoed ship, the "Montana," sunk July 31 by Ger- 
man submarine. He is the son of Mrs. Luella Bassett. 
He enlisted in the army, going to the Philippines, where 
he remained for three years. He returned to this coun- 
try and received an honorable discharge, but reenlisted 
at the time of the Mexican border trouble. 

August 7 — Marion Cadwell writes from behind the 
French lines. He is driving an ambulance. He says he 
is comfortably situated in a village behind the front. 

George F. Hurlburt, is one of a committee of three 
men representing the New York State Hotel Men's Asso- 
ciation, which will be charged with the duty of provid- 
ing 240 army cooks for the northeastern cantonments to 
be established at Wrightstown, New Jersey. 

August 10 — Gale L. Cheney, of Jamestown, is com- 
missioned second lieutenant of cavalry. C. J. Rew, of 
Bemus Point, second lieutenant ; Walter M. Sackett, 
Fredonia, New York, captain of Field Artillery. These 
men are in an Indiana training camp. 

August 11 — Francis W. Crandall, of Westfield, is com- 
missioned as captain in the Field Artillery Section. 

August 13 — Eighty men left on their way to war with 
little ceremony. Solemn scene. Members of the I22d 
United States Infantry. Have been ordered into Buf- 
falo, from whence they will proceed to a training camp 
in the South. 

Captain Crandall, of Westfield, New York, granted 
commission at Fort Myer, Virginia. He is son of Mr. 
and Mrs. F. W. Crandall. He is a graduate of Yale. 

E. B. Briggs, captain, formerly of the Jamestown 
"Journal" editorial staff, has been awarded an infantry 
captain's commission. 

August 22 — The Jamestown "Journal" will help raise 
tobacco fund for the boys in France. 

August 27 — John W. Unsworth, of Jamestown, received 
from the British Consular service an appointment as the 
head of a British recruiting committee for Jamestown. 

September 1 — Journal forwarded $77, contributed by 
Jami-stowners for tobacco for the boys at the front. 

Alfred DeForce, of North Main street, was torpedoed 
by Germans and was picked up by British destroyer 
"P-59." The first news he received on reaching home 
was that his brother was dead and that he was con- 
scripted. 



September 4 — Watts Flatts honors men who will soon 
leave for battlefield. Two hundred people gathered in 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows' Hall and tendered 
farewell to the boys who had been drafted. 

Chester E. Morse, son of Charles E. Morse, 150 Chan- 
dler street, Jamestown, is a private in the 67th Regiment, 
United States Ambulance Corps at Allentown, Pennsyl- 
vania. Says all the officers are medical men and he likes 
the army life very much. 

Leonard J. Carlson is now stationed at Camp Devens, 
at Ayer, Massachusetts. 

G. W. Cottis fund for which surgical instruments are 
to be purchased for Dr. Cottis's work in France re- 
ceives contributions. 

September 7 — Included in list of 36 secretaries of 
Young Men's Christian Association to take charge of 
the work with the New York National Guard are : S. B. 
Burchard, of this city (Jamestown), and P. MacG. 
Allen, formerly secretary of the local association for 
many years. 

Clifford M. Knott, of Cassadaga, was accepted for en- 
listment in the infantry. 

Fredonia Home Defense Unit mustered in by Capt. 
W. Hyde with 73 officers and men present. 

September 8—Ralph Backlund, of Falconer, of the 
Royal Flying Corps, recalled from furlough by com- 
manding officer of aviation at University of Toronto. 

A testimonial dinner was tendered to the 15 men who 
leave this afternoon for the training camp at Wrights- 
town. Dinner was at the Samuels Hotel, and the men 
received an ovation when they entered the dining room. 
Music and speeches served to make the occasion a memo- 
rable and historic one. The men are to be escorted to 
the station by military and civic organizations. Speeches 
by Rev. A. E. Randall and Mayor Carlson. 

Departure was impressive one. The Jamestown con- 
tingent left for Wrightstown. Saturday. Thousands of 
people gathered along the line of march for a last 
glimpse of men who will be citizens' first representatives 
in new national army. 

September 10 — Maj. William E. Atwood, former Chau- 
tauqua man, making good progress in 7th Regiment of 
Engineers. 

September 11 — Stand Back of the President. One 
Hundred and Twelfth Regiment and 7th Company vet- 
erans take patriotic action at annual reunion. Nearly 60 
veterans registered at the State Armory up to noon to- 
day. Just 55 years ago today that men left Jamestown 
for service in Civil War. Mayor Carlson welcomed 
visitors. 

September 13 — Many veterans attend. Survivors of 
1 1 2th Regiment and 7th Company men here. Lieut. Her- 
man Sixley, of Mayville, chosen president; J. A. Powers, 
of Ashville, vice-president; and Willis Kilbourn, of 
Gerry, chaplain. 

September 15 — Marion Cadwell, son of Mr. and Mrs. 
John Cadwell, 212 Lakeview avenue, Jamestown, have re- 
ceived letters from their son, who is serving with the 
American Ambulance Corps in France. He mentioned 
that he and his comrades were recently in the Verdun 
region and Hill 304. 

September 27 — Another contingent of Jamestown men 
left for new army. There was a big demonstration given 
by Jamestown citizens. The streets were packed with 
people who cheered enthusiastically as the company 
marched from the armory to the railway station. Brief 
addresses were made by Mayor Samuel A. Carlson and 
L. L. Hanchett. Men are going to Wrightstown, New 
Jersey, under command of Donald S. Hanchett, their 
provisional captain. 

Patriotism reigned supreme at a dinner for the se- 
lected men last night. The men left for Camp Dix this 





CAPT. SAMUEL A. BROWN, JR.. U. S. A. LIEUT. PAUL SULLIVAN, I'. S. N. A. C. 





i: \i an 'Xi ' skixxioi:. u. S. N. 



MILITARY HISTORY 



465 



morning. Charles M. Dow presided at the dinner and 
addresses were given by Mayor Samuel A. Carlson, 
Principal M. J. Fletcher and Rev. Dr. Horace G. Ogden. 
Earle S. Palmer responded for the drafted men. Kits 
were distributed to the drafted men at the State Armory 
by the Fraternal and Union Fund Committee. 

Falconer, September 27 — Twenty drafted men of Fal- 
coner were honored by a parade and program in the 
village. They are going to Silver Creek, where they 
will join others for Camp Dix. 

September 28 — The third district men leave Silver 
Creek, 87 strong, for Camp Dix. 

Westfield, October 1— Sixty-two men of the second 
contingent from the second district of Chautauqua 
county left Westfield for Camp Dix, Wrightstown, New 
Jersey, last night. They were given a farewell celebra- 
tion by the citizens of Westfield. 

Jamestown, October 10 — Eight members of the En- 
listed Signal Corps Reserve leave without orders of a 
definite nature. They are going to Camp Jackson at 
Columbia, South Carolina. 

October 17 — Rev. Horace G. Ogden, formerly pastor 
of First Methodist Church, Jamestown, accepts call as 
religious work director at Camp Dix. 

October 20 — A big parade was held for the Liberty 
Loan. It was representative of every branch of the city 
life. Civil War veterans were at the head of the parade. 

Falconer, October 26 — Falconer went over the top in 
the big Liberty Loan Drive. Residents subscribed $124,- 
000. Quota was $61,500. 

Jamestown, October 26 — Charles M. Dow has been 
named as Federal Fuel Administrator. The appointment 
was made by Fuel Administrator Garfield. Mr. Dow 
is president of the Chautauqua County National Bank. 
Mr. Dow has named Secretary Bevitt, of the Board of 
Commerce, as his secretary, and is prepared to take up 
the work at once. N. B. — Mr. Dow has since died. 

Jamestown, November 7 — Mark M. Potter lost his 
life at Vimy Ridge, according to word received by rela- 
tives in this city. He enlisted in the American Legion 
in Canada, January, 1915, and later was transferred to 
the Expeditionary Forces. He is the first Jamestown 
man to be killed at the front. He was a veteran of the 
Spanish-American War. At the time of his enlistment 
in the American Legion in Canada, he received a ser- 
geant's rating. After his arrival in France he learned 
that he would not see actual service as soon as desired, 
and he asked to be transferred to the Canadian Expedi- 
tionary Forces. His wish was granted, but he received 
only a private's rating. He was in the trenches three 
weeks before taking part in the battle of Vimy Ridge, 
where the Canadians saw some of the hardest fighting 
of the war. He has been missing since that battle, but 
his name does not appear among the prisoners taken by 
the enemy. 

Jamestown, November 9 — One hundred and two Christ- 
mas bags have been sent to Dr. George W. Cottis for 
distribution among his patients. 

Jamestown, November 14 — Marion Cadwell has re- 
turned home from France, where he was an ambulance 
driver in Section 22, A. R. C. He has been in service 
since May last at Verdun. 

November 20 — There was over $40,000 pledged in cam- 
paign for funds for Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion war work. 

November 23 — The third Jamestown contingent left 
this morning, forty-seven strong. They are going to 
Camp Dix. Edward Wicander was named as leader, 
and his assistants were Arthur W. Clark, Reno Ander- 
son and Carl J. Lundsteadt. Last night the citizens of 
Jamestown gave a farewell banquet for the drafted men. 



Superintendent R. R. Rogers presided, and addresses 
were made by Rev. Dr. Gardner S. Eldredge and Con- 
gressman Walter M. Chandler. Carl Lundsteadt re- 
sponded for members of the third contingent. 

December 7 — Rev. Dr. Julius Lincoln, a member of a 
party of five appointed by President Wilson to make a 
survey of war conditions in France, has arrived safely 
in France. He expects to return early in January. 

December 13 — Twenty-seven men leave the city today, 
having enlisted in various branches of the army. Some 
are going to the Signal Corps, others to the Coast Artil- 
lery, and some to the Forestry Service. 

December 17 — Rev. E. E. Ryden, of this city, has been 
appointed civilian chaplain for Camp Wadsworth. He 
will not be assigned to any regiment, and will be enabled 
to work among all men at the camp. 

December 24 — Private William J. Foley passed away 
December 23, at Camp Dix, New Jersey. He has been 
ill for several weeks. He was a member of Battery C, 
307th Field Artillery, and was one of the 124 men to 
leave Jamestown with the second contingent in Septem- 
ber. 

January 21, 1918 — Maj. Frederick R. Palmer, former 
war correspondent, now on Pershing's staff in France, 
was a visitor in the city Sunday. Maj. Palmer arrived 
in France in December with Col. E. M. House, and has 
been busy on government business since that time. Maj. 
Palmer came on specially from New York to visit his 
mother and sister. 

January 23 — Rev. Dr. Julius Lincoln arrived home this 
morning after a visit to the battlefields of France, where 
he went as an emissary of the American government. Dr. 
Lincoln was a member of the special commission of the 
United States Food Administration and left the United 
States on the 25th of November for the purpose of 
studying the food situation in the countries at war and 
to give color to the propaganda to be made in this coun- 
try, especially in the Middle West. Dr. Lincoln expects 
to start within a few days on a lecture tour. Dr. Lin- 
coln has a splendid collection of stereopticon slides made 
from the pictures taken by the party along the western 
front. 

Westfield, February 25— The residents of Westfield 
and vicinity gave a rousing send-off this morning to the 
67 drafted men of District No. 2, which left for training 
camp. In the evening of February 24 the men were 
guests at a dinner served at the Portage Inn. Later in 
the evening there was a big patriotic mass meeting held 
in the Grand Theatre. The men go to Silver Creek, 
where they will join the others bound for Camp Devens, 
Ayer, Massachusetts. 

February 27 — The citizens of Jamestown tendered a 
farewell dinner to the selected men at the Eagle Temple 
auditorium. A stirring patriotic address was made by 
Rev. Herbert A. Ellis. One hundred and twenty-five 
men leave Jamestown tonight for Camp Upton, Long 
Island. The banquet hall was completely filled with 
citizens who had come to pay their respects to the boys 
who have been called to the colors. 

February 28 — Jamestown's farewell to another contin- 
gent of selected men was one of the most imposing dem- 
onstrations that has been given. The contingent was 
the largest that has left the city, one hundred and twenty- 
five strong. The crowd on the street was as large as the 
crowd that witnessed the departure of the local com- 
pany in 1898. Lunches were distributed to the men at 
the station by members of the local chapter of the Red 
Cross. William R. Reynolds was chosen as leader of 
the contingent, and his assistant was Arthur J. Dunder- 
dale. 

The first authentic news from Camp Upton of the last 



466 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



contingent of selected men from Jamestown has been 
received. The men are in quarantine until March 14. 
They left Jamestown, February 28. 

Paris, France, March 8, 1918 — Ralph J. Preston, for- 
merly of Jamestown, who has been identified with the 
Red Cross since the United States declared war on Ger- 
many, has been honored by the French government. The 
French government shows its appreciation by bestowing 
a decoration upon Mr. Preston. Ralph J. Preston is a 
brother of Miss Bertha Preston, of this city, but he has 
not resided here for many years. 

Falconer, March 18 — Harry Mosher was commissioned 
as second lieutenant in the Philippine Scouts, Regular 
Army. He is a brother of Capt. Henry Mosher, who is 
with General Pershing, American Forces, in France. 

Jamestown, March 25 — William Whelpley, 19, son of 
Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Whelpley, 131 Falconer street, is a 
prisoner of war at Gelfangenenlager, Brandenburg, 
Havel, Germany. He has been a prisoner for one year. 
He was an English soldier on the steamship "Esmeralda," 
which on March 28, 1917, was sunk by a German subma- 
rine in the Mediterranean Sea and the crew and others 
taken prisoners. The ship was transporting a cargo of 
horses. Young Whelpley enlisted under his mother's 
maiden name of Thompson. 

April 22 — Jamestown went over the top on the Third 
Liberty Loan. Almost two million dollars raised after 
great demonstration at the State Armory. The city's 
quota was $1,162,300. Roscoe Mitchell, of Buffalo, de- 
livered a stirring address in which he described condi- 
tions in France and Great Britain. Judge Jerome B. 
Fisher and Cyrus E. Jones followed with solicitations 
for subscriptions. 

April 30 — Friends of Miss Victoria Nowak, of Ark- 
wright, have received word that she has enlisted as a 
Red Cross nurse and expects soon to be in France to 
do service in a Polish hospital. 

May 1 — Twenty-five members of Company E volun- 
teer to guard canals. 

May 8 — James G. Funicelle, of Ellington, Marine, is 
a survivor of the sinking steamer "City of Athens," 
which collided with a French warship last week. His 
roommate and half the marines were drowned. He him- 
self was picked up by French sailors. 

May 13 — Miss Imogene Crane will go across as volun- 
teer for Red Cross abroad. She was given a luncheon 
by members of the Jamestown Creche. 

May 14 — Fifteen more men leave Jamestown for Fort 
Slocum, near New Rochelle. They were given a big 
send-off by the citizens. Thousands watched party of 
little contingent and cheered them to the echo. There 
was great enthusiasm as train pulled out. They were 
led by Capt. Frank Knapp and Assistant Elias Jenner. 

Jamestown, May 17 — Edward D. Maltby, son of Mr. 
and Mrs. George E. Maltby, of 503 East Fifth street, of 
this city, has recently been commissioned in the Naval 
Reserve force and ordered to command one of the latest 
of the big submarine chasers. He has already sailed for 
a Pacific port on war service. 

May 21 — Clarence Wheelock, of Kennedy, is victim 
of spinal meningitis. He died in hospital at Kelly's 
Field, San Antonio, Texas. 

May 21 — The Third District of Chautauqua county 
will send from Silver Creek 72 men to Camp Dix, New 
Jersey, on Sunday morning. These men have been 
drawn from the various towns in the district. 

May 23— Seventy Jamestown boys in the Naval Re- 
serve have been called for service. They must report to 
the Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Illinois. 

May 25 — Thousands honor new soldiers. Farewell 
dinner given at the Hotel Samuels at noon, at which 



there was a large attendance to do honor to the 130 boys 
who left Sunday morning to join the national army at 
Camp Dix. There were speeches by Jerome B. Fisher, 
and Thomas P. Hefferman, of Dunkirk. 

June 21 — Walter Billings, of Falconer, and Francis 
Buskist, of Little Valley, join the Marines and were 
sent to camp today. 

June 29 — Officers and men of the 27th arrive in 
France on Memorial Day, according to advices from 
Lieut. Peterson, of this city. 

July 11 — Eleven Jamestown boys leave for Training 
Station at Great Lakes, Illinois, to don United States 
naval uniform. 

July 18— Oscar L. Green gives his life. Jamestown 
boy killed in action in France. Had been overseas ever 
since last September. 

July 19 — Lieut. Peterson writes from France, assistant 
chief of staff. Is now acting in such capacity, and also 
as intelligence officer of the division. 

Jamestown, July 20 — Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Underwood 
have three sons in the service. Lieut. James Underwood, 
after serving in France for several months studying war 
conditions, has been assigned to the duty of instructing 
in a southern training camp. The second son, Edward, 
is in the national army in Europe. The third son is a 
member of the contingent leaving next week. 

Jamestown, July 20 — Dinner given for new soldiers. 
Contingent leaving on Monday. Much enthusiasm. Pa- 
triotic scenes were seen and inspiring address was de- 
livered by Prof. Thomas F. Moran, of Perdue Uni- 
versity. 

July 22 — Jamestowners bade farewell to another large 
contingent of 100 men who left city this morning on 
their way to army training camp. A big demonstration. 
Cheers and tears sped the new soldiers on their way. 
The men were led by the Civil War veterans, the Span- 
ish War veterans, and Company E, New York Guard. 

July 23 — Third contingent left Silver Creek for Camp 
Dix this morning. Given a great farewell. One hundred 
and six men in the contingent. 

August 1 — Good-bye dinner given to drafted men. 
Jamestown citizens do honors for another contingent. 
Only 18 men this time. This is the smallest group to 
be entertained, but fully 250 persons were assembled to 
say farewell. Address by Rev. Walter A. Taylor. 

August 2 — Early morning farewell to 11 young James- 
town men who left for Camp Dix. Despite the early 
hour there was a good turn out to see the men off. 

August 2 — Private Carl A. Johnson (another issue 
refers to him as Fred C. Johnson), of Charlotte Center, 
who was gassed in France last month, is dead at New- 
port News. Was a member of Company E, 23rd United 
States Infantry. He was sent back to this country in 
July, arriving at Newport News, July 19. He was 28 
years old. 

August 3 — Company E, 108th Infantry, is now in the 
trenches. Four days spent there with shells whizzing 
overhead. 

August 5 — David Midgley dies in France. Gave his 
life in battle. Enlisted at local recruiting station less 
than four months ago. Fought with Company L, 59th 
Infantry. Believed his death occurred ir. the recent drive 
between the Rivers Marne and Aisne. He was 27 years 
of age. He has a brother in the 78th Division. 

August 6 — Farewell dinner given to another contin- 
gent of selected men. It was given at the Samuels 
Hotel at noon with a large attendance. A tinge of 
romance. Ralph E. Larson, captain of the contingent, 
was excused in order to be married this afternoon to 
Miss Fluvia Lawson. Prof. Fife, of Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, Middletown, Ohio, was speaker of the occasion 



MILITARY HISTORY 



467 



and delivered an eloquent and forceful address. The 
draftees numbered 28. Officers of the contingent are 
Ralph E. Larson, captain ; assistants, Reuben C. Lof- 
gren, F. Richard Wren, J. E. Hunt. 

August 7 — Selected men leave for camp. Eleventh 
contingent entrained yesterday evening for Fort Slocum; 
28 men. Draftees given a royal send-off by Jamestown 
citizens. Affair addressed by Mayor Samuel A. Carlson. 
Large crowd cheered boys as they marched to the station. 

Jamestown, August 8— Rev. E. E. Ryden home from 
Camp Wadsworth, where he represented the Lutheran 
Church as camp chaplain. 

August 12— Private P. W. Soderquist, Company B, 
30th Engineers, writes from France that he has been 
presented with the Croix de Guerre. Twice hit by 
shrapnel. 

August 14 — Word has been received that Lieut. Homer 
M. Wellman has been wounded. He was with the 110th 
Pennsylvania Regiment, which has been in the thickest 
of the fighting. 

August 17 — The contingent of selected men which left 
Jamestown on February 27 and which are a part of the 
77th Division of the United States Army, are reported 
to have a splendid showing as fighters in France, accord- 
ing to Dr. Charles L. Meade, of New York, who has 
returned from "over there" at the head of a company 
of Red Cross workers. He said, "The boys are fighting 
wonderfully and are a splendid body of men. The reason 
they are giving and will give a fine account of them- 
selves is that every man among them appears to be a 
trained athlete, and they are living the cleanest lives 
over there." 

August 21 — Adelbert Peterson, killed in action July 
24. Has been in France since March. 

Jamestown, August 24 — Beneca Burchard spoke at 
dinner for draftees. Told of his experiences as Young 
Men's Christian Association secretary in France. Jus- 
tice Woodward, Supreme Court judge, presided. Hotel 
dining room was crowded with citizens to bid farewell to 
members of contingent. Twenty-seven draftees going 
to Camp Gordon. 

Jamestown, August 26 — Draftees left for Camp Gor- 
don. Contingent of 29 men start on long trip to south- 
ern training camp. Selected men were escorted to train 
by Grand Army of the Republic veterans and Com- 
pany E. 

Falconer, May 27 — A large crowd assembled Sunday 
afternoon to bid farewell to the 15 Falconer men on 
way to the war. 

Jamestown, May 27 — One hundred and thirty-one men 
left for Camp Dix Sunday morning. An immense crowd 
said farewell. 

June 4 — John Quincy Adams is officially the first 
American soldier in France. He formerly lived here 
and now has summer home at Cheneys Point. 

June 6 — Capt. Henry Mosher, of Falconer, lies dead 
somewhere in France. Word was received Friday night 
by his father, Stiler Burt Mosher. Lieut. Henry Mosher 
would have been 26 on June 18th. He left just one 
year ago for France, on June 7, 1917, with the 28th 
Infantry, at which time he was a lieutenant. He was 
the first man from Western New York to be named an 
officer of Pershin^ s expedition. He had stated that he 
would rather live one year with the overseas American 
force than a lifetime here. 

Falconer, June 13 — Stiler Burt Mosher received word 
the day following the news of the death of his son, Capt. 
Henry Mosher, of the promotion of his son, Harry 
Mosher, from second to first lieutenant. Lieut. Harry 
Mosher is with the Philippine Scouts, Regular Army. 



June 13 — Miss Ebba Johnson, who left February 1 to 
be army nurse at Camp Jackson, was invalided home 
and honorably discharged. 

June 15 — The 307th Field Artillery, composed princi- 
pally of Jamestown boys, has arrived safely overseas. 

June 17 — Charles H. Buck badly wounded, as reported 
on casualty list by Pershing. 

Jamestown, September 3 — The Hotel Samuels dining 
room was filled to its capacity by citizens who gave a 
dinner to 56 honor men who entered the service. The 
patriotic feeling of 250 people was stirred to its depths 
from the ringing address of Rev. Gardner S. Eldredge. 
Fred Clarke was captain of the contingent. He re- 
sponded for the drafted men. 

September 6 — Fritz Warner, of R. F. D. 83, James- 
town, is mentioned in the casualty list as having died of 
wounds. His nearest relative is Mrs. Amelia Hilquist. 

Jamestown, September 6 — Chester E. Morse has been 
honored for bravery in France. Private Morse is a mem- 
ber of the Convers Automobile Unit, W. F. A. He 
writes from a Canadian hospital, where he is recovering 
from illness, that he is to be decorated with a French 
Croix de Guerre with palm, which is the highest honor 
given a soldier for bravery. He states he was working 
in the front for a period of 51 nights. Out of his divi- 
sion only 40% of the 10,000 men returned after the 
battle of July 14. 

September 7 — Private Clarence E. Lawson, of James- 
town, is reported severely wounded, according to advice 
received from the War Department. Private Lawson 
was a member of Company E, 108th Infantry, formerly 
the old 74th Infantry of Buffalo. He saw service with 
General Pershing on the Mexican border. He enlisted 
June 24, 1916, in Jamestown. After the Mexican cam- 
paign he returned to Jamestown. When the 74th Regi- 
ment was called to the colors, Lawson responded and 
went to Camp Wadsworth with the organization, which 
later became the 108th. 

September 10 — The casualty list of Monday stated that 
Private Edward Harold Eckberg, of Jamestown, was 
killed in action. He is the first selected man from this 
city to be killed in action. Private Eckberg was about 
27 years of age. He had a brother in the service. Be- 
sides his brother in France, the dead soldier is survived 
by his mother and several brothers in Sweden. Private 
Eckberg came to Jamestown from Sweden five years 
ago. He left this city on February 27 with the con- 
tingent numbering 125 men. These selected men were 
the first Jamestown men to be sent into action as a com- 
pany. This contingent was assigned to the 306th Ma- 
chine Gun Battalion of the 77th Division. The division 
went to France in April and was assigned to active duty 
a few months later. 

September 11 — Word has been received in Jamestown 
that Harry M. Lundquist and Lester R. Lindstrom, of the 
United States Naval Reserve, were on the American 
steamer, "Frank H. Buck," which sank an enemy sub- 
marine off the Atlantic coast, September 1. 

French Creek, September 21— Private Edward M. Har- 
rington, of this village, captures a Hun for a souvenir. 
He is a member of Company F, 16th Engineers, Ameri- 
can Expeditionary Forces. He enlisted June, 1917, and 
has been in France since August, 1917. 

September 23 — Carl M. Johnson, assistant paymaster 
in the navy, died in the Philippines, September 19. He 
was 31 years old. He has served in the navy nine years. 

Westfield, September 25 — Private McFarland Wade is 
reported wounded. He left with the contingent from 
Westfield, February 25, going to Camp Devens, Massa- 
chusetts, later being transferred to Camp Upton. He 
is a member of the 308th Infantry. 



4 68 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Jamestown, September 26 — Citizens honor local women 
who are soon to go overseas. Testimonial dinner for 
Red Cross nurses and Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion canteen workers. The dinner was under the aus- 
pices of the Red Cross. Fully four hundred men and 
women were in attendance. 

September 26 — Maj. Preston, former Jamestown man, 
given control of Red Cross activities overseas. Will 
probably be actual head. 

October 4 — Private Lynn K. Sturdevant died at Camp 
Dix of pneumonia, due to an attack of Spanish influenza. 
He left Jamestown, July 10, with the contingent of 108 
men, becoming a member of the 153rd Depot Brigade, 
Company 5, 2nd Battalion. 

October 5— Cable dispatches state that the 27th Divi- 
sion, of which division Jamestown men are members, is 
cooperating with Australian troops. Company E, of the 
old 74th Regiment, but now with the 108th Infantry, are 
mpst likely engaged in the fighting north of St. Quentin. 

October 8 — Privates Carl A. Jones and Gavin Whipely 
Scott sacrificed their lives. Private Jones left with the 
May 13 contingent for Fort Slocum, and Private Scott 
departed with the contingent February 27 for Camp 
Upton and was in the 306th Machine Gun Battalion. 

Fredonia, October 8 — Lieut. Jack Wilder, a member of 
the Aviation Corps, killed at Tours, France. 

Jamestown, October 15 — Miss Elizabeth Bealer, of 
601 Washington street, who enlisted as Young Men's 
Christian Association canteen worker, received her call 
by telegram and is reporting in New York Wednesday. 
Miss Bealer has been supervisor of physical training in 
the schools for several years, and has been a most suc- 
cessful physical training teacher in the high school. 
She has also been active in various war work activities. 

Jamestown, October 21 — Capt. George W. Cottis, who 
is with the British army in France, has taken the exami- 
nation for service in the United States army. 

October 21 — Capt. E. B. Briggs, former city editor of 
"The Journal," is on his way to the front, according to 
a letter received by a member of the "Journal" staff. 
Capt. Briggs is now acting major in command of the 
3rd Battalion, 811th Pioneer Infantry, a negro regiment. 

October 21 — Local French and Belgians are rejoicing 
because the fall of Lille affords chance of hearing from 
kin. The local colony numbering several hundred hail 
from the liberated city of Lille and vicinity. Lille is 
about eight miles from the Belgian border. 

Jamestown, October 22 — A contingent of 31 men left 
this morning for southern training camp. Influenza pre- 
vents usual send-off. They go to Camp Wheeler, Georgia. 
Axel G. Lindross was selected as the leader of the con- 
tingent, and his assistants were George M. Bennett, 
George E. Berquist and Oscar M. Anderson. 

October 24 — Rev. Father James Carra, rector of St. 
James' Church in this city, has been appointed chaplain in 
the United States army with rank of first lieutenant, and 
is directed to report at Hoboken, New Jersey, not later 
than November 4. 

October 26 — Ebba M. A. Johnson was among the first 
of the nurses to respond to the call. She was sent to 
Camp Jackson, South Carolina. Her heroic service told 
on her health, and during the summer she was forced to 
come home. She contracted Spanish influenza and died. 
She was 29 years old. 

October 30 — Company E has more casualties. Three 
killed and two wounded. Falconer boys dead. 

October 31 — Company E was in the thick of fighting 
with British in Belgium. As the consequence, more cas- 
ualties are reported by members to relatives in this city. 
No official reports as yet. Letters from soldiers tell the 
story of the battle and of the killed and injured. Death 



of Col. Raymond Gampp reported. Twenty-seventh Di- 
vision, members of the 108th Infantry. On September 
27 the division was with the British before LeCatelet, 
and on October 3 the town and outpost of the famous 
Hindenburg line was taken. 

October 31 — Harry Irwin, of Jamestown, is stationed 
at LeMans, France, with Soldiers' Club as a Knights of 
Columbus secretary. 

November 2 — Private Laverne Lindstrom writes graphic 
description of Company E's part in the drive. His letter 
savs 53 members of the company wounded, killed or 
missing. Ten killed and 30 wounded from Jamestown. 
Company E of the 108th Infantry, 27th Division, has 
many Jamestown boys in it. 

November 5 — Official reports reach Jamestown of Com- 
pany E men. Information from Washington tells of 
sacrifice made by local company. Six reported dead. 
During the past week letters have been pouring into 
Jamestown telling of the terrific battle. 

November 8 — Misses Annie Hilton and Anne G. Dun- 
derdale left today for New York, from whence they 
expect to sail within a week for overseas duty. Both 
young women are especially fitted for this splendid work. 
Miss Hilton has been a teacher in the public schools for 
a number of years and Miss Dunderdale has been a pub- 
lic stenographer. Both young women have been active 
in work in the various women's organizations in the 
city. 

November 8 — Capt. Sandburg, commanding officer of 
Company E, struck by piece of shrapnel. Wounded in 
the hand. Letter to his wife says he is in Third London 
General Hospital. He was wounded on October 18 in 
company's fourth big battle. Arrived at hospital on the 
22nd. 

November 9— Walter H. Edson has entered the mili- 
tary service with the rank of second lieutenant. He has 
been Assistant United States District Attorney for the 
past four years. 

November 9 — Official word has been received from the 
War Department confirming the death of three James- 
town boys. 

November 11 — Dr. Cottis is home again. Jamestown 
surgeon, captain in the British army, returns from serv- 
ice in British Medical Corps. He arrives in Jamestown 
during the height of Germany's surrender. He has been 
in the service twenty months. 

November 13 — Mrs. Lyle M. Himebaugh has received 
a cablegram from the American Red Cross announcing 
the fact that her brother, Lieut. Stanley Clark, is a 
prisoner at Karlsruhe, Germany. 

November 14— Capt. George W. Cottis spoke at a cam- 
paign dinner. Enthusiastic reception given to James- 
town doctor on return from war service. 

French Creek, November 15— A telegram received Fri- 
day evening announces that Private Arthur Jones, son 
of Frank Jones, had been killed in action October 7. He 
was 26 years of age. He left Westfield with a con- 
tingent of selected men for Camp Devens in February, 
and was later transferred to Camp Upton. 

Frewsburg, November 18 — Word has been received by 
Mr. and Mrs. S. L. Derby that their son, Corp. Samuel 
L. Derby, was killed in action, October 17. He was a 
member of Company E, 307th Infantry, 78th Division. 
He went to Camp Dix, April I. He left for overseas 
May 21. 

November 23— Albert T. Underwood witnessed naval 
battle at Durazzio. He was on United States subchaser. 

November 26 — Company E praised by Gen. O'Ryan, 
commander of 27th Division. Officially commends 108th 
Infantry; record is hard to equal. One Hundred and 
Eighth Infantry includes old Company E, of Jamestown. 





FREDERICK PALMER 
War Correspondent 




ARMY UIv':;i-i'!V ■-■ i; yi 



MILITARY HISTORY 



469 



November 27 — Seth G. Cross, of Stockton, died in 
France, October 27, of lobar pneumonia. 

November 29 — Lieut. Rudolph E. Peterson was killed 
in action, November 4. He entered the Officers' Train- 
ing Camp at Fort Niagara for a period of intensive 
training. He was commissioned second lieutenant. He 
was with the 316th Infantry. It is thought he was killed 
in the Meuse, as the 79th Division, of which his company 
was a part, had been reported as being in that sector. 

Kennedy, November 30 — Walter D. Perkins died in 
France, October 10, following wounds received in battle 
the day previous. Although too young for the draft, 
Perkins was among the first from this town to enlist. 
He enlisted June 20, 1917, in Company C, 38th Infantry, 
and went into training at Syracuse. He went to Camp 
Greene, North Carolina. He was made a corporal. On 
March, 1918, he was transported to France. Served in 
Third Division, under Maj.-Gen. Dickman. 

December 2 — Frederick Palmer, former Jamestown 
man, for years one of the world's most famous war cor- 
respondents, has been promoted from the rank of major 
to that of lieutenant-colonel on Gen. Pershing's staff. 
Col. Palmer, who has covered every war for the past 25 
years, was Associated Press representative in the field 
of the British army from 1914 to the time his country 
entered the war. He was then commissioned a major 
and placed at the head of the Intelligence Division of 
Pershing's headquarters staff in France. He was born 
in Lakewood, Chautauqua county. 

January 6, 1919 — Private Waith, of Ellington, has been 
brought overseas, through England, to the United States. 
He is suffering from severe wound in the leg. He was 
wounded in France, then sent to England and latter to 
New York. 

January 8 — More about the 27th Division. The "New 
York Sun," speaking of the personnel, says G-2, which 
should have been filled by a lieutenant-colonel, was ably 
handled by a young captain, A. B. Peterson, a well- 
known attorney of Jamestown. 

January 9 — Private Carl John Swanson died of wounds 
n France. 

January 10 — Corporal Clayton E. Swanson, of this 
city, is awarded D. S. C. for extraordinary heroism in 
action near Mount Blanc, France, October 4, 1918. On 
learning that a member of his squad was in front of the 
lines in a severely shelled position, Corporal Swanson ob- 
tained permission to make a search, to find that the man 
was dead. 

January 15 — Capt. Shirley M. Hall returns after fif- 
teen months in France in Red Cross work. 

January 20 — Four wounded Jamestown men arrived n 
New York City at Greenhut Hospital : Albin Swanson, 
Aric Johnson, Turner Nelson, Ralph McCusker. 

January 22 — Capt. Churchill, a Jamestown man, award- 
ed the Belgium War Cross for gallantry in action with 
the 37th Division in Belgium. 

January 24 — Private James F. Moran arrives back on 
the "Mauretania." He was torpedoed on the way over 
to France on board "Persic," about one hundred miles 
from the Irish coast. 

January 25 — Lieut. Edward M. Ogden is decorated, 
and is authorized to wear the Italian Service Ribbon. 

February 3 — Private James Rugg arrived home from 
France. He vtas badly wounded on June 28th in the 
knee, and suffered from shell shock. 

February 6 — Two Jamestown men honored — Sergt. 
Anderson and Corp. Sayers, of the 81st Division — cited 
for gallantry in action. 

February 6 — Private, first class, David H. Higberg, 
returns to this city. He was gassed September 29th. 



February 11 — More honors for Capt. Sandberg. He 
stood at Pershing's left at review of 27th Division. Capt. 
Sandberg, Lieut. Brown and Sergt. Percy, of Company 
E, were decorated by General Pershing. 

February 18 — Private John R. Bennett, former James- 
towner, has been awarded the much coveted Croix de 
Guerre by the French government. 

February 26 — Sergt. Bintz home on leave. When 
wounded he was a member of a platoon of 54 men sent 
out on special raid, and only four members of the party 
came out alive. 

March 3 — Jamestown men win war medals. Great 
Britain awards decorations for valor on battlefield to 
Privates Henry M. Harvey. Joseph Titone, Isadore Wolfe, 
Smith D. Sanders ; Sergt. William Franklyn Smith. 
These men displayed great gallantry and courage in the 
face of danger. 

March 7 — Capt. Samuel Brown, Company E, arrived 
in city. Holder of distinguished service cross is granted 
five days leave to visit mother. Capt. Brown was in all 
battles in which 27th Division engaged and came through 
without a scratch. 

March 7 — Jamestown names appear conspicuously in 
press despatches — Major Charles A. Sandberg : Capt. S. 
A. Brown and Sergt. William J. Percy. 

March 13 — Private Victor Lindquist, 321st Field Artil- 
lery, arrived home to-day. He was wounded in the Ar- 
gonne Forest. 

March 13 — Sergt. A. R. Thoren, of Company E, 108th 
Infantry, arrived home this morning. He was cited for 
bravery by Maj.-Gen. John F. O'Ryan, December IS, 
1918, for gallantry on the field from September 27 to 
October 20, 1918, during operations against the Hinden- 
burg line. 

April 1 — Jamestown veterans of the World War en- 
thusiastically welcomed. One hundred and eight men 
of the 108th Regiment arrived. They were accorded an 
enthusiastic welcome. The soldiers were cheered vocifer- 
ously as they marched through the down town streets. 
It was a home-coming which all who witnessed will re- 
member as long as life shall last. 

Men of the 108th cited for bravery in action: Capt. 
Samuel A. Brown, Priv. Smith D. Sanders, Sergt. W. 
Franklyn Smith, Corp. Harry W. A. Aldren (deceased), 
Corp. Clarence P. Spetz (deceased), Major Charles A. 
Sandberg, Priv. Isadore Wolfe, Clayton C. Moore (de- 
ceased), Major A. B. Peterson, Corp. William H. An- 
gove (deceased), Sergt. Arthur R. Thoren, Priv., First 
Class, H. M. Harvey, Priv., First Class, Joseph Titone. 

April 7 — Thanksgiving and praise service for return 
of overseas men at Holy Trinity Church. 

April 9— Citizens honor service men with dinner at 
Eagle Temple. About 200 returned fighters present at 
enjoyable event. Frank H. Mott, speaker. Mayor Carl- 
son welcomed the service men on behalf of the city, and 
Rev. Hanson acted as chairman. 

April 24 — Corp. Simpson, aged fifteen, saw one year 
of service in France. He enlisted when fourteen, and is 
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jirles Simpson, of this city. 
He is believed to be the youngest soldier to serve with 
the United States army in France. 

April 1 — The 27th Division was led by Major Charles 
A. Sandberg, formerly commander of Company E ; Lieut. 
Taggart led Company E over the top in the great smash 
through the Hindenburg line; Major A. B. Peterson 
and Capt. Sam A. Brown, Jr., were with the command. 

May 6 — Oak tree is planted on lawn of First Congre- 
gational Church in memory of Ira Lou Spring, the first 
Jamestown soldier to give his life in the great cause of 
freedom in France. It was an impressive service, former 
comrades of Corp. Spring acting as guard of honor. 



4/0 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Dedicatory address was delivered by Rev. Alfred E. Ran- 
dell. pastor of the church. 

May 10 — Seventy-eight men of the 77th Division who 
fought in the great Argonne-Meuse battle last autumn 
and helped smash the German military machine, returned 
home to-day, and marched in the final parade before re- 
turning to civil life. The weather was unfavorable, but 
huge crowds assembled on the principal streets and at 
the approaches to the railroad station to cheer the re- 
turning soldiers. It was February 27, 1918, that a con- 
tingent of 150 men (the largest that was sent from here 
at any one time during the war) left here in civilian 
clothes, and they bore little resemblance to a military 
company. To-day one could mark the contrast as these 
veterans of the Argonne passed in review. Major Scott, 
commander of the 306th Machine Gun Battalion, was in 
charge of the returning contingent. One of the first to 
jump from the train when it arrived was Sergt. William 
R. Reynolds, who was in charge of the contingent when 
it kit Jamestown, February 27, 1918. On the platform 
with the reception committee were Mayor S. A. Carlson, 
F. H. Mott and Dr. J. J. Mahoney, the members of the 
draft board that called the men into service. 

May 19 — Fifteen men of the 346th Infantry of the 87th 
D vision arrived home in Jamestown, May 15, unheralded 
and with no previous announcement of their return. Any 
plan for a home-coming reception was interrupted by 
their sudden appearance in Jamestown. These boys, 
twelve from Jamestown, two from Celoron and one from 
Lakewood, left Jamestown, May 26, 1918. 



May 23 — Forty men of the 78th Division return to 
their home city. Veterans of many battles are given an 
enthusiastic welcome by fellow-townsmen. Crowds lined 
the street and cheered vociferously as soldiers passed. 
Most of the men were members of the 307th Field Artil- 
lery, of the 78th or Lightning Division. A few were 
attached to the headquarters company of the same divi- 
sion. The men paraded under the command of First 
Sergt. Roger S. Bucklin. To-day's contingent does not 
by any means comprise all the local men in the 78th 
Division. There are a number of Jamestown men still 
in camp, and several have not yet landed in this country. 
Battery C guidon fluttered at the head of the column in 
parade. 

May 26 — Poland welcomes Corp. H. J. Eccles and 
Clan Erickson, of the 78th Division, 307th Field Artil- 
lery, who arrived home to-day from France. 

May 27 — The elm trees recently purchased by Ellicott 
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in 
memory of the five boys from Falconer, who lost their 
lives in the World War, have been placed in Pine Hill 
Cemetery. 

May 29 — Decoration for Gen. C. J. Bailey ; was 
awarded French War Cross and made officer of Legion 
of Honor. Gen. Bailey sailed to-day from Brest, with 
the 81 st or Wildcat Division. 

Mayville, July 8— Austin J. McConnell, Charles L. An- 
derson and George Dudley returned from France last 



INDEX 



INDEX 



ADDENDA — Page m, 2nd col., near bottom of page. For Private Sandberg, killed, read Frank C. Hallberg. 



Abrahamson, Carl F., ioo 

Agriculture, Development of, 398; Farm Bureau, 400; 

Agricultural Corporation, 401 
Amusements, early, 48 
Arkwright, Town of, 115 
Armstrong, George T., 112 
Arnold, Capt. Joseph S., 104 
Ashville, 198 
Assembly Districts, 99 

Baker, S. Winsor, no 

Banks, early, 45, 367; Westfield National, Jamestown 
Bank, Lake Shore of Dunkirk, Fredonia, Fredonia 
National, Second National of Jamestown, Mer- 
chants' National of Dunkirk, 368; Jamestown Na- 
tional, State Bank of Sherman, Cherry Creek 
National, Farmers' and Merchants' of Jamestown, 
State Bank of Mayville, State Bank of Brocton, 
Union Trust of Jamestown, Lazell & Co., First Na- 
tional of Falconer, First National of Ripley, 369; 
Bank of Jamestown, Citizens' Trust of Fredonia, 
National of Fredonia, Clymer State, Silver Creek 
National, First National of Forestville, 370; Sin- 
clairville State, Liberty National of Jamestown, 
Dunkirk Trust Co., 371 

Barcelona, 245 

Belden, Nathan D., 101 

Bemus Point, 157 

Bench and Bar, 425 

Blockville, 200 

Boat Race, 1879, 70 

Boomertown, 118 

Bradshaw, Edwin A., 98 

Brocton, 224 

Broadhead, William, 102 

Brockway family, 141 

Brodhead's Expedition, 16 

Brooks Locomotive Works, 66 

Brotherhood of the New Life, 69, 223 

Brown, Henry L., 102 

Business College, Jamestown, 431 

Busti, Town of, 117 

Button, Isaac N., 105 

Carroll, Town of, 120 

Cattaraugus Village, 192, 195 

Celoron, 161 

Census, 1830, 43; 1835. 50; 1840, 52; 1850, 56; 1855, 59; 

other statistics, 89-90; 1910, 103; 1920, 115 
Centennial Celebration, 419 
Charlotte Center, 125, 131 
Charlotte, Town of, 124 
Chautauqua Assembly, 69 
Chautauqua County, organized, 74 ; attempted division of, 

74; Sperry defalcation, 75; county redistricted, no; 

the county to-day, 247 
Chautauqua, origin of name, 10 
Chautauqua County Day, 108 
Chautauqua Institution, 324 



Chautauqua Lake, Steam navigation of, 43; lake and 
surroundings, 429 

Chautauqua, Town of, 132 

Cheney, Capt. Nervel, no 

Cherry Creek, 136 

Churches, early, 45; early ministers, 341; Baptist, 342; 
Congregational, 344 ; Lutheran, 344 ; Methodist Epis- 
copal, 344; Presbyterian, 344; Roman Catholic, 345; 
Scientist, 347 ; Unitarian, 348 ; United Brethren, 348 

Climatology, 6 

Clymer, 139 

Commerce, Jamestown Board of, 335 ; Chamber of, Dun- 
kirk, 336 

Common Pleas, Court of, 54 

Conewango Swamp, 78 

Constitution, New, 54 

Corbett, Charles H., 105 

County Farm, 135 

Court House, 1832, 46; new, 99 

Courts, first in county, 35 

Coyle, Rev. Richard, 108 

Criminal cases, the Damon case, 46; Lowry, Cornell, 53; 
Lynch, 65 ; Battles, 65 ; Koch, 66 ; Marlow, 67 ; Hale 
acquitted, 70; Crosby, Stratton, 71; Bogardus, 73; 
Davis and Sherman, 76, 77; Rice, 80; Beaumont, 
Wilson, 81; Wennerholm, 81; Putnam, 107; Nixon, 
Brown, 113 

Crissey, Newton, 108 

Dental Surgery and Dentists, 384 

Dewittville, 135 

Dunkirk, Settlement of, 42; during War of 1812, 144; 

the Harbor, lake navigation, 145; Walter Smith, 146; 

first railroad, 147; first newspaper, 148; financial 

panic, 149; first Bank, 149; opening of railroad, 150; 

early industries, 152; during the Civil War, 152; 

manufacturing impetus, 153 

Edson, Obed, 114 

Education, early, 55 

Electricity, first use of as motive power, 72 

Ellery, Town of, 154 

Ellicott, Settlement of, 158 

Ellington, Town of, 170 ; Academy, 184 

Endress, Capt. William F., 109 

Eries, Destruction of, 12 

Fairpoint, 135 

Falconer, 161 

Federal Court, first in county, 81 

Fenton Guards, no 

Findley Lake, 207 

Fires, Jamestown, 1852, 57; 1861, 65; Allen's Opera 
House, 73 ; Fredonia Normal School, 82 ; in James- 
town, 1903, 91; 1910, 102; Baptist Church in James- 
town, 108 ; Grand Hotel, S3 ; in Chautauqua, 93. 

Fish and Game, Conservation of, 294 

Fisher, James B., 113 

Fletcher, Minnie E., 113 



474 



CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE 



Food Administration, 299 

Forestville, 191 

Fowler, James T., 113 

Fraternal Orders — Freemasonry, 435 ; Odd Fellows, 437 ; 
B. P. O. Elks, 441 ; Knights of Pythias, Loyal Order 
of Moose, 442; Eagles, 443; Knights of Columbus, 
446, 447 ; Daughters of Isabella, 446 

Fredonia, 218 

Fredonia Academy, 41 

French Creek, 185 

Frewsburg, 120 

Garibaldi visits Dunkirk, 63 

Geography of county, I 

Gerry, 187 

Gerry Orphanage, 190 

Gifford, Walter, 101 

Gilbert, Capt. A., 106 

Gokey, W lliam N., 113 

Goldseekers, 55 

Grape Industry, Development of, 69, 402 

Griswold, Daniel, 106 

Hall, Alfred P., 113 

Hall, Rev. Elliott C, 112 

Hall, Sarah L., m 

Hanover, 191 ; Farmers' Club, 195 

Hanson, Jonathan, 102 

Harmony, 196 

Hazeltine, Judge Abner, 109 

Hinman, Marshall L., 99 

Historical Society, 82 

Holland Land Company, 50; demolition of Land Office, 

Holland Purchase, Full history of, 252 
Hooker Case, 96 
Hospitals, 340 

"Indian War, The," 409 

Indian Wars after the Revolution, 23; Treaty at Big 

Tree, 26 
Inhabitants, racial characteristics of, 84 
Inns and Taverns, old, 413 
International Bible Students' Association, 103 
Iron and Steel, 430 

Jamestown, 72; Centennial Celebration, 103; settlement 
of, 162; early settlers, 163; incorporated as village, 
163; water works, 164; first bank, 164; early manu- 
factures, 165; first railroad, 165; incorporated as 
city, 165; public improvements, 166; Mayors Price 
and Green, 167; early churches, 167; early news- 
papers, 168; philanthropic institutions, 169; Prender- 
gast Library and bequests, 169; Municipal activities, 
382 

Johnson, John D., no 

Jones, Clement B., 112 

Kennedy, Dr. Thomas, 209 

Kiantone, 201 

Kiantone Movement, The, 204 

Lakeside Assembly, 77, 208 

Lakewood, 118, 161 

Land Speculations, 51 ; disasters growing out of, 52 

Libraries— James Prendergast Free, 285; Dunkirk Free, 
286; Paterson, Westfield, 287; Barker, Fredonia, 
288; Seymour, Stockton, 288: Minerva, Sherman, 
288; Sinclairville, 289; Tuesday Club, Mayville, 289; 
Bemus Point, 289 ; Ashville, 289 ; Falconer, 290 ; 
Fluvanna, 290; Chautauqua, 290 

Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly, 421 



Lincoln, Rev. Julius, 103 
Lumbering, 44 

McKenzie, Donald, 406 

McKinstry, 113 

Manufactures, 65, 336 

Maple Sugar, 60 

Mason L., 104 

Mayville, 134 

Medical Profession, 338; early Practit oners, 339 

Merchants, olden-time, 417 

Merrell, Marv M., 107 

Miller, Phin M„ Ill 

Mina, 204 

Mormonism, 58 

Mound Builders, 8 

Music, retrospect of, 395 

Natural Gas, 71 

Ninth N. Y. Cavalry reunion, 105 
Nixon, Samuel F., 96; tribute to, 97 
Normal School, 313 

Ogden Land Company, 26 
Oil excitement, 60 
Orcharding, 68 
Ostrander, Alanson, 104 

Panama, 198 

Parker, Piatt M., 98 

Patriotic Societies— D. A. R., 
tion, 387; G. A. R., 388 
Woman's Relief Corps, 3* 

Patrons of Husbandry, 364 

Pease, Edward H., 100 

Peckham, Vernon E., in 

People lost in woods, 39, 40 

Pierce, Luman W., no 

Plank roads, 56 

Poland, 208 

Political Equality Club, 73 

Political Equality Movement, 351 

Political History, 374 

Pomfret, 215 

Poor House and Prison, 46 

Portland, 221 

Post Office, first in county, 34 

Potash industry, 39 

Press of Chautauqua County, 271 

Public Schools, 310; organization, 312; Chautauqua, con- 
solidated, 314; Forestville, 314; Westfield, 314; Sil- 
ver Creek, 315; Jamestown, 315; Union Free, 316; 
Dunkirk, 319; Fredonia, 322 

Public Utilities — Railroads, 432; Electrical service, 433; 
Telephone and Telegraph, 434 

Rafting, 44 

Railroad Disasters, at Prospect, 



|86 ; Sons of the Revolu- 
Sons of Veterans, 388 ; 
; American Legion, 391 



5; near Dunkirk, 1873, 
. 73 

Railroads, New York & Erie projected, 45 ; completion 
of, 57 ; Atlantic & Great Western, 61 ; new indus- 
tries following, 64 ; Buffalo & Oil Creek, 65 ; Dun- 
kirk, Warren & Pittsburgh, 66; Buffalo & James- 
town, 70 

Railroad Strikes, 70, 73 

Red Cross, 358 

Ripley, 225 ; Literary Club, 228 

Roosevelt, Theodore, visits Jamestown, 103 

Seaver, Robert W., 130 

Settlements, early, 26; Westfield, Cross Roads, Hanover, 
27; Silver Creek, Sheridan, Fredonia, Pomfret, 28; 



INDEX 



475 



Ripley, Mayville, Portland, Dunkirk, 29; Poland, 
Ellicott, 30; Bemus Point, Harmony, Falconer, 31; 
Kiantone, Arkwright, Carroll, 32; Busti, Gerry, 
Stockton, Villenova, Jamestown, 33; Cherry Creek, 
Clymer, Sherman, 41 ; Poland, Sherman, 58 

Settlers, early, 26; Amos Sawtel, 26; James McMahan, 
27; Zattu Cushing, 28; William Prendergast, 30; 
William Bemus, 31 ; John Russell, 32 

Sheridan, 229; noted lake seamen, 232; Centennial Cele- 
bration, 94 

Sherman, 233 

Silk industry, 53 

Silver Creek, 191 

Sinclear family, 129; Major Samuel, 130 

Sinclairville, 125, 129 

Smith, Austin, 94 

Smith, Walter, 146 

Spiritualism, 58 

Sprague, William H., 103 

Staging, 42, 63 

State Normal School, 292 

Statistics, agricultural, 249; railroads, 250; telegraph and 
telephone, 251 

Steamboat Disasters, 52; the "Chautauqua," 66; the 
"Dean Richmond," 74 

Steamboats of Chautauqua Lake, 371 

Stockton, 134, 235 

Street railway strike, 107 

Swedish Orphanage, -;2 ; Swedish People, 403 



Taverns, early, 64 
Topi igraphy, I 
Training Days, 49 

Universalists, 204 

Van Dusen, Almon A., 105 
Veterans of various wars, 78 
Villenova, 240 

Wade, Arthur C, 108 

War of 1812, 35; British depredations, preparations by 
Commodore Perry, enlistment of troops, 36; burn- 
ing of Buffalo, 37; conduct of militia, 38; financial 
depression, 38 

War, Civil, 452 

War, Mexican, 55 

War, "the Patriot," 52 

War, Spanish-American, 459 

War, World, 461 

Webster, Daniel, visits county, 53 

Westfield, 242 

Williams. Julien T., 95 

Wilson, Capt. Fred H., 109 

W. C. T. U., 349 

Women's Clubs, 363 

Writers, Men and Women, 290 

Y. M. C. A., 392 
Y. W. C. A., 357 




